The prologue to these statutes of 1408 reports that the society was created: The statute of the Order, which was expanded by Bishop Eberhard of Nagyvárad, chancellor of Sigismund's court, survives only in a copy made in 1707. George as its patron saint, whose legendary defeat of a dragon was used as a symbol for the military and religious ethos of the order. George ( Societas militae Sancti Georgii), founded by King Carol Robert of Anjou in 1318. It was to some extent modelled after the earlier Hungarian monarchical order, the Order of St. Contemporary records, however, refer to the order by a variety of similar if unofficial names, such as Gesellschaft mit dem Trakchen, Divisa seu Societas Draconica, Societas Draconica seu Draconistarum, and Fraternitas Draconum. Its statutes, written in Latin, call it a society ( societas) whose members carry the signum draconis (see below), but assign no name to it. On December 12, 1408, following the Battle of Dobor against the Christian heretics called Bogomils in which Sigismund slaughtered two hundred Bosnian noblemen, many of whom had fought the Turks, Sigismund and his queen, Barbara of Celje, founded the league known today as the Order of the Dragon. His pact with Hermann II was secured in 1408, when Sigismund married Herman II's daughter Barbara of Celje (also called Cilli). Sigismund campaigned against the Croats and Bosnians, which culminated in 1408 with the Battle of Dobor-fought for the possession of Bosnia-and a massacre of noble families. This was achieved by allying himself with the political party of Stibor of Stiboricz, Nicholas II Garay, and Hermann II of Celje, in return for their military support, which enabled him to fight off domestic rivals. Sigismund returned to Hungary in 1401 and, facing a number of revolts, gradually resumed control and re-asserted himself as the King of Hungary. About 15,000 crusaders died with only a few leaders, including Sigismund, escaping. Sigismund was nominally in charge however, in the 1396 Battle of Nicopolis the French leader, John of Nevers, commanded the French half of the forces and ignored Sigismund's entreaties by charging the Turks. In 1396, Pope Boniface IX proclaimed a crusade against the Ottomans, and a campaign was organised to recapture the fortress and put a halt to the Ottoman expansion. Two years later, the Turks had taken the Bulgarian fortress of Nicopolis. In 1389, the Ottoman Sultan Murad I fought Lazar, Prince of Serbia at the Battle of Kosovo Polje, in which both leaders died, leading to an uncertain outcome of the battle. His rule was weakened in 1395 when Mary, who was pregnant, died in a horse riding accident. During the next decade, he constantly sought support or employed ruthless methods to strengthen his unsteady hold on the throne. In 1387, the Bohemian royal son Sigismund of Luxembourg was elected King of Hungary and Croatia, a title which he owed chiefly to his marriage to Queen Mary of Hungary in 1385, without her consent. Sigismund faced fierce struggles for power leading up to the foundation of the order in 1418. After Sigismund's death in 1437, its importance declined in Western Europe, but after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, it continued to play a role in Hungary and Croatia, which bore the brunt of the Ottoman incursions. The Order flourished during the first half of the 15th century, primarily in Germany and Italy. It was fashioned after the military orders of the Crusades, requiring its initiates to defend the cross and fight the enemies of Christianity, in particular the Ottoman Turks. 1387–1437) and later Holy Roman Emperor (r. ![]() ![]() "Society of the Dragonists") was a monarchical chivalric order for selected nobility, founded on the 12th of December in the year of Our Lord 1408 by Sigismund, King of Hungary (r. The Order of the Defeated Dragon (Latin: Societas Draconistarum, lit. Order of the Defeated Dragon - Ordo Draconum
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