The Order of Calatrava
The Order of Calatrava is the most senior military-religious order of
knighthood in the Kingdom of Spain, in fact, the most senior on the
Iberian Peninsula, though it was second in terms of being given official
sanction by the Roman Pontiff. It was founded in January of 1158 by St
Raymond of Fitero (San Raimundo de Fitero) during the reign of King
Sancho III of Castile. The fortress of Calatrava la Vieja had been
retaken from the Muslims a few years earlier by Sancho III’s father,
King Alfonso VII of Castile, and holding it was proving problematic. In
those days of private, feudal armies, there was no permanent military
force that could be counted on. St Raymond took up the challenge,
knowing that there were a number of knights and the sons of knights
associated with the recently formed Cistercian Order (a Catholic
religious order also known as the “White Monks”) and so began
establishing a permanent militia force associated with the order. This
was the birth of the Order of Calatrava (sometimes also called the Order
of Calatrava la Vieja and later, after moving, the Order of Calatrava
la Nueva) which was to play a significant part in the on-going,
centuries long struggle to retake the Iberian Peninsula from its Islamic
conquerors.
