Order of Calatrava

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The Order of Calatrava(Spanish:Orden de CalatravaPortuguese:Ordem de Calatrava) was the

firstmilitary orderfounded inCastile, but the second to receive papal approval. Thepapal

bullconfirming the Order of Calatrava as aMilitiawas given byPope Alexander IIIon September 26,

1164.

Contents

[hide]

1 Origins and Foundation

2 Battles during the Reconquista

o 2.1 Battle of Alarcos

3 After the fall of Granada

4 See also

5 References

6 Literature

Origins and Foundation[edit]It was founded atCalatrava la ViejainCastile, in the twelfth century by St.Raymond of Fitero, as a

military branch of theCistercianfamily.[1]

Theetymologyof the name of thismilitary order, Calatrava,

conveys the meaning: "fortress of Rabah".

In theCistercian Order, then only recently formed (1098), there had been a large number of knights

or sons of knights. In Calatrava, on the contrary, those who had been monks became knights.

Monastic life has been called "a warfare", and it would be a mistake to suppose those rough

medieval warriors sought in the cloister only a comfortable asylum after a troubled career. In bothlives there was an heroic struggle to sustain, whether against one's passions or against the Muslims,
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and the austerities of an ascetic life could not have been more dreadful to them than the privations of

camp life and the wounds of battle. These impetuous natures, who did nothing by halves, were eager

to take Heaven, as they took earthly strongholds, by storm (Matt., xi, 12). However, the Order of

Calatrava owes its origin not to any deliberately prepared plan, but to fortuitous circumstances, the

recital of which would seem to be mere romance if the teller,Rodrigo of Toledo, did not add that he

himself had known in his youth the hero of the story. It runs as follows:

Castillo de Calatrava la Nueva

"Calatrava is theArabicname of acastlerecovered from the Moslems, in 1147, by theKing of

Castile, Alfonso VII, called el Emperador. Located in what was then the southernmost border of

Castile, this conquest was more difficult to keep than to make, especially at a time with neither

standing armies nor garrisons were known. In part to correct this deficiency, the military orders such

asKnights Templarswere founded, where men could fulfill a vow of perpetual war against the

Muslim. The Templars, however, were unable to hold Calatrava, and the king found further volunteer

warriors when Raymond, Abbot of the Cistercian monastery ofFiterooffered himself. This step is

said to have been suggested to the abbot by Father Diego Velzquez, a simple monk, but one who

had been a knight, and thus was well acquainted with military matters. Diego was inspired with the

idea of employing the lay brothers of the abbey to defend Calatrava. These Cistercian lay brothers--

at that time a recent innovation in monastic life--not being in Holy orders, were variously employed in

manual trades such as those of tending herds, construction, farm labor, or husbandry. Diego

recommended that they become soldiers of the Cross. Thus a new order was created in 1157.

Motivated by the desire for religious and pecuniary rewards, these brethren were eager to take the

offensive against theMoors. When the Abbot Raymond died (1163), a certain Don Garca started to

lead them in battle as their first grand master. At the same time, the choir monks, not without protest,

left Calatrava to live under an abbot whom they had chosen, in the monastery ofCirvelos. Only

Velasquez and a few other clerics, to act as chaplains, remained in Calatrava with the knights,

Velasquez becoming prior of the whole community. This somewhat revolutionary arrangement was

approved by the general chapter atCteaux, and by Pope Alexander III (1164). A general chapter

held at Cteaux in 1187 gave to the Knights of Calatrava their definitive rule, which was approved in

the same year byPope Gregory VIII. This rule, modeled upon the Cistercian customs for lay

brothers, was imposed upon the knights, besides the obligations of the three religious vows, the rules

of silence in the refectory, dormitory, and oratory; of abstinence on four days a week, besides several
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fast days during the year; they were also obliged to recite a fixed number of paternosters for each

day Hour of the Office; to sleep in their armour; to wear, as their full dress, theCistercianwhite

mantle with the scarlet cross fleur de lise. Calatrava was subject not toCteaux, but

toMorimondinBurgundy, the mother-house ofFitero, from which Calatrava had sprung.

Consequently, the Abbot of Morimond possessed the right of visiting the houses and of reforming the

statutes of Calatrava, while the highest ecclesiastical dignity of the order, that of grand prior, could be

held only by a monk of Morimond."

Battles during the Reconquista[edit]

The first military services of the Knights of Calatrava had been brilliant, and in return for the great

services they had rendered they received from the King of Castile new grants of land, which formed

their first commanderies. They had already been called into the neighbouring Kingdom of Aragon,

and been rewarded by a new encomienda (landed estate), that ofAlcaiz(1179). But these

successes were followed by a series of misfortunes, due in the first instance to the unfortunate

partition which Alfonso had made of his possessions, and the consequent rivalry which ensued

between the Castilian and Leonese branches of his dynasty. On the other hand, the first successes

of the Reconquista in the 12th century, soon met up with a new wave of Islamic warriors, the invasion

of theAlmohadesfrom Morocco. The first encounter resulted in a defeat for Castile.

Battle of Alarcos[edit]

After the disastrousBattle of Alarcos, the knights abandoned their bulwark of Calatrava to the

Almohades (1195). Velasquez lived long enough to witness the failure of his daring scheme. He died

the next year in the monastery ofGumiel(1196).[2]

The order in Castile appeared to be finished, and

the branch of Aragon sought primacy. The Knights of Alcaiz actually proceeded to elect a new

grand master, but the grand master still living in Castile claimed his right. Finally, by a compromise,

the master of Alcaiz was recognized as second in dignity, with the title of Grand Commander for

Aragon.

The scattered remains of Castilian knights sheltered in theCistercianmonastery ofCirvelos, and

there began to regroup and expand. They soon erected a new bulwark atSalvatierra[disambiguation needed]

,

where they took the name, which they kept for fourteen years, of Knights of Salvatierra (1198). But

Salvatierra itself fell to the Almohades in 1209.

Summoned byPope Innocent III, foreign crusaders joined Iberian Christians. An early battle was the

reconquest of Calatrava (1212), which was returned to its former masters. In the same year thebattle

of Las Navas de Tolosaturned the tide of Muslim domination in Spain. Having recovered its

stronghold, and resumed the title of Calatrava (1216), the order nevertheless removed to more

secure quarters ofCalatrava la Nueva, eight miles from old Calatrava (1218). In 1221 theOrder of

Monfragewas merged into that of Calatrava.
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With the decline of Muslim power, new orders sprang up, including theAlcntarain theKingdom of

Len,Avisin Portugal. Both begun under Calatrava's protection and the visitation of its grand

master. This age marks the climax of Iberian chivalry: it was then thatKing Ferdinand the Saint, after

the definitive coalition of Castile and Len (1229), in (1235) captured the capital of the old

caliphate,Crdoba, soon afterwardsMurcia,Jan, andSeville. The European crusade seemed at an

end. Encouraged by these victories, Ferdinand's successor,Alfonso X, the Wise, planned a crusade

in the East and contemplated marching, with his Castilian chivalry, to restore the Latin Kingdom of

Jerusalem(1272).

Calatrava had developed abundant resources of men and wealth, with lands and castles scattered

along the borders of Castile. It exercised feudal lordship over thousands of peasants and vassals.

Thus, more than once, we see the order bringing to the field, as its individual contributions, 1200 to

2000 knights, a considerable force in theMiddle Ages. Moreover, it enjoyed autonomy, being by its

constitutions independent in temporal matters and acknowledging only spiritual superiorsthe Abbot

of Morimond and, in appeal, the pope. These authorities interfered, in consequence of a schism

which first broke out in 1296 through the simultaneous election of two grand masters, Garca Lopez

and Gautier Perez.

Lopez, dispossessed a first time by a delegate of Morimond, appealed toPope Boniface VIII, who

quashed the sentence and referred the case to the general chapter at Cteaux, where Lopez was re-

established in his dignity (1302). Dispossessed a second time, in consequence of a quarrel with his

lieutenant, Juan Nuez, Lopez voluntarily resigned in favour of Nuez, who had taken his place

(1328), on condition that he should keep the commandery of Zurita; as this condition was violated,

Lopez again, for the third time, took the title of Grand Master in Aragon, where he died in 1336.

These facts sufficiently prove that after the fourteenth century the rigorous discipline and fervent

observance of the order's earlier times had, under the relaxing influence of prosperity, given place to

a spirit of intrigue and ambition.

A Knight of Calatrava just killing his enemy.
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A big Calatrava castle inAlcaiz.

Peter of Castileentered into a conflict with the order. That prince had three grand masters in

succession sentenced to death, as having incurred his suspicion: the first of these was beheaded

(1355) on a charge of having entered into a league with the King of Aragon; the second Estevaez,

having competed for the grand mastership with the king's candidate, Garca de Padilla, was

murdered in the royal palace, by the king's own treacherous hand; lastly Garca de Padilla himself, a

brother of the royal mistress, fell into disgrace, upon deserting the king's party for that of his half

brother,Henry the Bastard, and died in prison (1369).

At the same time began the encroachments of royal authority in the election of the grand master,

whose power was a check upon that of the king. For instance, in 1404,Henry of Villena,Enrique de

Villena, was elected twenty-fourth grand master merely through the favour ofHenry III of Castile,

although Villena was married, a stranger to the order, and by papal dispensation entered upon his

high functions without even the preliminary of a novitiate. A schismin the order ensued and was

healed only after the king's death, in 1414, when a general chapter, held at Cteaux, cancelled the

election of Villena and acknowledged his competitor,Luis Gonzlez de Guzmn, as the only

legitimate master. After the death of Guzman in 1442, a new encroachment ofJohn II of Castilegave

rise to a new schism. He had succeeded in forcing upon the electors his own candidate, Alfonso, a

bastard, of the royal stock of Aragon (1443); but Alfonso having joined a party formed against him,

the king sought to have him deposed by the chapter of the order.

This time the electors divided, and a double election issued in not fewer than three grand

masters:Pedro Giron, who took possession of Calatrava; Ramirez de Guzman, who occupied the

castles of Andalusia; and the bastard Alfonso of Aragon, who continued to be recognized by theknights of the Aragonese branch. At last, through the withdrawal of his rivals one after the other,
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After the fall of Granada[edit]

At his death (1487), Ferdinand of Aragon exhibited to the chapter, assembled for the election of a

new grand master, a Bull fromInnocent VIIIthat invested him with authority to administer the order,

and to this decree he compelled the electors to submit. Thus ended the political autonomy of the

Order of Calatrava. The reason of its beingthe struggle against the Moorsseemed, indeed, to

end with the fall ofGranada(1492).

Pedro de Barberana y Aparregui, Knight of Calatrava, byDiego Velzquez(1631) Kimbell

Art Museum, Fort Worth.

The canonical bond between Calatrava and Morimond had been relaxing more and more. The King

of Spain was too jealous of his authority to tolerate any foreignespecially Frenchintervention in

the affairs of his kingdom. The canonical visits of the Abbot of Morimond ceased; difficulties were

raised when the grand prior came from Morimond to take possession of his dignity. The last French

prior was Nicholas of Avesnes, who died in 1552.

After a long contest, a compromise was effected in 1630, leaving to Morimond its right of electing the

grand prior, but limiting its choice to Spanish Cistercians. Moreover, the knights of the order were

virtually secularized:Pope Paul IIIcommuted their vow of celibacy to one of conjugal fidelity (1540).

As members of the order were allowed to found families, and were authorized byJulius III(1551) to

make free use of their personal property, the vow of poverty also passed into virtual desuetude. In

1652, underPhilip IV, the three Spanish orders took a new vow: that of defending the doctrine of

theImmaculate Conception. This was the last manifestation of any religious spirit in the orders. The
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military spirit, too, had long since disappeared. The orders had, in fact, fallen into a state of utter

inactivity.

The commanderies were but so many pensions at the king's free disposal, and granted by him rather

predictably to the high-born than to the deserving in character, whatever their social status. In 1628the Order of Calatrava was declared to be inaccessible not only to tradesmen, but even to sons of

tradesmen. The last attempt to employ the knights of the three orders for a military purpose was that

of Philip IV, in quelling the rebellion of theCatalans(164050), but the orders restricted their efforts

to the complete equipment of one regiment, which has since been known in the Spanish army as

"The Regiment of the Orders".

In 1750 the singerFarinelliwas made a Knight of the Order of Calatrava.

When theBourbon dynastyoccupied the throne,Charles III, having founded the personal order of his

name, levied upon the old orders a contribution of a million reals to pension 200 knights of the new

order (1775). Their revenues being the only remaining raison d'tre of the order, confiscation

necessarily led to dissolution. Confiscated byKing Joseph(1808), re-established byFerdinand VIIat

the Restoration (1814), the possessions of Calatrava were finally dissipated in the general

secularization of 1838.
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Documents

Order of Calatrava