The Order was founded in Bruges on 10 January 1430 by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, on the occasion of his marriage to Isabella of Portugal. The Order of the Golden Fleece was the counterpart of the English Order of the Garter, which dates back to 1348. By establishing this Order, Philip the Good wanted to give his dynasty even more prestige. The new Order was a select association established by the duke to honour his most noble subjects and his foreign allies. The Order was recognised by the pope and was granted papal privileges. One of the privileges of the knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece was that they had been granted the Pope's permission to have masses celebrated in their bedrooms. A privilege which they shared with high clergy and Catholic monarchs.
The Order initially consisted of thirty knights and four officers: a treasurer, a master-at-arms, a chancellor and a registrar, led by the Duke of Burgundy. The number of knights was increased to fifty in 1516. The Order was also led by the Lord of the Netherlands. This means that after Philip the Good, this position was held by successively Charles the Bold, Philip the Handsome, Charles V, Philip II, etc.
The Order lost its Grand Master from the House of Valois when Charles the Bold fell at the Battle of Nancy in 1477. The Order remained in the hands of his daughter Mary of Burgundy and her husband Maximilian of Austria from the house of Habsburg. As a result, the Order's sovereignty passed into the hands of the Habsburgs, as successors to the title "Duke of Burgundy". Hendrik III van Witthem, Lord of Beersel, was invested as knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece during the Chapter of the Order in Mechelen in 1491.
The symbol of the Order is a small golden-woolled ram's fleece with head and legs, passed through a ring and hanging from a golden chain, the 52 links of which bear the Burgundian flint and steel device emblem. The name of the Order probably refers to a tale from Greek mythology. A golden fleece figures in the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, who set out on a quest for a golden ram's fleece.
In the 15th century, the Golden Fleece badge was suspended from a heavy collar composed of firesteels. The knights were expected to wear their collar at all times. As this was very impractical, Charles V allowed the knights in 1516 to use a lighter chain or a silk ribbon. In the 16th century, lighter chains with small round links were used for less formal occasions.
In the 18th century, the Golden Fleece badge, together with the firesteel and a flint with enamelled sparks, was more and more often worn on a red ribbon around the neck or on the breast. This way of wearing the emblem soon became common practice in the European courts, and the chain and the habit fell into disuse.