Order of Alcántara

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Alcantara Order.

The Alcántara Order was a Spanish knightly order that took part in the Reconquista . It was founded in 1156 by Suero Fernández Barrientos and the prior Gómez Fernández under the name Orden de San Julián de Pereiro to protect the place Ciudad Rodrigo from the Moors . In 1177 the original rule of the order was confirmed by the Pope . As in all orders of knights, its members were counted among the clergy , although socio-politically they represented the interests of the nobility. The order was geographically and personally deeply rooted in the Spanish Extremadura , where almost all of its lands have been located throughout its existence. Traditionally there was a close political connection to the Crown of León , later Castile .

With the takeover of the Alcántara fortress to protect the strategically important Roman bridge over the Río Tajo in 1218, which was connected with certain formal concessions to the Order of Calatrava , who had previously been entrusted with the defense of the bridge for a few years , the order took over the rule of the Cistercians . Alcántara was the headquarters of the order for a long time. In the period that followed, the new name of the Order of Alcántara gradually replaced the original name and was also used in the official title of the Grand Masters from 1253 at the latest . The consecration to St. Julián de Pereiro was transformed from a name to a mere patronage .

Like the other great Spanish knightly orders, the Alcántara order was run as a tight military association based on the model of the Knights Templar . In recognition of his military achievements, he received extensive estates and privileges in southwestern Spain through donations from the crown, such as bridge tariffs and mill taxes. In the course of its history, the order was able to win several legal disputes with the Knights Templar over possessions in Extremadura (which was in the interests of the king because the Templars acted much more politically). A number of particularly important commanderies of the Order of Alcántara were located in the Serena region in south-eastern Extremadura, where he also took over more of its goods when the Order of the Templars was dissolved. In practice, however, the possessions of the Order of Alcántara already reached with the conquest of Córdoba under Ferdinand III. 1236 its final territorial expansion. The order later took part in conquests in Andalusia , but hardly gained any additional goods there.

Among the grandmasters of the Alcántara order there are well-known names of the Spanish nobility such as Juan de Zúñiga and Gonzalo Pérez Gallego . Nicolás de Ovando , a knight of the Alcántara order and favorite of King Ferdinand II of Aragon , was the opponent of Christopher Columbus sent by the king to Hispaniola , who refused to give him any support on his fourth journey. Luis de Ávila y Zúñiga was a well-known historian and troop leader who, as a favorite and diplomat of Charles V, often intervened as his envoy to Popes Paul IV and Pius IV and accompanied Charles on his campaigns in North Africa. He also took on the side of the Duke of Alba, Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo , the Schmalkaldic War in Germany in part.

In the second half of the 15th century, the territory of the Order of Alcántara comprised a large part of the present-day province of Cáceres on the border with Portugal , the mountains of the Sierra de Gata and practically the entire east of the province of Badajoz (the area of La Serena ). There the order owned large herds of cattle in the vicinity of important royal estates ( Real Dehesa de La Serena ), which took part in the annual migration from the winter pastures ( invernaderos ) via special cattle drive routes ( cañadas ) to the summer pastures ( agosteros ) as part of the transhumance . Even today, in Castuera , one of the most important places formerly ruled by the Alcántara Order, the “ Salón del Ovino ” is held once a year in September , a sheep farmers' fair that is noted throughout Extremadura. Overall, the size of the order's possessions in Extremadura can be estimated at around 7000 km² (not counting isolated exclaves in Andalusia and Castile), which means that the Alcántara order lagged considerably behind the Calatrava and Jacobean orders . As the smallest of the three orders of knights in Spain, the Order of Alcántara had significantly fewer financial resources than the other orders, which of course was also reflected in its lower military strength.

Based on a bull from Pope Innocent VIII , the Catholic Kings also placed the Order of Alcántara under the administration of the Crown. With their measures the military and financial power of the orders of knights and thus of the high nobility should be curtailed. In 1492 King Ferdinand II obtained from Pope Alexander VI. the transfer of the title of Grand Master of the Order of Alcántara for life. With the final transfer of the now hereditary grand master titles of all three Spanish knightly orders to the crown by Pope Hadrian VI. in 1522 their political independence was terminated.

Since the 13th century, the order of the Alcántara order has consisted of a white cloak with an embroidered green lily cross , which is very similar in shape to the red cross of the Calatrava order .

List of Grand Masters of the Order of Alcántara

  • 1156–1174: Suero Fernández Barrientos
  • 1174-1200: Gómez Fernández Barrientos
  • 1200-1208: Benito Suárez
  • 1208-1219: Nuño Fernández
  • 1219–1227: Diego García Sánchez
  • 1227-1234: Arias Pérez
  • 1234-1254: Pedro Yáñez
  • 1254–1284: García Fernández de Barrantes
  • 1284-1292: Fernando Páez
  • 1292-1294: Fernando Pérez
  • 1296-1312: Gonzalo Pérez
  • 1312-1318: Ruy Vázquez
  • 1318-1334: Suero Pérez Maldonado
  • 1334-1335: Ruy Pérez Maldonado
  • 1335: Fernando López
  • 1335: Suero López
  • 1337-1338: Gonzalo Martínez de Oviedo
  • 1338-1343: Nuño Chamizo
  • 1343-1346: Peralonso Pantoja
  • 1346-1355: Fernando Pérez Ponce de León
  • 1355: Diego Gutiérrez de Ceballos
  • 1355-1361: Suero Martínez Aldama
  • 1361-1364: Gutierre Gómez de Toledo
  • 1364-1369: Martín López de Córdoba
  • 1369: Pedro Muñiz de Godoy
  • 1369-1371: Melendo Suárez
  • 1371-1375: Ruy Díaz de la Vega
  • 1375-1383: Diego Martínez
  • 1383-1384: Diego Gómez Barroso
  • 1384-1385: Gonzalo Nuñez de Guzmán
  • 1385-1394: Martín de la Barruda
  • 1394–1408: Fernando Rodríguez de Villalobos
  • 1408-1416: Sancho de Castilla
  • 1416-1432: Juan de Sotomayor
  • 1432-1456: Gutierre de Sotomayor
  • 1457-1470: Gómez de Cáceres y Solís
  • 1471-1473: Alfonso de Monroy
  • 1473-1492: Juan de Zuñiga
  • since 1492: see Spanish crown

See also

literature