Country Kingdom of Holland Eligibility Civil and military | Type Chivalric order Motto Unity makes strength | |
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Awarded for Meritorious service to the kingdom Status Abolished on 18 October 1811 | ||
The Order of the Union (Dutch: Orde van de Unie) was a chivalric order established in 1806 by Louis Napoleon, younger brother of Napoleon I, for the Kingdom of Holland. The order was abolished in 1811 when the French Empire absorbed the Kingdom of Holland. It was succeeded by the Order of the Reunion.
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Variants
Louis Napoleon was highly active despite the short length of his reign and so there were six variants of the order, though these all had more or less the same form, rules and decorations and the different names were all for more or less the same order – the orders have been described by authors such as Mr. O. Schutte, J.A. van Zelm van Eldik, George Sanders, P.J. d'Artillac Brill Sr. and G.C.E. Köffler as an organic whole. These variants were:
The Order of the Union (1806–1807) and the Royal Order of Merit (1806–1807) merged to become the Royal Order of Holland (1807). This new order became the Royal Order of the Union (1807–1808), also known as the Royal Order of the Union of Holland (1808) and finally the Royal Order of the Union (1808).
The order's chaotic history has led some to argue that the Royal Order of Holland broke up in 1807. Other authors such as Schutte, Van Zelm van Eldik and George Sanders emphasize its continuity. They write that the order established in 1806 died out at the same time as the Kingdom of Holland. The continuity is reflected in a letter or circular in French in which Grand Chancellor Maarten van der Goes van Dirxland explains that all these orders all actually made up one order and that "the Knights of the Royal order of Holland can also bear the name of Knights of the union. Union is the aim and foundation of the order. This article must be inserted into the order's statutes. Perhaps it would be convenient to make it the first one?".
History
Louis was made king of the new Kingdom of Holland on 6 June 1806. Like the other Bonapartes, he wanted to add the luster of pomp and knighthood to his reign. Until 1806 the Netherlands had always been a republic and so had no pre-existing system of orders so, on 24 August 1806, Louis wrote to Napoleon (then in Aachen):