Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor

The Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor is an organization founded in 1908 to register knights bachelor, the most ancient and lowest rank of English knighthood, originating in the 13th century. Knights bachelor are not part of a specific order of chivalry. Historically, they were often landless knights who fought under senior knights. While a registry for them existed briefly in the 17th century, the Imperial Society now works to maintain a uniform registration. They adopted a badge in 1926 and have St. Bartholomew-the-Great church in London as their chapel. The "knights of the bath" were a medieval precursor to the Order of the Bath, which was formally established in 1725 and is a separate order of British knighthood.123