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Discontinued as a national order in 1914; since 1915, the order is part of the dynastic house
Grades
Grand Cross
Commander
Knight
Companion
Ribbon Bar of the Order
The Imperial Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ, or simply the Order of Christ, is an order of chivalry continued by King Álvaro II of Kongo in 1607 after the Portuguese brought the Order of Christ to the Kingdom of Kongo. Álvaro I was given permission by the King of Portugal to grant knighthoods for the Order of Christ and his successors, approved by the Holy See, continued to serve as the fons honorum for the Order of Christ.
Historically, those who were awarded a knighthood in the Order of Christ wore mantles with an embroidered cross. The Order of Christ became a central part of the military life of the Kingdom of Kongo, including many members of the aristocracy. A number of local rulers underwent investiture into the Order of Christ. The Order of Christ, as with the Order of Saint James of the Sword, continues to be awarded ecumenically by the Imperial House of Kongo.
Bostoen, Koen; Brinkman, Inge (15 November 2018). The Kongo Kingdom: The Origins, Dynamics and Cosmopolitan Culture of an African Polity. Cambridge University Press. pp. 237–238. ISBN978-1-108-47418-4.
^ Heywood, Linda M.; Thornton, John K. (10 September 2007). Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles, and the Foundation of the Americas, 1585-1660. Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0-521-77065-1.
Ilo, Stan Chu (13 July 2022). Handbook of African Catholicism. Orbis Books. ISBN978-1-60833-936-5.
Dewulf, Jeroen (15 August 2022). Afro-Atlantic Catholics: America’s First Black Christians. University of Notre Dame Pess. ISBN978-0-268-20279-8. subsequent Kongolese kings also assumed the right to knight loyal supporters in the Order of Christ.
Dewulf, Jeroen (20 December 2016). The Pinkster King and the King of Kongo: The Forgotten History of America's Dutch-Owned Slaves. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN978-1-4968-0882-0. In the Kingdom of Kongo, the use of shirts with an embroidered cross was a prerogative of those who had been granted knighthood in the Order of Christ.
Miller, Joseph C.; Havik, Philip J.; Birmingham, David (15 November 2011). A Scholar for All Seasons: Jill Dias: Portuguese Studies Review, Vol. 19, Nos. 1 and 2 (Special Volume in Memory of Jill Dias, 1944-2008) (ISSN 1057-1515). Baywolf Press. p. 122.