San Pedro de Cardeña
San Pedro de Cardena is a Cistercian - Abbey of Trappist ( Latin Abbatia Santa Maria ad Martyrs ) and for centuries has been the resting place of the Spanish national hero Cid Campeador and his wife Doña Jimena . Disbanded in the 19th century, it was used as a concentration camp by Franco from 1936 to 1940 .
location
The monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña is located approx. 11.5 kilometers southeast of Burgos and - although it belongs to the municipality of Castrillo del Val - is best reached via the BU800.
history
middle Ages
It is sometimes thought that the Benedictine monastery was founded at the time of the Arian Visigoths . According to the foundation annals , the monastery is said to have been founded in Cardena in 899. In 902 Gonzalo Téllez , who was possibly Count of Castile at the time , made a donation to the monastery and was probably buried here after his death (around 915), because his wife gave the monastery as a gift in 929 about twelve kilometers to the west located hometown of Gonzalo Tellez '- Pedernales. It seems to have been adopted by the Cistercians in the High Middle Ages, but there is no more detailed information.
During a Moors attack under Emir Abd ar-Rahman III. on August 6, 953 the monastery was sacked and all the monks killed. Buried in the monastery, they were canonized in 1603 as the " Martyrs of Cardeña " . Every year on August 6th , the monks are commemorated in a large procession in the monastery, where a blood-red colored trail runs through it. King Philip III of Spain with his wife, Queen Margarita of Austria , were among the visitors.
Modern times
In 1835 the Spanish national hero, the Castilian knight Cid Campeador , and his wife Doña Jimena were transferred from the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña to the cathedral of Burgos . After the monastery was plundered several times by Andalusian or French troops , it was secularized by Alvarez Mendizabal in 1836 . In 1880 some Spanish-French Trappist monks from the French monastery Divielle took over the monastery. It was then taken over in 1888 by a small community of Piarists who gave it up in 1901. In 1905 French Capuchins expelled from Toulouse took it over , but gave it up in 1921. In that year the bones of Cid and his wife Dona Jimeña were also transferred to the Cathedral of Burgos . After that, there was no religious life in the buildings for years.
The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
In 1936, during Franco's time , a concentration camp designed for 1200 people was built in the monastery , which existed until the beginning of 1940. In the first years of the war , however, the occupancy was 5000 people. Several thousand Republicans , mainly captured in the north of Spain , were interned. About a thousand prisoners from the International Brigades were transferred to Cardeña.
According to interned brigadists, nearly 50% of the members of the International Brigades have been liquidated. Most of the brigadists had been arrested by the Italian volunteer corps, the Corpo Truppe Volontarie . After the Battle of Guadalajara in March 1937, in which the Republicans captured around 400 members of the Corpo troops, an exchange with 200 internees of the XI took place. International Brigade from San Pedro de Cardeña. From April 1938, the central registration of brigadists of the international brigades took place in San Pedro de Cardeña . British brigadists who were captured during the Battle of Jarama were transferred from Salamanca to San Pedro de Cardeña. From January to April 1939, British and Irish prisoners of the International Brigades were exchanged for members of the Corpo Volontarie troop. The Irish leader Frank Ryan, however, was transferred to the concentration camp in Miranda de Ebro . As an adjutant to Republican General José Miaja , he was captured during the Aragon offensive on April 1, 1938, where he was sentenced to death, a sentence that was commuted to 30 years imprisonment by the intervention of Irish President Éamon de Valera . He was transferred to the Gestapo and died in June 1944.
The largest part was integrated into the forced labor battalion No. 75, which was reserved for foreigners . Many internees were transferred to the Miranda de Ebro concentration camp , and numerous German brigadists were handed over to the Gestapo.
post war period
On May 1, 1942, Trappist brothers from the monastery of San Isidro de Dueñas settled here, who are once again living according to the Benedictine rule.
monastery
architecture
Today's monastery is a conglomerate of buildings from different centuries: The entrance building with two corner projections dates from the 16th century and shows a representative portal crown with an equestrian statue of Santiago Matamoros (sometimes interpreted as El Cid ) plus two heraldic shields with stone crowns. Behind it is the - inaccessible - enclosure area for the monks. The former Romanesque church was replaced in the 15th century by the architect Pedro de Burgo with the current three-aisled building with a bell gable ( espadaña ) in the west; the interior design is entirely in the tradition of the Cistercian Gothic. From there you can reach the cloister in the north, together with the chapter house from the late 12th century, which has been converted into a museum . The oldest component of today's monastery is the Romanesque tower from around 1170, which stands between the transept and apse of the church.
Furnishing
The church has Gothic choir stalls in the Mudejar style . In the chapter house from the 13th century is the Museo San Pedro de Cardeña with a group of apostles by the artist Jusepe de Ribera from the 17th century.
Scriptorium
The scriptorium of San Pedro de Cardeña was one of the most important in Europe in its time. A Beatus manuscript was created here around 1200 , the illustrations of which are among the most original of their kind. Today they are scattered in several museums around the world.
See also
literature
- The Volunteer: The Abraham Lincoln Brigade's veterans magazine, The Volunteer, published several articles relating to acts on November 4th, 5th and 6th in Burgos and San Pedro de Cardeña, http://www.albavolunteer.org/
- Bernard Peugniez: Le Guide Routier de l'Europe Cistercienne. Editions du Signe, Strasbourg 2012, pp. 814–815.
Web links
- Website of the monastery, history - photos + information (Spanish)
- Website of the monastery, architecture and art - photos + information (Spanish)
- Beatus de Cardeña - Photos + Info (Spanish)
- Page on the Trappist homepage
- Page in the Cistopedia
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Prisoners at San Pedro de Cardeña, accessed May 3, 2012
Coordinates: 42 ° 18 ′ 15.5 " N , 3 ° 36 ′ 26.6" W.