of this administration, Charles V instituted a special ministry, the Council of Orders, composed of a president named by the king, whom he represented, and six knights, two delegates from each order. To this council belonged the presentation of knights to vacant commanderies and jurisdiction in all matters, civil or ecclesiastical, save the purely spiritual cases reserved for ecclesiastical dignitaries. Thus ended the autonomy of the orders, but not their prestige. Modernity The Order of Santiago still exists under the protection of the Spanish Crown. , there were 35 knights and 30 novices in the order. Admission to the Order is restricted to applicants of noble blood. Until 1653, nobility was checked by looking at only the paternal grandparents' family history. Changes were made so that maternal grandparents are included in verifying noble ancestry. The applicant must be a practicing Roman Catholic, be of legitimate birth through both parents and grandparents, not be descended from non-Christians, and prove at least 200 years of confirmed nobility of birth (not of privilege) from each of their four grandparents by legitimate marriage. Duties added in 1655 included defence of the belief in the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Their symbol is a cross of Saint James, a red cross terminating in a sword (cross fleury fitchy in heraldry), which recalls their title de la Espada, and a shell (la venera), to which they owe their connection with the Pilgrimage of St. James. Internal organization Prerequisites for entrance into the Order In its beginnings, entrance into the Order was not difficult, but after mid-thirteenth century it became more complicated. Once the Reconquest was finalized, a candidate who wished to join the Order of Santiago must have proved in his first four last names that he, his parents, and his grandparents were of noble descent by blood and not by privilege, and had never worked in manual or industrial labor. Many classes of people were permanently disqualified from membership of the order due to their origins or circumstances. They included the following categories and their descendants: Jews, Muslims, heretics, converts to Christianity, or a mixture of these, no matter how far removed. Also included were people who had been punished for acts against the Catholic faith; had been an attorney, moneylender, notary public, retail merchant, or had worked where they lived or would have lived from their trade; had been dishonoured, had neglected the laws of