The Order of Nobility was created by a law of 5th April 1811 the titles were to be hereditary and the personnel were to be drawn from the ranks of the army and navy. Jean Jacques Dessalines who had declared himself emperor in 1804 had refused point blank to create any nobility stating that he was the first noble of the empire. Henry knew better - he realised the need to grant such titles as rewards and as a means of binding the army and navy more closely to him. Princes and Dukes were drawn from the lieutenant generals and vice admirals, Counts for the marechaux-de-camp and contre-admiraux, Barons from amongst the brigadiers and colonels of the army and captains of vessels, Knights from the lieutenant colonels and captains of frigates. The costume of the nobility was carefully prescribed by a law of 12th April 1811; princes and dukes were to wear knee-length white tunics, black cloaks descending to the calf of the leg, embroidered in gold of three "pousses" broad, lined in red taffeta, attached at the neck by a gold tassel, stockings of white silk, gold buckles "carrées," shoes of red morroco totally covering the instep, sword with gold hilt at the side, round hat turned up in front, braided in gold and with five flowing plumes of red and black. Counts were to wear a sky blue cloak, embroidered in gold of two "pousses" wide, lined white, of the same length as that of the princes and dukes, white silk stockings, gold buckles "carrées" (squared?), shoes of red morroco, covering the instep completely, sword as before, hat the same but with three red flowing plumes. Barons wore an "ample" red "habit long", embroidered in gold braid of 18 "lignes" breadth, of which the turnbacks joined each other just below the knee ("dont les pans se joignent presqu'au dessous du genou"), lined in white taffeta, waistcoat and breeches of blue taffeta, white stockings, gold buckles, carrées (squared?) shoes of green morroco, style as before, sword with gold hilt by the side, green embroidered baldric, round hat, turned up in front, braided in gold, two white flowing plumes. Knights wore a blue "ample" (or full in cut) "habit long," embroidered in gold braid of 12 "lignes" in breadth, the turnbacks meeting each other just below the knee, lined in white taffeta, waistcoat and breeches of red taffeta, white silk stockings, gold buckles "carrées," shoes of green morroco, style as before, sword as before, green embroidered baldric, round hat turned up in front braided in gold with two green flowing plumes. This costume was to be worn for all major ceremonies. The style of the dress of the nobility is very reminiscent of that prescribed by Napoleon for his nobles and marshals of the Empire, the cut and embroidery of the various items probably following the Napoleonic examples very closely. THE ORDER OF ST. HENRY Henry created the royal and military Order of St. Henry on the 20th April 1811. There were to be two grand masters, the King and the Prince-Royal, 16 grand crosses, 32 commanders and as many knights as were to be judged appropriate. The cross of the Order was to be of gold enamelled in azure, with 6 double rays on which there was to be on one side the image of St. Henry with the words "Henry Fondateur 1811" and on the other a crown of laurel with a star and the device "Prix de la Valeur." Grand Crosses were to carry the cross attached to a large black watered silk ribbon worn as a sash and were to have a cross also embroidered in gold on their coat on the left side. Commanders had a red watered silk ribbon worn as a sash but without the cross embroidered on the coat. Knights were to have the cross attached to the button of the coat with a small ribbon of watered silk of 18 "lignes" wide in the colours of Hayti. Those who were members of the Order were permitted to bear the cross on their coats of arms as follows. Grand Crosses; the escutcheon to be placed on a cross of gold enamelled azure of 6 double rays and a large black watered silk ribbon around the said escutcheon with these words "Prix de la Valeur" written on the said ribbon, to which is attached a cross of the Order. Commanders the same but with a red ribbon on the escutcheon. Knights had under the escutcheon a cross of the order suspended from a bow tied in a small watered silk ribbon in the colours of Hayti. Grand crosses included the princes Noël, Jean, des Gonaives, de Fort Royal, de Plaissance, de l'Artibonite and du Port-Margot. Amongst the commanders were the Duke of Marmelade and the Count of Limonade, both named after places in Hayti, and both old comrades in arms of Henry. General Richard, the Duke of Marmelade, was to betray Henry in 1820. Source: Julien le Prévost, comte de Limonade: "Relation des glorieux Evénements qui ont porté leurs majestés Royale sur le trône d'Haïti," published in Cap-Henry and London, 1811. Back to Table of Contents: Booklet No. 6, Haiti 1793-1916 Back to El Dorado List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by The South and Central Military Historians Society This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com