ROYAL ROMANIAN ORDER AND MEDAL OF BENE MERENTI

Charles Pankey

Karl Eitel Fredrich (1839-1914)(the second son of Prince

Karl Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen) was offered

the position of Prince of Romania as Carol I in order to

maintain order in Moldovia and Wallachia. The first non-

military medal established by Carol I while he was still

prince of the principalities was the Bene Merenti medal.

The medal of Bene Merenti was instituted by Royal

Decree No. 314 on February 20, 1876 (the Danubian

Romanians used the Julian calendar until March 31, 1919

at which time they moved forward to April 14, 1919 using

the Gregorian calendar). The medal is based on a princely

Hohenzollern award instituted by the House of

Hohenzollern in 1857. The medal was given for merit

in the areas of art, science, industry and agriculture. It

was rarely awarded. The medal was divided into first

class and second class. Both Romanians and foreign

nationals were eligible for the award.

The earliest observed medal (Figure 3A and 4A) is 40mm

in diameter with the bust of Carol I without a full beard

and with W. Kullrich F. on the edge of the rim of the

medal. The generally issued first type obverse (Figure

3C) was 30 mm in diameter and has a bust of then Prince Carol I, with a full beard, facing to the left, surrounded

with the circular inscription CAROLUS I PRINCEPS

ROMAINIAE. The reverse (Figure 4C) has the words

BENE over MERENTI over a bar, all centered and

surrounded by a circular wreath of oak leaves. The piece

is surmounted by a 15-16 mm ring that is attached to the

ribbon. The first class was silver gilt and the second

class was silver. Later issues of the first type, first class,

were bronze gilt. A variant of the first type has the name

of the artist, W. KULLRICIt (1821-1887) (Figures 1

and 2; Figures 3B and 4B) immediately underneath Carol

I’s bust on the obverse. The first type was issued from

1876 until Carol I was crowned King of Romania on

May 22, 1881.

Figure 1: Bene Merenti Medal, Kullrich variety, obverse. Figure 2: Bene Merenti Medal, Kullrich variety, reverse.

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A B

E

Figure 3: Obverses of various types of the Bene Merenti Medal.

E

Figure 4: Reverses of various types of the Bene Merenti Medal.

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The second type (Figures 3D and 4D) was in the same configuration as the first, only the bust of Carol I is surrounded by the circular inscription: CAROLUS I REX ROMANIAE. The size is approximately 2mm larger than the first type.

The third type (Figures 3F and 4F) is in the same configuration as the second only the size is approximately 30mm in diameter and the size of the letters on the obverse and reverse are approximately lmm larger. The beard of Carol I is also shorter. A variant of this type has been observed (Figures 3E and 4E) with the beard being the length of the second type and the AE of the ROMANIAE is combined. The fourth type is in the same as the third type except that the beard of Carol I is longer than any of the other types (Figures 3G and 4G.)

The medal is worn on the left chest suspended by a ring and a violet moire ribbon 30mm to 35mm in width, with silver edges, 2 to 3mm wide. The original manufacturer of the medal is believed to have been Paul Telge of Berlin.

The medal ceased to exist by Royal Decree No. 2684 after the initiation of the Order of Cultural Merit on July 19, 1931 (Monitorul Oficial No. 226, September 28, 1931.) Recipients of the Bene Merenti medal were allowed to continue wearing the medal.

Beginning in 1932, King Carol II (1894-1953) disregarded Romanian law by instituting orders and medals (including the Bene Merenti) that were issued Proprio Motu and were not included in the hierarchy of national orders. When Carol II was forced to abdicate the Romanian throne on September 6, 1940, he was succeeded by his son King Michael I (1921-). The head of State, General Ion Antonescu (1882-1946) abolished Carol II’sproprio motu orders and medals and restored the traditional system of Romanian decorations.

Bene Merenti Medal of the Royal House (Bene Merenti Al Casei Domnitoare)

Carol II established the Bene Merenti Medal of the Royal House, Royal Decree No. 2836, December 16, 1935, Monitorul Oficial No. 293, December 20, 1935. The decree provided for the medal in three classes: gold, silver, and bronze, but designated no specifications. Royal Decree No 4354, December 19, 1938, Monitorul Oficial No 297, December 21, 1938 provided the first full description of the new propio motu medals, but now referred to the medal as the Royal House Medal in two classes. The conjecture is that the 1932 Bene Merenti Medal of the Royal House was never issued.

Bene Merenti Cross for Life Saving (Cruce Bene Merenti Pentru Salvare)

This award was instituted by High Decision No. 2, March

8, 1940, Monitorul Oficial No. 76, March 29, 1940, to recognize acts of courage and devotion of those who, at risk of life, saved or attempted to save the life of a person or private or public property. The cross was awarded for life. There are three classes, silver gilt for first class, silver for second class and bronze for third class. Awards of a superior class could only be made if the person had previously been awarded the next lower class. The arms of the cross are in the shape of a tri-fold. The diameter of the cross is 38mm having a center medallion of 18mm in diameter surrounded by a circle of 19mm. The obverse of the medallion represents the bust of King Carol II surrounded by the legend, CAROL AL II-LEA REGELE ROMANILOR, (Carol II, King of the Romanians). The reverse of the medallion bears the legend in relief, FORTI ET DEVOTO SERYATORI (mighty and royal servant). The lower portion consists of a wreath of part oak and laurel leaves. Between the arms of the cross is a laurel wreath of 4mm width surrounding the medallion. The award was worn on the left chest suspended on a 15mm diameter ring and a 30mm width silver ribbon with black 3mm central stripes and one 4mm black stripe on each edge. No specimen of this medal is known to exist. Decoratii Romanesti

De Razboi(1860-1947) states that the cross was never awarded, which is consistent with the chronology of events in Romania during this time.

Bene Merenti Order of the Royal House

Under a decree of December 16, 1935, Carol II replaced the Princely Hohenzollern House Order of Bene Merenti with the Romanian Order of Bene Merenti. The Order was divided into four classes for men and three classes for women. On November 26, 1937, any grade could also be awarded with swords. The Order was conferred only Proprio Motu to military and civilians for services rendered to the King.

Specifications of the Orders

The first class of the Order (Figure 5) consists of a 44mm diameter Leopold Cross surmounted by a Royal Crown 23mm in height. The arms of the cross consists of white enamel edged in silver gilt with a 3 mm black enameled border also edged in silver gilt. The arms of the cross converge on a 22mm circular white enamel medallion with the words BENE over MERENTI in gilt surrounded by a wreath of green enameled oak leaves.

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