- See also: Annunciation, Order of the Most Holy Annunciation
Annunciade (and various alternate spellings) is a denomination common to several orders, both religious and military, instituted with a view of the Annunciation.
Religious orders
The first religious order of this kind was instituted in 1232 by seven Florentine merchants. These are also called Servites, i.e. servants.
The second was a nunnery at Bourges, founded by Jeanne of France, after her divorce from Louis XII.
The third was also a nunnery, founded by Genoese Lady in 1600.
The fourth, a friary, founded by Cardinal Torrecremata at Rome. This group became so rich that they gave fortunes of sixty Roman crowns to over 400 girls, on the anniversary of the Annunciation.
Military orders
The Knights of the Annunciation was a military order instituted in 1350, by Amadeus, duke of Savoy. It was at first called the Order of the True Lover's Knots, in memory of a bracelet of hair presented to the founder by a Lady, but upon the election of Amadeus VIII to the pontificate in 1439, it changed its name for that of the Annunciation of the angel Gabriel.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public ___domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)