The Order Bishop* was an official and officiant within the Royal Orders of Knighthood in Sweden. The office was established on November 24, 1783, by Gustav III in preparation for his trip to Italy, in favor of the royal court chaplain Carl Edvard Taube. A key reason for this decision was that Taube, as a bishop in Rome, would be able to administer the evangelical sacrament of the Eucharist for the King, which he did during Easter in 1784. The position replaced the previous role of Preacher in the Royal Orders of Knighthood.
One could be consecrated as an Order Bishop without being a diocesan bishop, and the office was never mentioned or regulated in church law. The duties of the Order Bishop included conducting services and preaching in the Royal Chapel in Stockholm on the major feast day of the Order of the Seraphim (Serafimerorden) and delivering commemorative speeches for knights buried in the Riddarholm Church, the church of the Order of the Seraphim. In service, the Order Bishop wore a special dress adorned with the insignia of the Order of the Seraphim – see picture below.
After Taube, the position was typically filled by one of the diocesan bishops. When Archbishop Anton Niklas Sundberg refused in 1880 to consecrate the royal court chaplain Frithiof Grafström, appointed by Oscar II, he contributed to the office remaining vacant after Grafström’s death. The office officially ceased to exist in 1952.
Bishop of the Royal Orders of Knighthood 1785–1883
- Carl Edvard Taube, 1783–1785
- Lars Benzelstierna, 1785–1800
- Johan Gustaf Flodin, 1800–1808
- Gustaf Murray, 1809–1825
- Johan Olof Wallin, 1825–1837
- Carl Adolph Agardh, 1837–1859
- Christopher Isac Heurlin, 1859–1860
- Thure Annerstedt, 1860–1880
- Frithiof Grafström, 1880–1883
*I have yet to find an English translation of the original Swedish term “ordensbiskop”. In French it is “L’Évêque des Ordres” and in German “Ordensbischof”.
Source: Wikipedia