Calatrava, Order of

The Order of Chivalry of Calatrava is both military and religious, founded in the Kingdom of Castile during the 12th century by Abbot Raymond of Fitero.

The purpose of its foundation was the protection of the town of Calatrava la Vieja, which currently belongs to the municipality of Carrión de Calatrava in Ciudad Real. At the time of the order's foundation, it was an important city, in the middle valley of the river Guadiana and with a strategic position, as it was a necessary passage on the road from Toledo to Córdoba to Toledo and between the west and east of the Iberian Peninsula.

On the origin and antiquity of the Military Order of Calatrava, and the form of its Commandery

[Avilés, J.; 1780b; treatise IV, chapter IV, pages 334] writes «The Military Order of Calatrava was instituted by Don Sancho III, King of Castile (called the Desired), in the year 1158, while he was visiting his Kingdom; and being in Toledo with news of the great army that the Moors were gathering to besiege Calatrava la Vieja (which is called so today to distinguish it from the new one, which was founded later); and as the Templars, to whom this Fortress belonged, did not have sufficient power to resist such a large multitude, they handed it over to King Don Sancho himself so that he could take charge of it, as he did».

[Avilés, J.; 1780b; treatise IV, chapter IV, page 335] continues by telling us «The Abbot of Santa María de Fitero», near the river Pisuerga as he will indicate next, «of the Congregation of Cistercian, in the Bishopric of Palencia (which is a Monastery of St. Bernard, located on the river Pisuerga), named Don Raymond, and Friar Diego Velazquez, his subject Monk, who followed the Court, despite the difficulty of the enterprise, requested it from the King to defend it, which was granted, trusting in the virtue of the Abbot, and the strength of the Monk, who had previously been a great Knight in deeds of Arms, and very practiced in war».

[Avilés, J.; 1780b; treatise IV, chapter IV, page 336] continues «Seeing themselves in such an obligation, and that by themselves they could not fulfill it, they turned to Archbishop Don Juan (who was the fourth of Toledo) for help; and he, granting many indulgences in all his Archbishopric to those who, for themselves and for others, supplied the Place with provisions, in the same way as those who, unable to go due to old age or illness, helped with weapons, horses, and men; and having spread this news, so much help came to them, that when the Moors learned that the number of people exceeded twenty thousand men, they abandoned the conquest, returning to their homes: for this reason, the King ceded the Town of Calatrava to the Abbot of Fitero, and his successors, to defend it from the Moors from then on, confirmed later by King Alfonso IX, his son».

[Avilés, J.; 1780b; treatise IV, chapter IV, page 337] concludes «Having obtained this grace, Abbot Don Raymond brought the most suitable Monks from Fitero to Calatrava, and everything else that was necessary for living and for the defense of the Town and its land, which with the people inclined to war who remained, formed the Order of Chivalry of Calatrava, taking this name from the place where the institution was made, which in Arabic Calatrava means Castle».

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Categories: Institution, Interpreted, Religious, Military, Illuminated, Outlined in sable, Freehand, Emblem, Cross of Calatrava, Cross couped and Cross.

Order of Chivalry of Calatrava

A cross of Calatrava.

Una cruz de Calatrava.

Interpretation of the emblem of the order with: its cross outlined in Sable, illuminated in Gules; and a heavily beaten metal finish.

The Royal Council of the Orders of Chivalry of Santiago, Calatrava, Alcantara, and Montesa, in its historical review of the foundation of the Order of Calatrava, states that it was founded during the reign of Sancho III of Castile in the 12th century.

After the Templars withdrew from the defense of the town, King Sancho III proposed in Toledo and later confirmed in Almazán, in January 1158, the perpetual donation of the town of Calatrava to Raymond, then Abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Fitero, who, together with the former soldier Diego Velázquez, committed to defending it from attacks by the Almohads. For this mission, they received financial support from the Archbishop of Toledo, Juan, and from Toledo itself, thus managing to form an army of more than 20,000 men.

Emblem

Regarding the emblem of the Order of Chivalry of Calatrava [Avilés, J.; 1780b; treatise IV, chapter IV, page 338, figure 102] it states «the Seal was always a red cross with blue straps, and the Banner originally bore a black Cross; but today they use the red cross florety, bordered with eight circles, placed side by side, and joined at the center, formed by a cord that emerges from the leaves of the flower, which Benedict XIII gave (while recognized in Spain) and which is the Commandery that the Knights of this Order wear on their chest today, or hanging from a red ribbon on a gold medal; that is, on a field of Or a cross of Gules».

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Blazon keywords: Cross of Calatrava, Cross couped and Cross.

Style keywords: Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Soft metal.

Classification: Interpreted, Religious, Military and Emblem.

Bearer: Calatrava, Order of.

Coat of arms of the municipality of Jamilena, province of Jaén.

Or, a cross of Calatrava.

Escudo de oro, una cruz de Calatrava.

Coat of arms interpreted as follows: the shield's shape is a semicircular arch; the field is illuminated in metal Or; the cross of Calatrava is outlined in Sable and illuminated in Gules; and the entire piece has a rough line finish.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Or, Cross of Calatrava, Cross couped and Cross.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Freehand.

Classification: Interpreted, Civic and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Jamilena.

Or, a cross of Calatrava. Crest: An open royal crown Or.

Escudo de oro, una cruz de Calatrava. Timbrado de una corona real abierta.

Coat of arms interpreted as follows: the shield's shape is a semicircular arch; the field is illuminated in metal Or; the cross of Calatrava is outlined in Sable and illuminated in Gules; the royal crown is open, outlined in Sable and illuminated in metal Or, pearls in Argent, gemstones in Gules and Vert, and the visible base hollow in Sable; and the entire piece has a slightly hammered metal finish.

The municipality of Jamilena belongs to the La Campiña region and is the smallest in the province of Jaén. I have depicted its coat of arms with an open royal crown, but representations with a closed royal crown can also be found.

The origin of the cross of Calatrava in its heraldic coat of arms dates back to the year 1525 when Emperor Charles V issued several decrees from Toledo to build a convent for nuns in Jamilena. For the construction of this convent, stones from the Muslim castle, which was reformed and occupied by the Order of Calatrava, were used.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Or, Cross of Calatrava, Cross couped, Cross, Crest, Open royal crown and Crown.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Soft metal.

Classification: Interpreted, Civic and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Jamilena.

It was founded by Count Henry of Burgundy as a military and religious order, in the year 1093, in Beira Alta, Portugal, near the river Côa with the initial name of «Ordem de São Julião do Pereiro» ~ Order of Saint Julian of Pereiro.

In the year 1214, the defense of the city of Alcantara after its conquest was entrusted to the Order of Calatrava, but in 1218 the Calatravans relinquished it due to Alcantara being far from Calatrava.

To defend Alcantara, King Alfonso IX of León entrusted it to the new Order of the Knights of Saint Julian of Pereiro, requesting in return a certain level of dependency on the Order of Calatrava, which led the Knights of Saint Julian to adopt the Cistercian rule.

Once established in Alcantara, their original name referring to Saint Julian fell into disuse, and by 1253 there were already references to the «masters of the Order of Alcantara», with Saint Julian of Pereiro becoming the foundational center and a secondary commandery of the order.

On the origin and antiquity of the Military Order of Alcantara, and the form of its Commandery

[Avilés, J.; 1780b; treatise IV, chapter V, page 339] describes it as follows: «The Military Order, which we now call of Alcantara, was formerly that of Saint Julian of Pereiro, so named after the place where it was based, along the banks of the river Côa, in the Bishopric of Ciudad-Rodrigo, established in the year 1176 by King Ferdinand II of León, and confirmed in 1177 by Pope Alexander III. And the reason for changing its first name to the second, was because after the Knights of Calatrava had taken the City of Alcantara from the Moors and defended it bravely thereafter, they found it would be difficult to keep it, as their main house was very distant, from which the other Knights and reinforcements could not come whenever needed.».

[Avilés, J.; 1780b; treatise IV, chapter V, page 340] continues by telling us «They discussed this inconvenience with others they had at the time with the King of León, Don Alfonso IX, and it was resolved that the Master of Calatrava would give that town to the Knights of Pereiro so that they might defend it, as they did, under certain conditions in the year 1218, later performing marvels in its defense, earning through their fame and distinguished feats new graces from the Kings; and seeing how essential their residence was, the Knights of Pereiro moved to the town of Alcantara, establishing their Convent there, and thus transformed into Knights of Alcantara, who were previously Knights of Saint Julian of Pereiro».

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Categories: Institution, Interpreted, Religious, Military, Illuminated, Outlined in sable, Freehand, Emblem, Cross of Alcantara, Cross couped and Cross.

Order of Cavalry of Alcantara

A cross of Alcantara.

Una cruz de Alcántara.

Interpretation of the emblem of the order with: its cross outlined in Sable, illuminated in Vert; and a heavily beaten metal finish.

The Royal Council of the Orders of Chivalry of Santiago, Calatrava, Alcantara, and Montesa, in its historical account of the foundation of the Order of Alcantara, states that, according to Alonso de Torres y Tapia, Prior of Alcantara and a 17^th-century chronicler, it was founded in 1156, by Don Suero Fernández Barrientos along with other knights from Salamanca, in Pereiro near the River Coa, under the name of the Order of Saint Julian of Pereiro and during the reign of Ferdinand II of León.

Emblem

Regarding the emblem of the Order of Cavalry of Alcantara, [Avilés, J.; 1780b; treatise IV, chapter V, page 340, figure 102], reusing the same figure 102 as for the Order of Calatrava, says «In the past, the Order of Alcantara displayed on its Standard the Gules Straps of Calatrava», remember that due to the commandery of the city of Alcantara, they had to assume some dependency on that of Calatrava, «next to a Pear tree in Vert on a field of Or, which was the insignia of the Order of Pereiro, due to the conformity with which these two Orders lived; but upon changing their Habit, the Pope» Eugene IV «granted them the green Cross», Vert, «in the manner they wear it today, differing from that of Calatrava only in color».

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Blazon keywords: Cross of Alcantara, Cross couped and Cross.

Style keywords: Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Soft metal.

Classification: Interpreted, Religious, Military and Emblem.

Bearer: Alcantara, Order of.

Coat of arms of the Armored Cavalry Regiment Alcantara No. 10, RCAC-10, in 2016.

Argent, a cross of Alcantara.

Escudo de plata, una cruz de Alcántara.

Coat of arms interpreted in the following manner: the shape of the shield is of a semicircular arch; the field is illuminated in the metal Argent; the cross of Alcantara is outlined in Sable and illuminated in Vert; and the whole has a raised stroke finish.

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Blazon keywords: Without divisions, Argent, Cross of Alcantara, Cross couped and Cross.

Style keywords: Semi-circular, Illuminated, Outlined in sable and Freehand.

Classification: Interpreted, Military, Army and Navy and Coat of arms.

Bearer: Alcantara, Cavalry Regiment.

Sigue por: Cavalry Regiment Alcantara, royal crown.