The Order of Santiago was a Spanish military religious order founded around 1170, dedicated to the apostle Saint James, whose shrine at Santiago de Compostela was one of medieval Christendom's great pilgrimage destinations, with an original mission to protect pilgrims travelling the route and to fight against Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula during the Reconquista. Unlike the strictly celibate Templars and Hospitallers, Santiago knights were permitted to marry, which helped the order grow into one of the wealthiest and most influential in medieval Castile and Leon, accumulating vast estates, castles and revenues across Spain and, after 1492, holdings in the Americas as well. The order was governed by an elected grand master until the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella secured papal permission to annex the mastership permanently to the Spanish Crown in 1499, folding its resources and patronage directly into royal authority. The Order of Santiago continues today as a Spanish honorific order, its cross-shaped emblem remaining one of the most recognisable symbols of medieval Iberian chivalry.
Facts
Organization TypeMilitary religious order (chivalric crusading order) 1 FoundedBritannica dates the founding to about 1160; this entity's own earlier description gives circa 1170. Both figures are approximate scholarly estimates for a 12th century founding with no single surviving foundation charter. HeadquartersUclés, Cuenca Province, Castile, Spain 2 IndustryProtection of pilgrims and military campaigns of the Reconquista 2 Organization Type
Organization Type (category)Military / Religious Order 1 Organization Type (category)Chivalric / Dynastic Order 1 Connections
Associated With
The Order of Santiago and the Order of Calatrava were parallel Iberian military orders of the Reconquista.
Founded as a military order to fight in the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula.
In Era
Founded around 1170, within the Post-Classical and Medieval Period (476 to 1453).
In the Other Atlases
Located In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is located.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is located.
Sources
1. Order of Santiago (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.lead paragraphQuote, lead paragraph
founded about 1160 in Spain for the purpose of fighting Spanish Muslims and of protecting pilgrims on their way to the shrine of St. James in Santiago de Compostela
2. Wikipedia: Order of Santiago
Wikipedialead paragraph
Its initial objective was to protect the pilgrims on the Way of St. James, to defend Christendom and to remove the Muslim Moors from the Iberian Peninsula with the Reconquista.
History section
Thereafter, Uclés, in Cuenca Province, was regarded as the headquarters of the order; there the grand master habitually resided, aspirants passed their year of probation, and the rich archives of the order were preserved until united in 1869 with the "Archivo Histórico Nacional" of Madrid.
In Group: Chivalric Orders Founded in the Twelfth Century, Article text
founded in the 12th century
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