The darkest period of the order's history began shortly after the pontificate of Alexander VI, when little is recorded of its work or activity. Throughout this prolonged era, with the blessing of the Holy See, the Franciscans of the Holy Land continued to welcome into the Order, under the emblem of the red Jerusalem cross, men of great faith and strength of character always willing to defend the faith, even to the shedding of their blood, and to death when necessary.
It was not until 1847, after four hundred years of
vacancy, that the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem was restored
and, with it, the Order of the Holy Sepulchre rose from its
dormancy, from a period of occasional growth to its
revitalization under the pontificate of Pope Pius IX. The
ecclesiastical superior of the Order was then vested in the Latin
Patriarch of Jerusalem, who eventually assumed the title Grand
Prior. The office of Grand Master still remained vested in the
papacy.
In keeping with the customs of the royal houses of Europe prevalent at that time, Pius IX undertook a restructuring of all papal honors, which included the restructuring of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre so that it was more closely linked to the papacy and more formalized and uniform in structure. For twenty years, form 1847 to 1867, Pius IX fostered the growth of the order throughout Europe.He removed the requirement that a knight be invested in Jerusalem. He also encouraged a structure to form, with both an ecclesiastical and jurisdictional hierarchy, so that investiture and other works of the Order could take place throughout the world.
Continuing to care for the rebirth of the Order, Pius IX, in 1868, redefined the new classes or ranks of membership in the Order, to that of Grand Cross, Commander, and Knight. In 1888, Leo XIII permitted the Holy Sepulchre to confer membership upon ladies of "society and noble birth," the first international Order so to do. Ladies were welcome in each of the classes of membership without prejudice. Actually, the first female member was the Contessa Maria Francesca di Tomas, who received the rank of Grand Cross in 1871, predating the official" welcome of female members by seventeen years.
In an attempt to assert its own unique identity in the world, the membership of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre petitioned the Holy Father (Pius XI) to nullify the terms identifying the order as military and sacred, seeking a conferred sovereign status. The Holy See was neither prepared nor capable of doing so, as the Order did not enjoy diplomatic sovereign status. Agreeing that the appellation "sacred and military" was commonly used by chivalric societies not closely linked to the Holy See, Plus XI conferred in their place the appellation "equestrian." At present, the full title of the order remains The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
