Christ, Order of; Kniohts op the. After the abolition of the order of Knights Templars, in 1812, king Dionysius of Portugal left to such as resided in his dominions a large share of their estates, and in 1317 reconstituted them into a new spiritual order of " Knights of Christ." It was sanctioned by Pope John XXII on condition of obedience to the papal see. He also instituted a branch of the order in the Papal States. The knights were secularized in Portu- gal in 1789, and divided into three class- es : " great crosses, " of which there were 6 ; ** commanders," numbering 450 ; and knights, the number of which was unlimited. The distinctive marks of the order are a golden cross, carved and ornamented with red enamel, the ends terminating in two points; a scarlet band, which, by the papal knights, is carried around the neck. The Portugal grand crosses wear a particular dress on great occasions, with a golden chain wound three times around the neck, but which is usually thrown across the shoulder fh>m right to left ; a band ; and on the breast a star, containing in its centre the cross of the order. The com mand- ers and knights wear a similar but smaller cross, the former in a star and on the breast, with the band; the latter pending from the button-hole, and without the star. As a religious order, they have been suppressed, with all such or- Stor of the Portuguese ders, in Portugal. — Pierer, Urn- Order oT ChrUi. versal-Lexikon, s. v.; Chambers, Encyclopadia, s. v.
ChriBt, "Work ol See Atonsmeitt; Christ, Offices of; Chbistoloot; Redemption.
Christendom, the kmgdom of Christ in its diffu- sion among men on the earth. In the way of terri- torial extension, Christendom has been enlarging al- most without interruption fh)m the beginning. In the second and third centuries congregations were es- tablished in all parts of the Roman empu^ and beyond the limits of the empire it collected churches in Par- thia, Persia, and India, and extended to several barbar- ous nations whose languages had never been reduced to writing. The conversion of Constantino establish- ed the first Christian state. By A.D. 428 the whole
Badge of the Portupueijc Or- der of Chrltft.
eastern portion of the Roman empire was fnt fran paganism, which lingered a little longer in tbe west- em, without, however, disputing any kmger tbe si- cendency. In the fifth and sixth centuries Cfaristin- ity conquered in great part Northern Africa, Span. Gaul, Scotland, England, and a number of tbe GcnasB tribes. The erection of the empue of Charienugae paved the way for the conversion of Northern Europe. The Saxons consented to accept Christianity in »A and Scandinavia in the tenth and eleventh ceDtaiaL Thence it spread soon to Iceland and Greenland. Tte conversion of the Sdavooians of Eastern Enrope cob- menced in the ninth century, and was nearly coai|d«c«d in the twefth. In the tenth and eleventii oeataiiei the dissemination of Christianity in Hungary, Trsa- sylvania, and Russia commenced. At the same tiat its territory was lessened in Western Asia, Noithen Africa, and a part of Southern Europe, by the progrm of MohammedanisuL. In the period from tbe dcr. enth to the sixteenth century the conversion of Notk- em Europe, and in particular of Pomerania, FjirtwwM. and Livonia, was completed. A part of Eastern £■- rope, however, was gained by the Mohammedans, l^ on the other hand, a large new territory was secured te Christianity in Western Africa, East India, and hma- icaf in connection with the discoveries of tbe Poit&> guese and Spaniards. After the sixteenth eewttm the newly-discovered continent of America begao ti be filled up by a Christian population, thus maki&| the second Christian continent. The Roman Cborck for some time seemed successful in Christian iring Eist- em Asia, especially China and Japan, but its progroi was stopped by persecution. In the eighteenth as- tury a new Christian state sprang up in South Afna. in connection with the political rule of the Dntch sod the English. The nineteenth century opened vith brighter prospects than any preceding. In South Af- rica the territoiy of Christian nations extended; ia Western Africa, Liberia was founded as a Christiii republic ; in Northern Africa, Algeria is filling up vitk a Christian population ; and in Eastern Africa, Abjv sinia, which, in spite of its isolation, has pgescrvtd since the fourth century a kind of Christianity, prw- ises to re-enter the union of the Christian states. Aus- tralia has already become the third Christian divisiee of the world, with only a few Veak remnants ofps- ganism. In Asia the Karens of Farther India bin been brought under the influence of Christianity, while in the north nearly one third of the oootincBt forms part of a Christian state. Thus the territoiT of Christianity at present comprises three out of the five large divisions of the world, with a consideraUt part of the two others. Moreover, large teiritoritt in Asia and Africa, though not yet Christianised, sr under the dominion of Christian nations, and bardly a single countiy is at present left into which QuistisB missionaries have not forced their way. Thus tbe time seems near when the extent of Christendom wiD coincide with the extent of the earth. The Mowiag estimate of the Christian population of the world is based upon the latest (1868) works on political sad ecclesiastical statistics :