{"id":6782,"date":"2022-10-19T21:14:51","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T21:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prueba.caminodesantiagofrances.com\/en\/?page_id=6782"},"modified":"2026-09-17T15:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T13:31:33","slug":"order-of-santiago","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/caminodesantiagofrances.com\/en\/order-of-santiago\/","title":{"rendered":"Order of Santiago"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Order of Santiago<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Order of Santiago<\/b> is a religious and military order that arose in the 12th century in the kingdom of Leon. It takes its name from the patron saint of Spain, Saint James the Greater<\/a><\/strong>. Its initial purpose was to protect pilgrims<\/a><\/strong> on the Camino de Santiago Frances<\/a><\/strong> and to drive the Muslims out of the Iberian Peninsula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Order originated in the city of Caceres out of the earlier Order of the Fratres de Caceres<\/strong>. The Bishop of Santiago de Compostela encouraged this conversion in exchange for the Order not demanding, in its reconquering advance southward, the return of the archbishopric to Merida, where it had been until the Muslim invasion led to its being moved north, to Santiago de Compostela<\/a><\/strong>. After the death of Grand Master Alonso de Cardenas in 1493, the Catholic Monarchs incorporated the Order into the Crown of Spain, and Pope Adrian VI permanently united the mastership of Santiago with the crown in 1523.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First Republic abolished the Order in 1873 and, although it was restored under the Restoration, it was reduced to an honorary noble institute governed by a Supreme Council answering to the Ministry of War, which was itself abolished after the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1931.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Order of Santiago,<\/strong> along with those of Calatrava, Alcantara and Montesa, was reinstated as a civil association under the reign of Juan Carlos I as an honorary noble and religious organisation, and has remained so since the late 20th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cross of Santiago<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The insignia of the Order is a gules cross shaped like a sword, with a fleur-de-lis form on the hilt and the arms. The knights bore the cross emblazoned on their standard and white cloak. The cross on the standard had a scallop shell at its centre and another at the end of each of its arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two fleurs-de-lis on the side extremities represent unblemished honour<\/i>, referring to the moral qualities of the apostle’s character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sword represents the knightly character of the Apostle Saint James and the manner of his martyrdom, since he was beheaded with a sword. It may also symbolise, in a sense, taking up the sword in the name of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cross of Santiago<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is said that its shape dates back to the time of the Crusades, when knights carried small crosses with a sharpened lower end so they could be driven into the ground for their daily devotions. In fact, history tells us it arose in Reconquista-era Spain, after the Battle of Clavijo (23 May 844).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History of the Order of Santiago<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Origin of the Order of Santiago<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Between 1157 and 1230, the royal dynasty split into two rival branches, and this rivalry tends to obscure the Order’s early history. Although Santiago de Compostela<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> (A Coruna Province<\/a><\/strong>, Galicia) is the centre of devotion to this apostle, it is neither the birthplace nor the main seat of the Order. Two cities vied for the honour of being the Order’s seat: Leon, in the old kingdom of that name, and Ucles in the new kingdom of Castile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some sources suggest the Order of Santiago<\/strong> was created in the wake of the victory at the Battle of Clavijo, said to have taken place in La Rioja<\/a><\/strong> in the year 844. Although attributing the Order’s creation to that battle \u2014 now considered a fictitious event that never took place \u2014 stems from devotion to the apostle, to whom legend attributes an intervention in that combat, and for this reason depictions of this battle recur constantly in paintings, sculptures, miniatures and reliefs belonging to the Order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military Founding of the Order of Santiago<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The origin of this military order is unclear, owing to the dual founding that military orders underwent. The first founding was military, when in the year 1170 King Fernando II of Leon and the Bishop of Salamanca, Pedro Suarez de Deza, entrusted a group of thirteen knights, known as the Fratres<\/i> or Knights of Caceres<\/i>, with the defence of the city of Caceres \u2014 which they were forced to abandon when it was conquered by the Muslims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This group of knights was led by Pedro Fernandez de Castro, “Potestad”, who was descended from the kings of Navarra on his father’s side, and from the counts of Barcelona on his mother’s. Among the other knights were: Pedro Arias, Count Rodrigo Alvarez de Sarria, Rodrigo Suarez, Pedro Muniz, Fernando Odoarez, lord of la Varra, and Arias Fumaz, lord of Lentazo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the founding bull, these knights, repenting of the licentious life they had led until then, had previously joined together under common statutes and decided to form a congregation to defend the pilgrims visiting the tomb of the Apostle Saint James in Galicia and to guard the borders of Extremadura.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before 1170, the first to conceive the idea of coming to the aid of the many pilgrims travelling to Compostela were the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine<\/strong>. They lived under the obedience of a prior elected and confirmed by themselves at the convent known as San Loyo or San Eloy de Loyo, near Compostela, founded after the example of the knights of the Order of Calatrava, who were likewise devoted to protecting the safety of the roads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years many hospitals were built to shelter pilgrims<\/a><\/strong>, from the Pyrenees to the city of Compostela itself. For effective defence, the Freires<\/i> \u2014 or Knights \u2014 of Caceres decided to join with those religious and bound themselves by solemn vow to guard and defend those roads. The canons, accepting the knights’ offer, agreed to receive them into their Order, to live with them in community and to act as their chaplains, guiding them spiritually and administering the sacraments to them. It was then that the Freires de Caceres<\/strong><\/i> changed their name to Freires de Santiago<\/strong><\/i>, and the Order was thus organised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking part in the founding of the Order were Cerebruno and Pedro Gundesteiz, Archbishops of Toledo and Santiago de Compostela; Juan, Fernando and Esteban, Bishops of Leon, Astorga and Zamora, respectively, as well as the papal legate, Cardinal Jacinto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 29 July 1170, the Order of Santiago<\/strong> was founded, organised and established, and by 1172 it had spread to Castile. Although the Order of Santiago had been born in the kingdom of Leon, it also spread through the kingdoms of Portugal, Aragon, France, England, Lombardy and Antioch, though its main expansion would be confined to the kingdoms of Leon and Castile. The Knights of Avila joined its rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religious Founding of the Order of Santiago<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The religious founding is to be credited to King Alfonso VIII of Castile, with the approval of Pope Alexander III through a bull granted on 5 July 1175 at Ferentino, near Rome, so that its members would be raised in the fear of God:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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…and as a remedy for human weakness, marriage is permitted to those who cannot remain continent; the wife keeping her faith uncorrupted to her husband and the husband to his wife, so that the continence of the marriage bed not be broken, according to the institution of God and the permission of the Apostle Saint Paul.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In that bull he approved its constitutions and exempted it from the jurisdiction of ordinary or common friars, a grace later ratified by Popes Lucius III, Urban III and Innocent III through further bulls that likewise settled the status of the knights and of the religious. From this point on they became known as the Knights of Santiago<\/b>, since the name Knights or Freires of Ucles, which appears in some older documents, did not prevail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result of this dual founding act \u2014 royal institution and papal approval \u2014 the Order was established as a Militia Christi<\/i>, with both a religious and a military calling, whose mission was the “service of God, the exaltation and defence of the Christian religion<\/i>, and Catholic Faith<\/i>, and the defence of the Christian Republic<\/i>“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Name of the Order of Santiago<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Order’s definitive name is rooted in the devotion held throughout the medieval centuries in Spain to the Apostle Saint James<\/a><\/strong>. All of Spain regards Saint James the Greater as the first to preach the Gospel to the peoples of Hispania. He later returned to Jerusalem, where he was the first of the apostles to shed his blood, by order of Herod Agrippa I, and, according to tradition, his disciples carried his body to Spain and laid it to rest at Iria Flavia (Galicia) in the early 9th century. His relics were discovered during the reign of Alfonso II the Chaste<\/i>, thus beginning the flow of pilgrims to his tomb, with Teodomiro as Bishop of Iria Flavia, and it was in the 12th century that the episcopal see was moved to Compostela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was natural for knights to commend themselves in a special way to the patronage of Saint James upon entering battle, and it is understandable that they often believed they felt heavenly protection thanks to the apostle’s favourable intervention. For this reason, with the agreement of the second Archbishop of Compostela, Pedro Gudesteiz, on 12 February 1171 Pedro Fernandez and his entire militia consecrated themselves as vassals and knights of the Apostle Saint James, naming the master and his successors canons of the church of Compostela, and the archbishop and his successors friars of the new order of chivalry. Thus all would henceforth be named Knights of Santiago, and so the Pope would name them in his bull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A large-scale painting is still preserved depicting the moment when Pedro Fernandez, accompanied by the first knights wearing their white cloaks bearing the red cross of Santiago as the Order’s emblem, presented Pope Alexander with the rule for his confirmation. This painting hung for many years on the left side of the nave of the church of the monastery of Ucles. Today it is kept in the monastery’s sacristy pending restoration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ucles, Seat of the Order of Santiago<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Knights of Santiago held possessions in the following kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula: Leon, Castile, Aragon and Portugal; but Fernando II of Leon and Alfonso VIII of Castile each set the condition that the Order’s seat be located within their respective states: at San Marcos de Leon and Ucles. This gave rise to a long-running conflict that ended only when, in 1230, Fernando III the Saint<\/i>, united both crowns. Since then, Ucles, in the province of Cuenca, has been regarded as the seat of the Order, Caput ordinis<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Frates de Caceres<\/i> left the kingdom of Leon, forced out by the loss of Caceres, their original seat, and of the lands they had acquired in the territory of Badajoz, under pressure from the Almohads, they moved into Castile, where they were well received by King Alfonso VIII. He handed over the castle of Ucles to the Knights of Santiago so they could defend that district and that of Huete from Muslim attacks. The castle had belonged since 1163 to the Knights of Saint John, but the king was displeased with their conduct \u2014 since during the period they held it they had achieved nothing notable \u2014 and withdrew possession of that border castle from them in favour of the knights of Santiago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 9 January 1174 a solemn ceremony took place in Arevalo in which Alfonso VIII handed over the castle and town of Ucles, with all its lands, vineyards, meadows, pastures, streams, mills, fisheries, tolls, and rights of entry and exit, to the Master of the Order, Pedro Fernandez de Fuentencalada. The ceremony was attended by the prelates and nobles of the kingdom and by Alfonso VIII together with his wife Eleanor of England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of that same month the knights of the Order of Santiago<\/strong> took possession of the town and fortress granted by Alfonso VIII, a ceremony attended by the Archbishop of Santiago. The banner of Santiago, which the archbishop had presented to them at Santiago de Compostela<\/strong>, flew for the first time from the keep. The church of Santa Maria del Castillo changed its name to Santiago until the convent was built with a new church suited to the Order’s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Ucles stood the monastery where the Order’s grand master habitually resided; this monastery was demolished in the 16th century to build the present-day monastery, begun in 1529 and completed in 1735. Aspirants spent a year and a day on probation at the monastery. The Order’s archives, which were kept at Ucles, were transferred in 1869 to the National Historical Archive in Madrid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Order received its first charter in 1171 from Cardinal Jacinto \u2014 later Pope Celestine III \u2014 and in 1175 the papal bull of Alexander III.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Order of Santiago<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Type<\/th>Honorary and religious order
(formerly also military)<\/td><\/tr>
Affiliation<\/th>Catholic Church<\/td><\/tr>
Eligibility<\/th>Noble lineage<\/td><\/tr>
First Grand
Master<\/th>		Pedro Fernandez de Castro Potestad<\/i><\/td><\/tr>
Grand Master<\/th>H.M. King Felipe VI<\/td><\/tr>
Status<\/th>Currently an honorary institution<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n