The Order of Vitéz (; frequently spelled in English as 'Vitez') is a Hungarian order of merit which was founded in 1920. It was awarded as a state honour from 1920 to 1944, and continues as a semi-independent order of chivalry under Captain General vitéz József Károly von Habsburg, head of the Palatinal branch of the House of Habsburg.
During World War II, many members of the Hungarian government and military were members of the Order; as such, members were involved in both contributing to the Holocaust as well as leading efforts against it. The United States Department of State lists the Order of Vitéz as having been "under the direction of the Nazi Government of Germany", like the French Police at the time.
The Order of Vitéz has several successors; one, the Order of Vitéz under Captain General vitéz József Károly von Habsburg, is recognised by the International Commission on Orders of Chivalry as an "Institution of Chivalric Character"; and so has become, de facto, comparable to a house order of the Palatinal branch of the House of Habsburg (Palatine of Hungary).
Name
The Hungarian word Vitéz is of medieval Slavic origin and means "valiant", "gallant soldier" or "knight".
The Vitézi Rend (Order of the Valiant) should not be confused with the 17th-century Vitézlő Rend (Fighting Estate), which refers to a rebellion of former peasants and craftsmen whose homes had been destroyed by the Ottoman Empire. These men took up arms and formed an estate within society that received charters, rights and privileges over the centuries, mainly from the princes of Transylvania, but which were eventually recognised by the Habsburg kings of the Kingdom of Hungary.
Establishment of the Order
Following the peace Treaty of Trianon, which banished the ruling House of Habsburg from Hungary, a constitutional assembly decided to return to the monarchical form of government and replace the incumbent Habsburg regent, Archduke Joseph August of Austria, with Vice-Admiral Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya. It was mainly his idea to help re-build the shattered country by giving land to soldiers who had proven themselves on the battlefield. This way, the poverty brought on by World War I could begin to be alleviated and soldiers could be rewarded.
The Vitéz Order was created by Prime Ministerial Decree number 6650 of 1920 (6650/1920 M.E. in Hungarian usage) and was included as paragraph no. 77 in the Land Reform Act (Law XXXVI of 1920). Membership replaced the titles of nobility; since Horthy was only the regent of the Hungarian Kingdom, he had no rights to make people knights or noblemen.
The title of "Vitéz" was to serve as an award. The "Vitéz" title was official. The legislation gave those qualifying as members of the Order in need a grant of land and/or a house. According to Viktor Karady, "its members served as a strictly Christian gentry".
Admittance into the Order was exclusively on military merit by the number of medals won. It worked on a system depending on rank, where privates or junior NCOs had to prove lesser awards of bravery, while officers and generals had to prove more in World War I.
Members received a badge and were entitled to use the designation Vitéz as a prefix to their names. Admission into the Order also carried with it a land grant of 40 cadastral holds to an officer, eight cadastral holds to other ranks based on need (1 cadastral hold = c. 1.43 acres). The Order of Vitéz become hereditary, and the grants (title, badge and land grant) were to be passed on by the recipient to his eldest son. Horthy was the first to be admitted into the Order and was also its Captain General (Főkapitány). In 1920, Archduke Joseph August of Austria became the first knight of the Order of Vitéz.