Bethlehem Our Lady of

Bethlehem Our Lady Of A military order so called was instituted by Pius II, Jan. 18, 1459, on the occasion of the recovery of the island of Lemnos from the Turks by the cardinal of Aquileia. This order was founded for its preservation, the main duty of the knights being to reside there and oppose the progress of the Turks in the Archipelago and parts adjacent. However, shortly after the Turks recaptured Lemnos, and the whole scheme vanished; and the very institution of the order is only known from the bull to the effect preserved by Leibnitz in the Codex Gentium.