Order of the Garter

Timeline

1. 1344–1347Windsor Castle · WindsorAround the time of the battles of Crécy and Calais, Edward III planned at Windsor a chivalric gathering modeled on King Arthur's Round Table, seeking to incorporate the war-nobility of the French war into a royal ceremonial community, providing an organizational prototype for the later order.
2. 1348–1349Windsor Castle · WindsorEdward III established the Order of the Garter at Windsor with Saint George as patron, with a complement of the sovereign and twenty-four companion knights, wearing the blue garter and the motto 'Honi soit qui mal y pense'. The Black Death hindered the 1348 celebrations, and membership and ceremonies were settled around the following year.
3. 1349–1352Saint George's Chapel · WindsorThe order took Saint George's Chapel at Windsor as its ceremonial center, gradually fixing precedence, heraldic stalls, and anniversary celebrations. It translated crusader-style devotion to Saint George into English royal honor, strengthening court cohesion during the Hundred Years' War.
4. 1352Windsor Castle · WindsorThereafter the Order of the Garter continued to operate as the highest order of chivalry of England (later the United Kingdom); although membership, heraldic display, and Saint George's Day ceremonies underwent modern reforms, the order itself was never interrupted, making it a typical example of a medieval order surviving to the present day.