Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Order of Saint Stephen" in English language version.
Order of Saint Stephen Pope.
The Order was swept away by the French Revolution but was revived again in a modified form in 1817. The Italian Revolution once more swept it away beyond hope of revival on 16 November 1859 and its Church and property became the property of the State. Alas that modern Italy should not be a little more tender of the memories of her past glories.
The members followed the rule of St Benedict and the Popes granted them the same privileges as those enjoyed by the Knights Hospitallers
The bull of the pope named Cosmo and his successors grand masters of the order
Grand Duke of Tuscany and Order of Saint Stephen.
The Lorraine Dynasty having been declared fallen in 1859, the Interim Government of Tuscany led by Bettino Ricasoli on 16 November that year ordered that the Order of Saint Stephen be suppressed and its substantial property be expropriated, regardless of it having no jurisdiction on a religious institution of knighthood that had been sanctioned as dynastic by the Papal Bulls. However, no resolutions of the Interim Government was acknowledged by the Grand Duke, Ferdinand IV, who raised a formal protest against this decision from Dresden on 24 March 1860. Since the Holy See, the repository and supreme guardian of the Military Religions, has never declared the Order of Saint Stephen extinct, such suppression has no value under canon law. The successors of the last ruling Grand Duke have retained the title and the privileges of their predecessors and continue to appoint occasional Knights of the Order of Saint Stephen.
