Membership
Members of the order, known as "Draconists", are referred to in the statutes as barons (barones, occasionally socii). They were mostly Sigismund's political allies and supporters, who were at first largely confined to the political factions of Stefan Lazar IV, Nicholas II Garay and Hermann II of Celje, including such magnates as Stibor of Stiboricz and Pipo of Ozora. The initial group of inductees for Sigismund's Order numbered 21 men, which extended to about 24 in 1418.
After some time, Sigismund chose to expand the ranks of the Order. A second group of inductees was initiated between 1431-1437. As membership grew, the Order of the Dragon came to have two degrees. There was a superior class, which between 1408 and 1418 wore both the dragon and the cross as the Order's emblem and a more elaborate version afterwards. The second degree had a large number of members, and its symbol was only the dragon.
Following Sigismund's death in 1437, the Order lost prominence. However, the prestigious emblem of the Order was retained on the coat of arms of several Hungarian noble families, including Báthory, Bocskai, Bethlen, Szathmáry and Rákóczi.
Read more about this topic: Order Of The Dragon
Famous quotes containing the word membership:
“The two real political parties in America are the Winners and the Losers. The people don’t acknowledge this. They claim membership in two imaginary parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, instead.”
—Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (b. 1922)