Order of Ormus

The Order of Ormus are Chivalric Orders first formed in the Kingdom of Ormus in 1287; while, Ormus was still a city state. In 1523, the port city of Ormus was occupied by the Portuguese Empire by this time it had become a Kingdom. The people of Ormus were considered St. John Christians by the Portuguese but apparently held a Gnostic belief system. The heredity of its monastic Royal line was recognized by Pope Clement VII on October 30,1524.

It was the only Royal line in history which was past from mother to daughter that has ever held papal recognition. After the fall of the Kingdom of Ormus to the Ottoman Empire in 1703, a large portion of the population immigrated to Europe. This included the Royal family which settled in Paris.

In 1980, at the age of nine, Grand Duchess Erica Romanovsky-Ilyinsky D'Ormus of Russia was named Grand Mistress of the Order upon the death of her grandmother Victoria Romanovsky-Ilyinsky D'Ormus by Pope John Paul II. Membership in the Order of Ormus is by birth or invitation and its membership list is not published.

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