Commander is the name given to the individual who receives a honorary decoration military, political or ecclesiastical; someone who is blessed with a commendation, that is, a benefit.
Currently, the term Commander is used only as a badge of honor, offered by some type of authority to people who stand out for helping to aggrandize society, whether by work or social, economic and political influences, by example.
However, in the past the commendations were given to ecclesiastics (church members) or military knights, and could be either a sum of money or a portion of land that was offered officially for those who demonstrate services in benefit of the interests of the authority that granted them the title, such as the government, the monarchy, the church and etc.
The tradition of awarding commendation and commendator titles began in Europe and has existed for many centuries as a strategy to ensure and preserve land conquest and encourage expansion territorial. The donated land should be obligatorily defended by the commander from the attack of invaders and enemies.
In Portugal, the distribution of commendations was an important tool for the Portuguese monarchs to obtain more services and vassalage. The so-called "military orders" were offered by three main Orders: Christ, São Bento de Avis and Santiago.
