So... just what exactly is a Votive Order?
(for a more detailed explanation of Order Types in Period: http://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/ordhist.htm)

There were two distinctly different orders of knighthood during our period of study. The first, and more commonly known, where the Military-Monastic Orders such as the Knights Templar and the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. The other types are known as a Monarchical-Lay Orders of which there are a subcategories of Monarchical, Confraternal, Fraternal, Votive, Cliental, and Honorific. We won't go in to a description of the Monastic Orders as they are not appropriate to our pursuits.

The following is a very general description of the different types of Monarchical-Lay Orders

Monarchical-Lay Orders of Knighthood
A major change in the character of knighthood occurred in 1291, when Acre, the last Crusader stronghold in Palestine, fell to the Arabs. The remaining chivalric orders had to find a new existential goal, since the Holy Land was lost with little hope of being regained.

The 13th and 14th centuries saw the decline of pure feudalism and the emergence of what would later become the nation-states of modern Europe, centered on increasingly powerful monarchs. The absolute monarch emerged as that force which could unite the clerics, the land lords, and the bourgeois together and integrate them into a stable social order. Thus, the absolute monarchs created the so-called monarchical orders of chivalry. Furthermore, in the 13th and the 14th centuries, there were many lay devotional confraternities, which were lay institutions grouping members for devotional activities, meeting regularly, and having some form of statutes. In addition, princes and lords made a common use in the 14th century of badges and liveries which they distributed to their servants. The following is a general classification of all these monarchical and lay knighthood associations:

Monarchical Orders (these organizations were modelled on lay devotional confraternities, but their presidential office was attached to a crown or dominion, and their main purpose was to foster loyalty to the president). Examples: the Order of the Garter in the U.K., and the Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain.

Confraternal Orders (these organizations were similar to the monarchical orders, but with an elective presidency). These can be further distinguished into two classes:


Fraternal Orders (these organizations were brotherhoods-in-arms, formed for a specific purpose and a limited duration, binding members with pledges of aid and loyalty.)
Votive Orders (these organizations were a form of emprise or association formed for a specific purpose and for a definite term, on the basis of a vow (hence the term Votive); these were chivalric entities without the mutual pledges which characterized fraternal orders.) Only three are known, on the basis of their statutes:

It is this type of order which we have chosen to portray, as our reason for forming is for a specific purpose, i.e. that of honoring an historic event.

The Cliental Orders (these organizations were not exactly ‘orders’, in that they had no statutes, no limited membership, etc., but they were groups bound by a simple oath of allegiance to a prince who bestowed a badge or insignia.)
Honorific Orders (these organizations required no specific obligations, and they were usually just an honorific insignia bestowed with knighthood, upon a festive occasion or a pilgrimage.)

One of the most famous monarchical orders is the Order of Saint George, founded in 1325 by Charles I of Hungary. Another is the Order of the Sash (Banda), founded in Castile by Alfonso XI in 1330. The English King Edward III formed the Order of the Garter, in 1344, the best known of its kind. The French Ordre de l’Étoile (Order of the Star) was formed in 1351.
Other monarchs or powerful lords followed this tradition. Here follws a partial list of these orders:


Later Period Honorific Orders of Knighthood
The prestige which continued to surround the monarchical orders made them useful for other purposes, such as honouring individuals or rewarding good behaviour. Many honorific chivalric orders were created in the 17th and 18th centuries, such as the following (an asterisk marks those orders which were nobiliary.)

As far as the fate of the original military-monastic orders is concerned, the following is known: