THE ORDER OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE.

The Order of the Golden Fleece is a Roman Catholic Order of Chivalry founded in Bruges (Belgium) by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, in celebration of the prosperous and wealthy domains in his person that ran from Flanders to Switzerland and his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It became one of the most prestigious Orders in Europe.
Philip III was a member of a "cadet line" of the Valois Dynasty (then Royal Family of France). During his reign Burgundy reached the apex of its prosperity and prestige and became a leading Center of Arts.
He is known for his administrative reforms, patronage of Flemish artists (Jan Van Eyck), of Franco-Flemish composers (Guilles Binchois), and the capture of Joan of Arc.
The Capetian Dynasty, also known as the House of France, is a dynasty of Frankish origin, founded by Hugh Capet. It is among the largest and oldest European Royal Houses, consisting of Hugh Capet's male-line descendants. It ruled in France as the House of Capet from the ascension of Hugh Capet in 987 until the death of Charles IV in 1328.
The Dynasty had a crucial role in the formation of the French state. Members of the Dynasty were traditionally Catholic. the early Capetians had an alliance with the Church. The French were also the most active participants in the Crusades, culminating in a series of 5 Crusader Kings -Louis VII, Philip Augustus, Louis VIII, Saint Louis, and Philip III.
The Capetians generally enjoyed a harmonious family relationship. By tradition, younger sons and brothers of the King of France were given a grant of an estate, a title, an office, or other thing of value in order to maintain their rank and to dissuade them from claiming the French Crown itself. When Capetian cadets did aspire for kingship, their ambitions were directed not at the French Throne, but a foreign Thrones. Through this, the Capetians spread widely over Europe.
In modern times, both King Felipe VI of Spain (born January 30,1968) and Grand Duke Henri of LuxemBourg (born April 16,1955) are members of this family, both through the Bourbon Branch of the Dynasty. Along with the House of HabsBurg, it is one of the 2 most powerful continental European Royal families, dominating European politics for nearly 5 centuries.
The choice of the Golden Fleece of Georgian Kingdom of Colchis as the symbol of the Order caused controversy because of the feats of Jason. Ancestors of the Colchians were established on the Black Sea Coast from as early as the 4th millennium BC. Colchis was an important land in Greco-Roman mythology, most notably as the Kingdom of Medea and the Golden Fleece, destination of the Argonauts. Medea is a sorceress who was the daughter of King Aeetes of Cochis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god helios and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had 2 children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, King of Corinth, offers him his daughter, Glauce. The play tells that Medea took her revenge by sending Glauce a dress and a golden coronet, covered in poison resulting in the death of both the princes and the king, Creon, when he went to save her. The two sons that helped their mother's revenge were murdered by the Corinthians for their crime. Then she continue her revenge murdering the other two remaining sons, Mermeros and Pheres. Only one son survived, Thessalus. Afterward she left Corinth and flew to the Iranian Plateau, in a golden chariot driven by dragons sent by her grandfather Helios, god of the Sun, and lived among the Aryans, who then changed their name to the Medes.