The New International Encyclopædia/Swan, Order of the

SWAN, Order of the. A religious association of princes and nobles formed in 1440 by Elector Frederick II. of Brandenburg for benevolent purposes. It was extinguished during the Reformation, but was renewed in 1843 by Frederick William IV. of Prussia as an association, open to men and women of all creeds, for the amelioration of physical and moral ills.