Status No longer awarded Last awarded 1918 | Established 29 September 1693 | |
 | ||
Country Electorate of Cologne
Kingdom of Bavaria Type Military order 1693–1803
Merit order 1808–1918 Next (higher) Merit Order of the Bavarian Crown | ||
The Order of Saint Michael (German: Orden zum Heiligen Michael) or Royal Merit Order of Saint Michael (German: Königlicher Verdienstorden vom heiligen Michael) was founded in 1693 by Joseph Clemens of Bavaria, then Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, as a Military order. Initially, this order was only open to the Catholic nobility.
References
Order of St. Michael (Bavaria) Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA