BIBLIOGRAFÍA GENERAL PALACIOS, M., YARZA, J. y TORRES, R.: El monasterio de , León, 1996. ALDEA, Q., MARÍN, T. y VIVES, J. (dirs.): Diccionario de Historia PÉREZ CARMONA, J.: Arquitectura y escultura románicas en la Eclesiástica de España (5 vols.), , 1972-1987. provincia de , Burgos, 1974. BALAGUER, V. Los frailes y sus conventos, Madrid, 1851- RFVERO. E. DE: Silos, imágenes de un monasterio, Burgos, 1994. BANGO, I.: El monasterio medieval, Madrid, 1990. SERRANO, L.: El Monasterio de Santo Domingo de Silos, BRAUNFELS, W.: La arquitectura monacal en Occidente, Bar­ Burgos (1925). celona, 1975 (1.a edición en alemán, 1969). CHUECA, R: Casas Reales en monasterios y conventos españo­ ANDRADE, J. M.: El monacato benedictino y la sociedad de la les, Madrid, 1966 (nueva ed., Madrid, 1982). medieval (siglos x al xin), Sada, 1997. GARCÍA VILLOSLADA, R.: Historia de la Iglesia Católica. Vol. II. DURO PEÑA, E.: El monasterio de San Esteban de Ribas de Sil, Madrid, 1976 (4.a edición). Orense, 1977. LE BRAS, G. (dir.): Les Ordres Religieux, Ed. Flammarion, 1980 FREIRÉ CAMANIEL, J.: El monacato gallego en la Alta Edad Media, (2 vols.). La Coruña, 1998. NAVASCUÉS PALACIO, P.: Monasterios de España (I), Madrid, GARCÍA IGLESIAS, J.: «El claustro de los Obispos de Ribas de Sil», 1985. en Boletín Auriense, 1983- PÉREZ DE URBEL, FR. J.: El monasterio en la vida española de la GONZÁLEZ, J. I. y SASTRE, C: Conventos y monasterios de Galicia, Edad Media, Madrid, 1942. Vigo, 1999. RINCÓN, W.: Monasterios de España (11), Madrid, 1991. SA BRAVO, H. DE: Monasterios de Galicia, León, 1983- —Monasterios de España (LII), Madrid, 1992. YARZA, J. (dir.): Arte medieval LL, vol. 3 de Fuentes y docu­ mentos para la historia del arte, , 1982. LOS CISTERCIENSES

ALTISENT, A.: História de Poblet, Poblet, 1974. LOS BENEDICTINOS ÁVILA, J.: La Catalunya del Cister, Barcelona, 1999- BASSEGODA, J.: Historia de la restauración de Poblet, Poblet, PÉREZ DE URBEL, FR. J.: Historia de la Orden benedictina, Madrid, 1983. 1941. DIMIER, M. A.: L'art cistercien hors de , Zodiaque, STEIDLE, B.: La Regla de San Benito comentada a la luz del 1971. antiguo monacato, Burgos, 1998. DOMÉNECH I MONTANER, L.: Historia i arquitectura del monestir YEPES, FR. A. DE: Crónica General de la Orden de San Benito, de Poblet, Barcelona, 1925. Irache-Valladolid, 1609-1621. FINESTRES Y DE MONSALVO, J.: Historia del Real Monasterio de WEISBACH, W.: Reforma religiosa y arte medieval, Madrid, Nuestra Señora de Poblet, Cervera y Tarragona, 1753-1765. 1949. FUGUET, J.: El Cister: elpatrimoni deis monestirs catalans a la Corona dAragó, Barcelona, 1998. ARCO, R. DEL: El Real Monasterio de Sanfuan de la Peña, Jaca, MARES, F.: Las tumbas reales de los monarcas de Cataluña y 1919. Aragón del monasterio de Santa María de Poblet, Barcelona, BUESA CONDE, D.: El monasterio de Sanfuan de la Peña, 1963. León, 1975. MARTINELL, C: El monestir de Poblet, Barcelona, 1927. LAPEÑA, A. I.: El monasterio de Sanfuan de la Peña en la MORGADES, B.: Guía del Real Monasterio cisterciense de San­ Edad Media, Zaragoza, 1989- ta María de Poblet, Barcelona, 1946. —«Dos monasterios benedictinos en el Aragón medieval: San PLADEVALL, A.: Els monestirs catalans, Barcelona, 1974. Juan de la Peña y Santa Cruz de la Seros», en Los monas­ SANTACANA, J.: El monasterio de Poblet (1151-1181), Barcelona, terios Aragoneses, Zaragoza, 1999- 1974. ORCASTEGUI, M. C. y SARASA, E.: Sancho Garcéslll, El Mayor TODA I GÜELL, E.: La destrucció de Poblet. Poblet, 1935. (1004-1035), Pamplona, 1991. VILARRUBIAS, F. A.: Hermandad del monasterio cisterciense de PÉREZ DE URBEL, FR. J.: Sancho el Mayor de Navarra, Madrid, Santa María de Poblet. Un cuarto de siglo de restauración 1950. monástica. 1940-1965. Poblet, 1966. AGUILERA Y GAMBOA, E.: El arzobispo D. Rodrigo Ximénez de ROIG, R.: Los cartujos: diálogos en Miraflores, Burgos, 1981. Rada y el monasterio de Santa María de Huerta, Madrid, SAGREDO, E: La Real Cartuja de Miraflores, León, 1973- 1908. TARÍN Y JUANEDA, R: La Real Cartuja de Miraflores (Burgos). CASA, C. y TERES, E.: Monasterio cisterciense de Santa María de Su historia y descripción, Burgos, 1896. Huerta, Soria, 1982. GARCÍA LUJAN, J. A.: Cartulario del monasterio de Santa María BRANS, J. V. L.: El Real Monasterio de Santa María del Paular, de Huerta, Soria, 1981. Madrid, 1956. MARTÍNEZ FRÍAS, J. M.: El gótico en Soria. Arquitectura y es­ GÓMEZ, L: El Monasterio de El Paular, Barcelona, 1975. cultura monumental, Soria, 1980. —El Paular: poesías y leyendas, Zamora, 1979- PÉREZ VILLAMIL, M.: Una visita al monasterio de Huerta, Si- —La cartuja en España, «Analecta Carrusiana» 114, Salzbur­ güenza, 1875- go, 1984. W.AA: Monjes y monasterios. El Cisteren el medievo de Cas­ GÓMEZ, I. y HOGG, J.: La Cartuja de El Paular, «Analecta Car­ tilla y León, Valladolid, 1998. rusiana» 72, Salzburgo, 1982. PAJARÓN, M.: El monasterio de El Paular, León, 1983. AGAPITO Y REVILLA: El Real Monasterio de las Huelgas de Burgos, SÁNCHEZ CORONA, M.: Monasterio de Santa María de El Paular, Valladolid, 1903- Madrid, 1932. GARCÍA, J. J.: El monasterio de las Huelgas. Historia de un señorío cisterciense húrgales (siglos xu y xm), Burgos, CUARTERO, B.: Historia de Santa María de El Paular y de su 1988. filial de (inédito). GÓMEZ MORENO, M.: El Panteón Real de las Huelgas de Burgos. GALLEGO BURÍN, A.: Guía de Granada, Madrid, 1961. Madrid, 1946. OROZCO, E.: La cartuja de Granada, León, 1980. MONTEVERDE, J. L.: Real Monasterio de las Huelgas, Madrid, W.AA.: Las cartujas de Las Cuevas, Cazalla de la Sierra y 1961. Granada, «Analecta Cartusiana», 47:3 Salzburgo, 1979- MUÑOZ PÁRRAGA, M. C: Monasterios de monjas cistercienses, Madrid, 1992. LOS PREMONSTRATENSES

LOS CARTUJOS ARA GIL, C. J.: «El monasterio de Santa María la Real de Aguilar de Campoo», en Jornadas sobre el románico en la provin­ BARLÉS, E.: «Unas notas sobre la Orden cartujana y su arqui­ cia de Patencia, Palencia, 1985. tectura (siglos XI-XVIII)», en Los monasterios aragoneses, GARCÍA GUINEA, J.: El arte románico en Palencia, Palencia, Zaragoza, 1999- (A esta autora se debe una inédita y ex­ 1961. cepcional investigación sobre la cartuja aragonesa de Aula GONZÁLEZ DE FAUVE, E.: La Orden Premonstratense en España. Dei, en trece volúmenes, en la que se plantean cuestiones El monasterio de Aguilar de Campoo (siglos xi-xv), Aguilar fundamentales que afectan a la cartuja y su arquitectura de de Campoo, 1991. un modo muy amplio.) HERNANDO, J. L.: Escultura tardorrománica en el monasterio BRUCE, R. B.: El camino de la cartuja, Estella, 1968. de Santa María de Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia), Aguilar CARTUJO, POR UN: Maestro Bruno. Padre de monjes, Madrid, de Campoo, 1995. 1980. LÓPEZ DE GUEREÑO, M. T.: Monasterios medievalespremons- CHARTREUX, PAR UN: La Grande Chartreuse, París, 1964. tratenses. Reinos de Castilla y León, , 1997.

HOGG, J. y ZUBILLAGA, R: La Cartuja de Mira/lores, «Analecta CADIÑANOS, L: «Proceso constructivo del monasterio de La Vid Carrusiana» 79:2, Salzburgo, 1979. (Burgos)», en Archivo Español de Arte, 1988. HUIDOBRO, L.: «El antiguo Palacio Real de Miraflores», enfio- MENDOZA, J. A.: «El cardenal D. Iñigo de Mendoza y el mo­ letín de la Comisión provincial de Monumentos de Burgos nasterio de La Vid», en Archivo Agustiniano, 1952. (1934-1937). VALLEJO, J. J.: «Domingo de Campdespina, Primer Abad de La MONJE CARTUJO, UN: Santa María de las Flores, Burgos, Vid» en, Analecta Premonstratensia, 1985. 1992 (2.a ed.).

339 ZAPARAÍN, M. J.: El monasterio de Santa María de La Vid. Arte LOS DOMINICOS y cultura. Del Medievo a las transformaciones arquitectó• nicas de los siglos xviiy xvín, Madrid, 1994. MEERSSEMAN, G.: « dominicaine au XlIIéme siécle. Legislation et pratique». Archivum Fratrum Praeáicatorum, 1946. LOS FRANCISCANOS SOUSA, FR. L. y CACEGAS, FR. L..- Historia de S. Domingos Par­ ticular do Reino e Conquistas de , Lisboa, 1866 (3.a CUADRADO, M.: «Arquitectura franciscana en España (si­ edición). glos xm-xrv)», Archivo Ibero Americano, 1991- VICAIRE, H. (O.P.): Historia de Santo Domingo, Barcelona, 1964. —«Arquitectura de las órdenes mendicantes», Historia 16, Madrid, 1993. BENLLIURE JUAN, V.: Breve guía histórico-artística del antiguo GARCÍA ROS, V..- Los franciscanos y la arquitectura, , convento de Santo Domingo. Sede de Capitanía General, 2000. Valencia, 1976. FERRER OLMOS, V: «La iconografía dominicana en la fachada AMADOR DE LOS RÍOS, J. y ASSAS, M.: El monasterio de San Juan de Santo Domingo», en Levante, 1982. de los Reyes en Toledo, Monumentos Arquitectónicos de GASCÓN PELEGRÍ, V.: El Real Monasterio de Santo Domingo, España, Madrid, 1870. Valencia, 1975. AZCÁRATE, J. M.: La arquitectura gótica toledana en el siglo xv, LÓPEZ TORRIJOS, R.: «LOS autores del sepulcro de los Marqueses Madrid, 1958, Catálogo de la Exposición El dibujo español de Zenete», en Archivo Español áe Arte, 1978. de los Siglos de Oro, Madrid, 1980. SALA, F. (O.P.): Historia áe lafunáación y cosas memorables FRANCO, A.: Arquitecturas de Toledo. El período gótico, Toledo, áel Real Convento áe Preáicaáores áe Valencia, Biblioteca 1991. Universitaria de Valencia, ms. 2085. NAVASCUÉS, R: «Arturo Mélida y Alinari», en Goya, 1972. PARRO, S. R.: Toledo en la mano, Toledo, 1857 (nueva edición, GARCÍA CIENFUEGOS, C. (O.P.): Breve reseña histórica del Real Madrid, 1978). Colegio de Santo Tomás, Madrid, 1895. SÁNCHEZ CANTÓN, F. J.: «El dibujo de Juan Guas», Arquitectura, GARCÍA EXTREMEÑO, C. (O.P.): «La Universidad de Santo Tomás 1928. de Ávila», en Stuáium, 1964. GUTIÉRREZ, J. L.: «Desamortización de obras de arte en la pro­ AINAUD, J.: Els vitralls de la catedral de Barcelona i del mo- vincia de Ávila. 1835», en Cuaáernos abulenses, 2000. nestir de Pedralbes, Barcelona, 1997. HERRÁEZ, J. M.: Universidad y universitarios en Ávila durante BALASH, E. y ESPAÑOL, F. (ed.): Elisenda de Monteada: una rei­ el siglo xvii, Ávila, 1994. na lleidetana i la fundado del Reial Monestir de Pedralbes, LÁZARO, J. B.: «Convento de Santo Tomás de Ávila de los Ca­ Lleida, 1997. balleros», Anales de la Construcción y de la Industria, 1876. BASSEGODA AMIGÓ, B.: Pedralbes. Notas Artístico-Biográficas Luis LÓPEZ, C. y SOBRINO, T.: Un linaje abálense en el siglo xv. del Real Monasterio, Barcelona, 1892. Doña María Dávila, Ávila, 1997-1998 (4 vols.). BASSEGODA NONELL, J.: Guía del monasterio de Pedralbes, Bar­ PARRADO DEL OLMO, J. M.: LOS escultores seguiáores áe Berru- celona, 1979. guete en Ávila, Ávila, 1981. CASTELLANO, A.: Pedralbes a l'edat mitjana: historia d'un mo­ Ruiz AYÚCAR, E.: Sepulcros artísticos áe Ávila, Ávila, 1985. nestir femení, Barcelona, 1998 DURAN Y SANPERE, A.: Barcelona i la seva Historia, vol. III, Bar­ ÁLVAREZ VILLAR, J.: Los conventos áe San Esteban y Las Dueñas, celona, 1972. Salamanca, 1998. MESTRES, J. O.: Real Monasterio de Santa María de Pedralbes. CORTÉS, L.: La fachada de San Esteban. Salamanca, 1995- Apuntes histórico-arquitectónicos, Barcelona, 1882. CUERVO, FR. J.: Historíaáores áel Convento áe San Esteban áe VERRIÉ, F. O.: Pedralbes y sus pinturas, Barcelona, 1951. Salamanca, Salamanca, 1914-1915 (3 vols.). VIVES, J.: El monestir de Pedralbes, Barcelona, 1964. ESPINEL, J. L..- San Esteban áe Salamanca: historia y guía (si­ —Reinará des Fonoll, Barcelona, 1969- glos xm-xx), Salamanca, 1995 (2.a edición). RODRÍGUEZ G. y DE CEBALLOS, A..- La iglesia y convento áe San Esteban áe Salamanca, Salamanca, 1987.

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341

MONASTERIES IN Architecture and monastic life

he was the setting in which one of the most characteristic Tlifestyles of the developed. and , in keeping with a specific rule, shared their labours and their days in a disciplined manner which eventually stamped the architecture with features characteristic of their order. , , , , , Dominicans and Hieronymites, amongst others, helped shape a varied monastic landscape with a great personality which in Spain gave rise to one of the most outstanding pages of her architecture. This book presents a selection in which Pedro Navascués Palacio, Professor at the Escuela de Arquitectura de Madrid and a member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, makes a historical tour of some of the most important Spanish .

LUNWERG EDITORES

INTRODUCTION or Books of Customs, though they are sparing and that each part is related to the rest and these with at times silent when it comes to describing the way the whole, both in their proportions and dimen- A he meeting of architecture with religión has been in which their monasteries were built. In my opin­ sions and in functional aspeets and use. In a word, one of the most fortúnate events in history in every ión, though, there must have been unwritten rules this is a prodigy of planning which shows how cultural área of the world. We might say that, from impressed in the buildings themselves, which very developed the ideal of a monastery already its beginnings, from the megalithic at served as a guide to those that followed. Else- was in the ninth century. Stonehenge, architecture itself arises as a need where I have described how, on the occasion of Since then, the monastery as an architectural which all religions set out to codify, so that the tem­ the of the monastery of , the type saw the ups and downs of monastic and con­ ple, be it the Greek, the Christian , the Is- of the Hieronymites, Juan Huete, complained ventual life in its different variants during the lamic , the Chínese pagoda or any other to the 's secretary about the architect's lack of course of the history of the Church, going through place of worship, has for centuries been the con- knowledge as regards the needs of the monastery. one particularly significant period between the necting thread of the history of architecture. During "For although Juan Bautista is a great tradesman eleventh and thirteenth centuries. Hundreds of this process, architecture has not only solved con- and even if he alone knew everything all the Ro­ abbeys and monasteries covered the whole of Eu­ struction problems according to the time and place, mán Builders knew, he could not reach the partic­ rope. Their monks, especially Benedictines, Cister- it has managed to give its image a sacred meaning ular things that are necessary in a monastery." cians, Carthusians and Premonstratensians, were which clearly differentiates it from the profane im­ And he recommended him to visit five or six Hi- counted in their thousands, and the religious or­ age. Even to a non-specialist or non-believer, the eronymite monasteries, "because each order has its ders, as well as the so-called major orders, multi- inside of a Gothic cathedral and the powerful im­ way of life and they are very different and so they plied in such a way that the Fourth Lateran Coun- ages of Hindú temples speak for themselves as re- are in the ordering of their buildings". This friction cil (1215) had to come up with a canon which gards their sacred condition. In other words, their aróse because, contrary to what was usual in the states, "To avoid the excessive diversity of religions architecture has character, it is conceived as a Middle Ages, the architect did not belong to the or­ (religious Orders) causing serious confusión in the scenic framework for a certain religión, certain der itself and was therefore unacquainted with us- Church, from now on we forbid any new religión uses, rites and customs that have gradually shaped ages which any lay brother dominated from the (religious Order) to be instituted, and anyone wish- the final project. What is being aired in architec­ day of his profession. ing to become a churchman () should em­ ture is not so much a question of style as of the The pattern of the Western monastery, in its ba­ brace one of the approved rules". Nevertheless, functional organisation for the best fulfilment of its ste features, has been perfectly defined since at many other orders were subsequently approved, end. Only in this way can we understand religious least Carolingian times, from which an exception- such as the Dominicans, Franciscans, , architecture in all its variants, since if we know the al account has reached us in the form of a twelfth- of Augustine, Servites, Hieronymites function we can understand the form. In turn, this century copy of an original drawing from about and a long list that casts a doubt on the Lateran same architectural form, impregnated with this sa­ the year 825. This is the well known plan the ab- canon. At the same time, these orders branched cred character and wíthout reaching the interpreta- bot of Reichenau sent to the Benedictine out, not only with a female option, but by attracting tive excesses of , unquestionably monastery of Saint-Gall (), in whose li- laymen through the so-called Third Order. To this added something to religión itself. Today it would brary it is kept to this day, along with the following must be added the reforms arising within them, be extremely difficult to conceive of religious life in letter: "I have sent you, my dearest son Gozbert which gave rise to different observances and con- the Middle Ages in without a mental picture ( of Saint-Gall), this representation of the or­ gregations, so that monastic life, only in the Mid­ of its cathedrals and monasteries. der of the buildings and some other things, so that dle Ages, appears as a dense and tightly-knit fabric. The world of monastic life in the West is one of you can exercise your authority and understand Practically all the orders aróse with a wish for the many facets of the history of religión which the veneration I nevertheless feel for you. I hope reform, reform of the Church, as conceived by the had to formalise its own living space, especially you will not consider me negligent in the fulfil­ Benedictines of Cluny, or reform of the reform of when it abandoned the solitary or eremitic exis- ment of your wishes. Do not think I have prepared the Cluniacs as the Cistercians did, who were later tence and organised community life in a monastery. all this because we imagine you are in need of our reformed by the Trappists, and so on successively. From that moment on, architecture and monastic teaching. Think instead that only for the love of The rule, whichever one it was, was gradually re- life became inseparable, as the monks' living space God have I drawn it and I am sending it to you for laxed and a group always emerged which was was adapted to a particular Rule, so that there you to study it in the respect of the fraternal love of more ascetic and disciplined than the previous one were as many types of monastery as monastic our Order. Live in Christ and remember us always. and which proposed the abandonment of this Rules. Nevertheless, in the same way that the dif- Amen." In other words, this was the correspon- world and a return to the uncontaminated sources ferent religious orders have a common nucleus in dence exchanged on occasion of the plans for a of monastic life in cruder terms, as happened their discipline which they share in order to new monastery, with room for ninety monks, be- with the Carthusians, trying to reconcile the con- reach the spiritual ends they pursue, monasteries tween two of the same order, putting templative life with an active life, the advantages and convents also had a common element, which forward an ideal and complete plan of what a of eremitism with those of monastic life. Each of we could say was invariable and inseparable monastery should be. This plan undoubtedly had these steps unleashed a series of variations which, from their monastic condition. This was the clois- more distant precedents but these are more diffi­ according to the spirit of the time, gave rise to new ter, a closed space around which was arranged cult to follow. forms of religious life such as that offered by the the rest of the monastery in the form and se- This Benedictine monastery offers an elabórate which ventured into the cities to quence each order considered best, from the chapel systematisation within an orthogonal pattern in preach to the faithful after many years of rural to the latrines. which each of the fifty-five rooms has its exact reclusión. This is where the particular profile of each order place. It shows a principie of symmetry, not mere- But when it seemed that the general framework begins, a profile zealously guarded in their Statutes ly formal, but in the classical sense of the term, in of had been laid down, from the

347 twelfth century the religious orders got involved Bernardus valles, Benedictus amabat montes The implantation of the rule in the lands of the in crusades and conquests, so that the analogy be- Oppida Franciscus, celebres Dominicus urbes Frankish Empire is mentioned in the Synods of tween the monk and the solder, which so often ap- of the years 816 and 817, held at the in- pears in the writings of Saint , became a re­ In other words, Saint Bernard's Cistercians stance of , who found in Saint ality in the military orders formed by milites Christi, looked for ampie valleys for their foundations, Benedict of Aniane the driving forcé for that first the soldiers of Christ, who fed the orders of Alcán­ while the Benedictines preferred the hills, the monastic reform. At these synods, the attending tara, Calatrava, Montesa, Santiago and the Temple, Francíscans towns and the Dominicans larger abbots signed a series of chapters in which they in their twofold capacity as soldiers and monks liv- cities. In spite of the generalisation, there is a lot of undertook to read "in all its extensión the rule, and ing according to a rule. The , truth in this. weigh it up word by word. And when they have for example, definitively joined the Cistercians in understood it, with the help of the Lord they will 1187, as an affiliate of Morimond. Their castles strive to keep it truly with their monks". These were also convents, or vice versa, something easi- THE BENEDICTINES were expected to learn it by heart, and it was also ly seen in the castle of Calatrava in , clearly pointed out that the Divine Mass was also giving rise to a sepárate, very specific chapter in THE RULE OE SAINT BENEDICT. to be celebrated "according to the rule of Saint monastic architecture as the military component Benedict". of the fortification carried more weight than the í. he monastic world in the West would not exist The rule in question, which has seen a great silence of the monastic . in its ruled form were it not for Saint Benedict of number of commentators and interpreters, consists These pages are devoted only to that architecture Nursia, who lived in between the years 480 of seventy-three chapters whose contents deal in in which the cloister is the central nucleus of and 547. His biography is known to us through the no particular order with the organisation of the monastic life, that cloister which, in its medieval in- second book of the Dialogues of Saint Gregory the monastery, monastic virtue, divine worship, faults terpretation, like that of Honorius Augustodunensis Great ( Gregory I), who died in 604. In it we and sanctions, administration and the admittance of at the beginning of the twelfth century, prefigured learn that towards the year 500 new members, to which is added a supplement Paradise within the monastery, which is Edén. Oth- withdrew to the cave of Sacro Speco to lead a her- and an epilogue. The epilogue is revealing as re­ er writings insist on this symbolism, such as those of mit's life in the wild, impressive slopes overlook- garás Saint Benedict's object, since it begins by say- Sicardo. of Cremona, who at the end of the ing the valley of Subiaco. After this experience, in ing, "We have drawn up this Rule so that. by ob- twelfth century, in his work Mitróle, left this beauti- 528 he founded the monastery of Montecassino, serving it in the monasteries, we can show we have ful literary image, loaded with ascetidsm, making it between and Naples, where he composed a certain honesty of customs or a beginning of coincide with the real image of a Romanesque the rule which bears his ñame and which the monastic life...", and ends with the words, "You, cloister: "There are four sides to this cloister: con- Benedictine monks were to follow. However, then whoever you may be, who would fain reach tempt for oneself, contempt for the world, love of many of the basic points of this Regula Monacho- the heavenly fatherland, fulfil, with the help of one's neighbour and love of God. Each side has a rum became an obligatory point of reference for Christ, this basic Rule we have drawn up as a be­ row of columns, since contempt for oneself has as religious orders other than the Benedictines, as ginning, and thereby you will be sure to arrive, its consequence humiliation of the mind, the afflic- Saint Benedict did not found an order, so much as with the protection of God, to the highest peaks of tion of the flesh, humility in words and similar establish the bases for community life according to doctrine and virtues we have here recalled. Amen." things. The base of all the columns is patience. In a norm, a written rule, thereby justifying his role in The rule has nothing to say regarding the matter the cloister, the various rooms represent the differ- history as the of Western monachism of monastery achitecture, though a knowledge of ent virtues: the is the compassion of the rather than the founder of a specific order. its contents is absolutely essential to understand the soul, the is the secret of the heart, the This Rile, composed in the sixth century, sums true significance of monastic life, as its sourcer are refectory is the pleasure of holy meditation. the up, simply and personally, a long tradition of here. Indeed, from its reading we discover the role pantry is the Holy Scripture, the dormitory the clean monastic and eremitic life, in such a way that it is of the abbot (from Abba, father) in relation to the conscience, the a life of purity, the orchard the meeting point between East and West, be­ monks and brothers, that of the prior, of the liturgy (of the cloister) all the virtues, the well of sparkling tween the oíd world of the Holy Fathers and the of the hours which regulates the rhythm of days and waters is the flowing gift that relieves thirst and will incipient Middle Ages. It soon became widespread nights, how the must be sung, of manual extinguish it completely in the future". There can be as, over and above its intrinsically religious scope, work, of the noviciate, of the sick, of the , no greater treasure in the symbolism of this elo- it was in itself a cultural and political instrument of , of the servants, of meáis, silence and quent architecture that could give rise to more than which made the rule desirable as an image of or­ holy readings. At the same time it recommends read­ one meditated and profound sermón. der, discipline and rationality in a world histori- ing the míe itself, which must be done "often in the We have made a selection of monasteries and cally in need of it. On this point, 's community, so that none of the brothers may excuse convents belonging to different orders, in each attitude is very expressive. As well as visiting Mon­ himself on the ground of ignorance." (chap. LXVI). case underlining the most outstanding aspects of tecassino in the year 787, where he was able to ad­ The rule, in short, lays out the main points, that their particular history, without omitting on occa- mire this form of communal life, he wanted a copy is a way of life which was then construed archi- sion their sad fate. Our intention has been that all of the Rule of Saint Benedict so as to implement it tecturally in the most suitable way. Even so, some of this should form a sound introduction to the in his states. Of this copy, a further, word-for-word things can be gleaned from the rule, such as, for exquisite reality which combines architecture and copy was made, which ended up in the Swiss example, when it says that the monastery porter monastic life. Apparently identical, monasteries are monastery of Saint-Gall, where it is kept today, the must have his cell beside the door or else that "if intrinsically different, if only on account of the oldest existing versión of the Regla Monachorum it can be done, the monastery should be so estab- place in which they have grown, as the well- following the loss of the original and of the first lished that all the necessary things, such as water, known distich reminds us: copy made for Charlemagne. mili, oven, and various workshops may be

348 within the enclosure, so that there is no necessity of high politics and at the and in civil so- Silos, not to mention those of the prelates of for the monks to go about outside of it, since that ciety in general, made it the seed of a pressing re­ French origin and Cluniac obedience who, in the is not at all profitable for their souls" (chap. LXVI). form which was to lead to closer observance of the course of the Reconquest, held the chief posts be­ Further advice on the monks' dress and footwear rule, similar to that put into effect by Saint Bernard fore the sovereigns, are just some of the steps in help to fill out the picture of day to day life in the of Clairvaux through the new Cistercian Order. that rich series of foundations which, as daughters monastery: "the following dress is sufficient for As regards the architecture of the Benedictine of the mother , owed subjection and obedi­ each monk: a tunic, a (thick and wooly for monastery, which, rather than something estab­ ence to Cluny. This dependence gradually broke winter, thin or worn for summer), a for lished a priori by the monastic rule, was the result down during the at the same work, stockings and shoes to cover the feet. Let of accumulated experience reflecting the specific time as commendatory abbots and relaxed disci­ those who receive new clothes always give back uses and customs of the monks, it is worth bearing pline made necessary a new reform and obser­ the oíd ones at once, to be put way in the wardrobe in mind that there were certain precepts, such as, vance of the rule. This arrived with the so-called for the poor. For it is sufficient if a monk has two those that must have been followed in the con- Congregation of Saint Benedict of Valladolid. In tunics and two , to allow for night wear and struction of the monastery of Cluny in its second 1500 all ties with Cluny were broken while the ab­ for the washing of these garments. Those who are phase, before the magnificent abbey begun by bot of San Benito de Valladolid was General of the sent on a journey shall receive drawers from the Hugh the Great, sacked in 1793 and practically de- Congregation, that is of all the Benedictine monas­ wardrobe, which they shall wash and restore on stroyed between 1810 and 1823. In fact, the so- teries which had adopted the Observance, accord- their return." (chap. LV). called Consuetudines Farfenses, a copy of the ones ing to the new Constituciones approved that year. For the bed in the community dormitories, current in Cluny, made between 1039 and 1048 for where a lamp had to burn constantly until dawn, the daughter house of Farfa, near Spoleto (Italy), there was enough with a mat, a mattress, a blanket describes a Benedictine monastery in all the com- SAN JUAN DE LA PEÑA (). and a pillow. The monks were to sleep "clothed plexity these monastic centres carne to have at that and girded with belts or cords...and thus be always time, far from the simplicity Saint Benedict of Nur- X he uncertain beginnings of the monastery of San ready to rise without delay when the signal is giv­ sia was originally looking for. We shall not for the Juan de la Peña combine all the legendary ingre- en and hasten to be before one another at the time being go into the relationship between the el- dients so often to be found behind the origin of Work of God..." (chap. xxn). The signal in winter ements making up the monastery, ñor their de- many medieval monasteries. Like an updated was at two in the morning to recite psalms in com­ scription or dimensions. Keeping to the order in Christian myth, miraculous events are intertwined munity. The rule also established very precisely which they appear in the Consuetudines Farfenses, with lucky finds, concealed holiness and secret na­ how often each verse was recited. the number of the following is a summary of the characteristic ture. Before the place was as it is today —and the psalm to be sung, when the were to divisions of an eleventh-century abbey: church, leaving aside all reliable accounts—, the story re- be added, and how "Having finished the psalms chapter house, visiting room, dormitory, latrines, peated since time immemorial and with minor and recited the verse, the abbot shall give the calefactory (warming room), monks' kitchen, lay variations tells how Saint Voto of Saragossa, out blessing, and, all seated in their seats, the brothers brothers' kitchen, store rooms, almoner's cell, hunting in the área, fell with his horse into the shall read in turns three readings from the volume galilee (porch), infirmary with six cells, hospice, ravine of La Peña. In a flash, sensing his immediate on the lectern". If we analyse these passages care- " with washtubs, where at the established death, he invoked Saint John the Baptist, who fully, we can find several details of the greatest in- times baths can be prepared for the monks", novi- saved him and put him safely down outside the terest given the early date of the rule. By way of ciate, and cells for the metalworkers and master large cave which today houses the medieval build­ example, the above passage describes the monas- glaziers. To these must be added other buildings ings. There he found the dead, unburied body of a tic community around the lectern. not mentioned, such as the library, the grain store , Juan de Atares, and a small chapel dedi- The rule soon spread to the monasteries of Eng- and the monks' quarters, as well as the milis, sta- cated to Saint John the Baptist. This fact made him land, France, , Italy and Spain, where it bles, workshops and farm buildings which made reflect and, on his return to Saragossa, he persuad- met with varying fortunes in relation to local the monasteries self-sufficient centres at the head of ed his brother Félix to go back to the place and monastic traditions and rules. These, however, an agricultural concern. All of this was in the in- lead the life of a hermit. Many more people fol­ gave way to the Rule of Saint Benedict, which had terest of the order, of course, but also of the sov- lowed in his footsteps until eventually a small the support of the majority of European monarchs ereign and, in particular, of Rome, on which the monastic community was formed. All of this hap- and of Rome, and which had its period of order, which was exempt from episcopal jurisdic- pened around the eighth century. máximum diffusion during the eleventh and tion, depended. The fact is that there are no accounts before the twelfth centuries. But by then it was not so much Benedictinism entered the Iberian Península as tenth century, which is the moment in history the Rule of Saint Benedict that was being imposed a result of the Cluniac reform, leaving its first im- when the monastery of San Juan de la Peña took as the reform begun by the French Benedictine prints in the Pyrenees, first at Cuxá, whence it shape, to judge by the oldest architectural evi- abbey of Cluny, in Burgundy. This was especially spread throughout , and following that at dence. First of all, though, it is important to men­ so under its most important abbots, Odilo (994- San Juan de la Peña, then extending to Aragón, tion the most striking fact about the monastery, 1048) and Saint Hugh the Great (1049-1109), and Castile. Here the Benedictines re- which also makes it a good starting point for dis- whose long, consecutive terms of office defined ceived the firm support of Ferdinand I (1037-1065) cussing monastic architecture as it is rather like a the character of the true Benedictine Order over and Alfonso VI (1066-1109) —contemporaries of real birth, as though nature had given birth, as an and above the rule itself, to which, initially, it re- the abbots Odilo and Hugh the Great—, who did architectural child emerges from the depths of the turned to revive its most rigorous form. However, everything to encourage this French influence earth without severing the umbilical chord from the immense power the "Cluniac Order" carne to through the ordo cluniacensis. The ñames of the rocks. Indeed, the monastery of San Juan de la have and its decisive influence both in questions Ripoll, Dueñas, Nájera, Oña, Cárdena, and Peña, in the range in the Pyrenean foothills from

349 which it takes its ñame, illustrates the move from the sun. It was consecrated on 4 December 1094, quest of the king, my lord, and with the council cave to architecture, from the rupestrian setting in the presence of King Peter I of Aragón and and assent of all the archdeacons and of all my provided free by nature to the ruled construction. Navarre, who that same year began his reign, re- greater and lesser canons, praise and confirm the The of the church have been excavated, the conquered Huesca and established his court there. donation by the king and lord, and grant to the has been built, but what is so unusual is the The ceremony, which undoubtedly had a special sacrosanct of San Juan de la Peña and to the intermedíate situation in which nature and archi­ significance as the monastery had become the dy- abbot Paterno and to all those who lead the tecture are inseparable, not only in their colour nastic pantheon of the rulers of Navarre, was also monastic life in the said monastery the town of and materials, but by a phenomenon of straight- attended by Countess Sancha, the king's aunt; the Lazagurria with all the churches that have been forward accommodation and mimicry. In short, a abbot of San Juan, of course, by ñame Aymeric; built there and which will be built in the future, solid lesson in architecture. the abbot of Leire (Navarre); the bishop of Jaca with their tithes, first-fruits and oblations, granting Almanzor's military campaigns in the Pyrenean and the of Bordeaux, amongst many you power to introduce whatever presbyter you regions of Navarre and Aragón at the end of the other notables. wish, and conferring on you the same authority as tenth century must have scattered the monks and All of this was going on at the end of the the bishop has there". Thus began the formation of hermits who populated the monasteries and her- eleventh century, but by then certain events of a valuable heritage whose income carne from mitages of the región. Many of them found refuge capital importance for the history of Spanish Navarre, the Basque Country, and Aragón. far away, in the great Benedictine monastery of monasticism had already taken place, amongst However, one last event of great cultural tran- Cluny, in France, and amongst these there may them the introduction of the Cluniac reform, which scendence which was still needed was the intro­ have been some from San Juan de la Peña, though from its initial stronghold in San Juan de la Peña duction and acceptance of the Román rite and the at the time this was not yet its ñame. The crisis of spread to other monasteries. There were various abandonment of the secular Toledo rite, some- the caliphate of Córdoba gave the Christian rulers steps prior to this, the first being the appointment times called the Hispano-Visigothic rite and some- a chance to reorganise their states, reinforcing the of Paterno, who had been at Cluny, as abbot of San times the . This affected chiefly the frontier lines, settling new towns and colonising Juan de la Peña: "I, Sancho, King by the grace of liturgy, but also had an important doctrinal and po- the interior, a task in which the monasteries playee! God,...having seen how the Rule of Saint Benedict litical scope and had a fundamental effect on a an important part. This was the policy undertaken flowered in divers places, began to prepare in our broad cultural sector which renounced its Hispan- during the first years of the eleventh century by country the church of the Most Blessed John the ic roots in favour of the uniformity pursued by Sancho the Eider of Navarre, who was also Count Baptist, called de la Peña, where the of my Rome. It was unquestionably a sign of modernity Sancho Garcés III of Aragón. Some time around elders are to be found...Therefore, wishing to con­ which today we would describe as pro-European, 1025 he refounded the monastery of San Juan, grégate and confirm in the said monastery a as the more romana had gradually been imposed which from then on was called San Juan de la monastic path and way of life, according to the thanks to the agility of the Cluniac monastery, Peña. If I say refounded it is because something al- holy Rule, before the assembled monks, we desíg­ where in fact the culture of the eleventh and ready existed there, as is demonstrated by what we nate by common choice as father of the servants of twelfth centuries had been entrenched. All of this might cali the lower church. This work must date Christ the Abbot Paterno, who previously had long took place at a particular moment, 1071, and a spe- from the tenth century, and because of the form lived apart from the world with his companions, cific place, San Juan de la Peña, and the monastery and outline of its horseshoe arches it has been hearing the laudable reputation of the Cluniac records describe how, on 11 April of that year, in considered Mozarabic and therefore pre-Ro- monastery..." the reciting of the canonical hours, Prime and Ter- manesque and earlier than the eleventh-century King Sancho, indeed, had approached Abbot ce followed the Toledo rite, but Sext was recited work. With all the caution required in these appre- Odilo of Cluny requesting that he send him some according to the Román rite: "And from here on ciations, it seems that that first church was dedi- monks to introduce into his kingdom everything they had the Román law". cated to Saint Julián and Saint Basilissa, to whom the Benedictine order represented in spiritual, ma­ The monastery itself is today reduced to a pic- the two apses and the aisles correspond. This cave terial and cultural affairs. "He generously agreed to turesque and incomplete cloister dating from the church, which was later lengthened, now forms my request. And having presented themselves (the twelfth century, difficult to interpret now that all the of the upper, Romanesque church. A monks) before me, I delivered to them the said the monastery buildings —which must definitely door conneets the eleventh-century church with monastery of San Juan with all the towns and have existed, though we do not know their distrib- what is known as the Sala de Concilio (Council monasteries, which my elders had offered there for ution or size— have disappeared. As evidence of Room) and which could well have been the their souls, and those donated by other pious men, many losses in this field, it is worth remembering monastery dormitory. at the same time giving them every safeguard so the chapel of San Victorián, place of Abbot The chevet of this second church has also been that they and those who come after them could or- Marqués, who died in 1437. half excavated and half built into and against the ganise their Uves according to the law and the cus- The absence of a roof over the cloister, which in rock, but it shows a knowledge of the composi- toms of the Cluniac monastery, which no-one shall theory did not need it as it had the great cliff cov- tional and formal schemes not only of Ro­ be able to take from them". This, amongst other ering it, the difference in height and the scattering manesque art in general, of Romanesque art as a things, meant independence from temporal, royal of the remains of the former monastery buildngs, style, but of the models popularised by Cluniac or aristocratic power, and independence from the the severe fires of the fifteenth and seventeenth architecture. Its three apses, which seem to have bishop's jurisdiction, since they depended directly centuries, the considerable alterations undergone been conceived for three , form a triple stage on the Holy See. in the eighteenth century when the neoclassical mouth opening on to a single space covered by a The donations immediately arrived and grew, royal pantheon was built in detriment of the oíd sloping rock roof. This is continued as far as the such as that confirmed by the bishop of Pamplona Romanesque pantheon —now called the Panteón western end of the church by a vaulted section in the lifetime of Sancho the Eider: "I, Sancho, de Nobles—, neglect during the nineteenth centu­ which seems to emerge from the cave in search of Bishop of Pamplona by the grace of God, at the re­ ry and the restorations of the twentieth, all make

350 it very difficult to get an idea of monastic life at Thanks to the abbot's organisational capacity tury, while the upper storey seems to have been San Juan de la Peña. In contrast, the cloister con- and his exemplary life, which combined religión added in the following century. Nevertheless, the tains an extraordinary collection of capitals at- with an economic and cultural activity of the first distribution of the support was continued on this tributed to two different hands, who illustrated magnitude, following his death the monastery floor in such a way that in the upper cloister pillars them with the cycles of the creation of the world, went through a period of growing prosperity in flanked by columns were arranged coinciding with the childhood and public life of Jesús Christ, as the twelfth and thirteenth centuries which allowed the strong points. The superimposed arcades of well as other various subjects, with no lack of the building activity to which we owe the familiar Silos are very light as both are covered with wood- fantastic animáis, plant themes and the extensive medieval image of the monastery. At the same en roofs, which do not cali for buttresses or exte­ repertory that crops up in the rich iconography of time, the dead abbot's reputation for saintliness — rior bracing. Of particular interest is the Mudejar the Middle Ages, where allusions to monastic life his miracles were gathered in the writings of his woodwork on the lower floor, whose beams show itself abound. pupil Grimaldo, later versified by Gonzalo de from about 1400, with shields and a va- Berceo— made the Benedictine monastery a place riety of scenes. of pilgrimage unequalled in the lands of Castile. In fact, these and other variants avoid the mo- SANTO DOMINGO DE SILOS (BURGOS). This materialised in royal and prívate donations notony of a repetitive arrangement of the sup­ which eventually built up a considerable heritage ports, making the cloister an attractive and varied X he ñame of Silos brings with it the image of a whose revenues carne from Santander, Burgos, Val- walk along which we can see not only the icono- delicate cloister where time seems to have stood ladolid, Soria, Segovia, Madrid, Ávila, Zamora, Sala­ graphic wealth of its capitals but the powerful still, while in the distance can be heard the sound manca, Guadalajara, Toledo, Cuenca, , Jaén forcé of the stations of the córner pillars. These of the Gregorian with which the monks still and Murcia, and which also included various pri- are a compendium of the finest Romanesque praise the Almighty today, as they did in the Mid­ ories and monasteries which depended on the sculpture of the eleventh and twelfth centuries dle Ages. However commonplace it may sound, abbey in Burgos. and stand out, first of all, for the eight large reliefs something of that period or of what we imagine Of the first church at Silos, consecrated in 1088 with the themes of the Ascensión, Pentecost, Bur- that period to have been still lurks amongst these by Abbot Fortunio (1073-1100), nothing remains ial of Christ, Descent, Disciples at Emmaus, Doubt- walls and binds their spirit and their history. The except for a few scattered elementa of architecture ing Thomas, Annunciation and Tree of Jesse. Not story begins in Silos with the presence of a Bene- and sculpture, such as the excellent tympanum all of them belong to the same workshop or the dictine monk, , who after an eremitic with reliefs of the childhood of Christ. This can same period. While some, such as the Doubting experience entered the Order of Saint Benedict in be seen today in the monastery along Thomas, of inexpressible beauty in its composition the monastery of San Millán (La Rioja), where he with other items of extraordinary interest found and execution, could be from as early as the was prior in the time of Abbot Sancho. There he during the excavations carried out in 1967 in the eleventh century, others, such as the Annunciation, had occasion to vigorously defy King García of present church, built in the eighteenth century. must have been executed in the second half of the Navarre, opposing appropriation of the monastery's The oíd medieval church, raised over an earlier, twelfth century, with a feeling very cióse to what assets by the Navarrese ruler on the grounds that it pre-Romanesque church, had a and two we cali the Gothic style. In fact, the relief and the was a gift from his ancestors. Saint Dominic had to aisles. Of the two , only the south one movement of the figures and the drapery in the leave the monastery and La Rioja and seek refuge remains, opening on to the Romanesque cloister. Annunciation have no bearing on the stereotyped in Burgos, where Ferdinand I, the eldest son of Here we find the so-called Doorway of the Virgins, formulas used by the Sculptor of the Doubting Sancho the Eider of Navarre and first King of with its delicate decoration and its capitals and Thomas, where the analogies with the stiff and Castile and León, suggested he restore the ruined moulding excellently preserved as they are pro­ attractive ivory reliefs show the extent to which it monastery of Silos, founded or protected by Fernán tected from the elements. Remarkable figures are is a carefully executed work, unrivalled in the González (945) on the Carazo plateau. At that time wrapped around the capitals and, curiously, there Burgos series and hardly surpassed outside the it was dedicated to Saint Sebastian and Gonzalo de is a at the entrance which could abbey. The figures are fíat, the clothes stick to the Berceo is referring to it when he says: well be interpreted as a Mozarabic feature from the body without casting a shadow and the charac- first church. ters, with slight variations, repeat the same ges- "En tierras de Carazo, si oyeste contar The Romanesque cloister is unquestionably one tures and poses, concentrating in their eyes the una cabeza alta, famado castellar. of the most exquisite examples of medieval archi­ forcé of an expression which is difficult to de­ Habíe un monasterio, que fue rico logar tecture and sculpture. It has an irregular rectangu­ scribe. This relief could have been imitated by the Mas era tan caído, que se queria ermar. lar floor plan, so that the development of the two artists of the Ascensión and Pentecost, which are Solié de monges negros bevir y buen conviento storeys of arches is unequal, though maintaining of a lower standard, or else these were models de cuyo ministerio habíe Dios pagamiento; the same rhythm, thus ensuring the same cadenee which it surpassed. mas era de tal guisa demudada el viento, in the semi-circular arches. These rest on twin On the capitals of the lower cloister different que fascas non habíen ningún sostenimiento". columns cióse together, which are coupled by a hands and different models can also be detected. single capital in spite of taking off from different These gradually introduced a broad representa- Dominic, who from then on we know by the points. This simple arrangement is reinforced from tion of plants and animáis and fantastic subject ñame he gave to the monastery, Domingo de Silos, time to time by groups of four shafts forming a sin­ matter, sometimes taken from the Bestiaries, in was abbot there from 1040 until his death in 1073 gle, more robust pillar, though with the vertical el­ which the natural world is mixed with one of mon- and made this ruined centre an exemplary model ements well inclined one over the other, giving the sters and classical myth with medieval moralising. of what was meant by a Benedictine monastery, impression of unstable equilibrium. This is the What is striking about these series is the way they in which church, cloister and library made up one case in the west gallery of the lower storey, which adapt this difficult iconography, whose symbolism of medieval Castilian culture's solidest supports. is the older of the two, dating from the twelfth cen­ is not always easy to unravel, to the surface of the

351 capitals. The anonymous artists show a mastery Fortunately, the arrival in 1880 of Ildefonso monastery was built which, in turn, was to suc- which is unprecedented in European Romanesque Guepin from the famous Benedictine monastery of cumb to the new building begun in the twelfth sculpture. Harpies, griffins, deer, lions and birds Solesmes, allowed the slow but steady material, century. Finally, it was totally rebuilt after the six- emerge from the capitals with striking natural- cultural and spiritual recovery of the monastery, teenth century and, as so often happens in the rich ness, sometimes entangled in plants that paralyse which in its earliest days had one of the most fa­ history of Galician monasteries, the site became a the animáis, sometimes fighting amongst each mous scriptoria of the time, where miniaturists and genuine architectural palimpsest. other, while all the compositions maintain a rig- calligraphers enriched its formidable library, which The oldest nucleus of what exists today in this orous, classically balanced axial distribution. was later dispersed. There, monks like Grimaldo, Benedictine monastery —which, along with oth- Throughout it there is an Oriental component, in already mentioned, wrote, in the eleventh centu­ ers of the same order, formed the basis of Gali­ some cases quite clearly of Byzantine origin, ry, the Vida de Santo Domingo; El Silense wrote cian monastic life in the tenth and eleventh cen­ whose influence could well have arrived via illu- his well-known Crónica, at the same time as the turies, colonising previously inhospitable land— minated códices, fabrics or other liturgical Ítems capitals in the cloister were carved (12th c); and in consists of the church and cloister. Construction or everyday objects. There is another series of sto- the thirteenth century Pedro Marín gathered the of the church began in about 1184, to judge from riated capitals which includes passages from the well-known Milagros del santo de Silos de favor de the date on an arch in the crossing, and New Testament such as the Birtb of Christ, and los cautivos cristianos, many of whom he re- must have been completed in the first years of which speak for the participation of another very deemed even after his death. A complete literary the thirteenth century. In other words, it con- different Sculptor. The later upper cloister does no world whose authors walked in this cloister, sang forms to late Romanesque patterns, which are more than succinctly repeat some of the themes in the church and worked in its copious library, obvious in the floor plan with its nave and two from the lower storey, with a predominance of leaf all under the Rule of Saint Benedict and the spirit aisles and its three apses, but includes the novel- motifs, with none of the fantasy or freshness of the of Saint Dominic of Silos. ties of both in the proportions older models. used in the elevation and in the ribbed vaults, The cloister, as is usual, was a burial place, some of which, like that of the crossing, were re­ something of which we are reminded both by the SAN ESTEBAN DE RIBAS OF. SIL (ORENSE). built later. Gothic of Saint Dominic, which indicates the This change of criterion can be seen in the site where he was originally buried. and by the A he entire length of the Sil. writes Otero Pedrayo church interior, as the central , with a magnif- various burial stones and inscriptions, some of in his Guía de Galicia, 'from Amandi to Los Pear- icent early vault with supporting arches, has a cer- them very oíd, with dates and interesting facts es was in the the Thebaid of tain height which is then exceeded by the straight about the deceased. Around the cloister and open- monasteries known as Rivoira or Ribera Sacrata". stretch of the presbytery, leaving a step in which ing off it there used to be the chapter house, the In fact, this ñame, which is certainly fitting in view an ocultis was opened. This part, which is the old­ refectory and the grain store, but the work of en- of the number of hermits who lived there and the est, also shows the original height planned for the largement and refurbishment in the seventeenth large number of monasteries which were founded church, as colonettes, capitals and imposts are in- and eighteenth centuries has erased practically all on the banks of the river Sil, comes from the trans- terrupted at a springing point for vaults which was trace of them. The site of the oíd chapter house is lation by Antonio de Yepes in his Crónica Gener­ later altered in the search for greater height. Be- still recognisable thanks to the arcade formed by al de la Orden de San Benito Patriarca de reli­ cause of this, and by way of a curiosity, the later­ the entrance and the accompanying openings, to- giosos, in which he transcribes a twelfth-century al apses have grown more than the central one, day occupied by the chapel of Santo Domingo document whose correct translation and interpre- following the overall height of the church. All the (1732). Before this the refectory had already been tation he questions. The fact is that this área, to- vertical supports therefore seem slenderer than moved to a long gallery built in the seventeenth day altered by the construction of the large dam was originally planned. In testimony of the emi- century, on whose upper floor the individual cells in the Sil basin, was certainly a new Galician The­ nently Romanesque character of the church, a re- were installed with Windows facing south. Above baid which, except for the landscape, could well lief is exhibited in the crossing, in which Christ is this wing, which exceeded the limits of the me­ bring to mind that Thebaid in Egypt made famous represented amongst the Apostles, and which may dieval nucleus, was built the second courtyard by the first Christian anchorites. well have come from the oíd Romanesque door- —known as the courtyard of San José (1729- Very cióse to the present monastery of San Este­ way, destroyed when the present door- 1732)— in the days of Abbot Baltasar Díaz, which ban de Ribas de Sil, whose ñame is identified with way was built. housed the hospice, where the large library was the place, are still preserved the remains of one of The lower, original section of the processional installed in 1910, and the new gatehouse. All this those elemental hermitages, that of San Juan de cloister which communicates with the church is building work responded to an unstoppable urge Cachón, which has the added interest of being re- also Romanesque, though at the beginning of the for renovation which affected the Romanesque lated to the monastery of San Esteban, as an in- sixteenth century the upper cloister was added in a church.This gave way to the present one, designed scription dated 918 found its way there which re- puré Gothic style, probably coinciding with the as- by Ventura Rodríguez and built under the direction ferred to the completion of building work in the cription of the monastery to the Benedictine con- of Antonio Machuca, consecrated in 1792. The monastery by Abbot Franquila. Franquila and his gregation in Valladolid, conceded by Pope Julius new entrance to the monastery and the imposing "brothers" had requested authorisation from Or- II in 1506. This involved alterations to the church, staircase of Los Leones demónstrate the monu­ doño II to reconstruct the ruined monastery, and including a change of location of the , which mental tone of the work of the eighteenth century, the king gave permission in 916 for a church or was moved from the central nave, and a new, when Silos lived a final golden age before its de­ monastery in honour of Saint Stephen to be built raised choir was built at the western end, commu- cline following disentailment (1835), though it did on the ruined site (illum locum iacentem in ruina). nicating with the individual cells via the upper not meet the same fate as many other monaster- In this way, on the site of a foundation whose cloister. This cloister is also known as the cloister ies which were demolished. origin is lost in the depths of time, a second of Los Obispos, because prior to their transfer to

352 the church in the sixteenth century, it was the bur- THE CISTERCIANS Harding is attributed the famous Charta Charitatis ial site for a total of nine who, on aban- (1119), approved by Pope Calixtus II, which can doning their mitres, withdrew to this Benedictine THE REFORM OF SAINT BERNARD. be said to be the beginning of the new order. To córner. For this reason, the monastery coat of arms Harding we owe, in short, the organisation of the includes the nine mitres of the prelates Ansurio A he political, economic and religious inffuence Cistercian Order as a monastic order, as well as the and Vimarasio, of Orense, Gonzalo Osorio and achieved by Cluny drove a handful of its monks image of the new monks, who from then on were Froalengo, of Coimbra, Servando, Viliulpo and to rediscover in solitude and poverty the lost spirit called white because of the colour of their clothes Pelagio, of Iria, Alfonso, of Astorga, and Pedro, of the Rule of Saint Benedict. The Order's material —although they wear a black scapular—, in con- whose origin is unknown to us. Their reputation well-being had unquestionably slackened its ob- trast to the "black" monks, or Benedictines, whose for holiness is mentioned as a well known fact in a servance in many aspects, such as that of manual habit was completely black, as it has remained un- privilege by King Alfonso IX in 1220. work, at the same time as the liturgical functions til our own day. The work undertaken in the sixteenth century tended to become the only purpose of monastery However, before returning to the Charta Char­ prevents our knowing today how the medieval life. Pérez de Urbel sums this up very accurately itatis it is important to mention a capital event for monastery was arranged, as the scope of the new in his Historia de la Orden benedictina (1941), the future order, which was the arrival in Cíteaux design was such that it could be said to have been when he writes, "the complicated regulations and of a young man called Bernard of Fontaine, who totally rebuilt and enlarged. The main interest lies their exaggerated long-windedness must have had in 1112 was twenty-one years oíd. His lively per- in the so-called small and large , in which as a consequence the loss of their inner spirit. Or- sonality identified with the new reforming spirit of the Biscayan master Diego de Isla, overseer for ganisation, which at first had brought renown to the Cistercians and a communion of ideas took most of the work which took place there between Cluny, had become a mechanical exercise. With its place such that the order and the saint can not be 1577 and 1599, had a hancl. In the new arrange- litanies, its , its processions, with its con- conceived separately. The large number of people ment, access to the refectory and the next-door stant praying for , abbots, benefactors and who wanted to profess in Cíteaux attracted by kitchen is via the small cloister, which has two deceased, the mass had become so long that the the way of life of the monks favoured the foun- storeys with arches on Tuscan columns, while the monks barely had time to do anything else. It was dation of new abbeys such as La Ferté, Pontigny, large cloister —or gatehouse cloister— houses the the opposite to the spirit of Saint Benedict, when Clairvaux and Morimond, the four branches of hospice and other rooms possibly intended for the he ordered with such discretion that community the common trunk of Cíteaux to which would College of Arts and Philosophy which was set up had to be brief, a golden rule from which gradually be added the other monasteries. In in the sixteenth century. Some parts were never the individual could only be released by a special 1115 Bernard de Fontaines himself, with twelve finished and others simply coliapsed with the pas- impulse of . Even Peter the Venerable other monks, founded Clairvaux. after which he sage of time. Today, rescued from the oblivion speaks of the boredom and long-windedness. was known as Bernard de Clairvaux. In spite of and neglect in which the monastery has long been The mass absorbed everything: study, work and the austere way of life, the meagre diet, fasting, immersed, important work has been undertaken even ascesis. The weariness of the praying pre- prayer and penitence, the number of the order's to reroof the whole monastery, but the large clois­ vented fasting..." monasteries grew in a way which is surprising to­ ter has been "completed" with a solution worthy Indeed, even the abbot of Cluny, Peter the Ven­ day. By the time of the death of Saint Bernard in of consideration but highly questionable. This erable (1094-1156), had criticised these liturgical 1153, it had 334 establishments of which sixty- large cloister, one of the most spectacular to be excesses and the lack of austerity in the Cluniac eight had been the personal work of Saint seen in terms of size and development, uses dif- abbeys, saying that, "apart from a small number of Bernard. This number was amply exceeded during ferent Solutions on its three levéis. The bottom is novices, the rest was just the synagogue of Satán". the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, but by then conceived as passages covered by arches on This statement, however exaggerated it might have the progress of the order was causing such concern columns; the level above this, on the other hand, been, reveáis a situation which explains the deci­ that the General Chapter of 1152 approved a reso- uses a fíat formula on Untéis which while bringing sión taken by Robert, who having held the post of lution forbidding any new foundations in an attempt to mind Castilian models was also widespread in abbot and prior in two Benedictine monasteries at self-control: "This statute was made in the year of Galicia; finally, the top level is conceived as a withdrew with thirteen companions to a place the Incarnation of the Lord of 1152, so that from this gallery. Each of the three storeys therefore has its called Molesme (1075), cióse to Troyes, to lead a time on no new monastery of our Order be built... own character, each undoubtedly corresponding life in keeping with the spirit of the Rule of Saint However, it is permitted for any abbot who, for rea- to a distinct hierarchy and use, although today this Benedict. living off his own work in an elemental sons of some intolerable incommodiousness, would is concealed from us. monastic organisation. From here he moved short- move his monastery to a more suitable place, but at All this new work altered the exterior appear- ly afterwards and in the company of, amongst oth­ a distance from other abbeys of our Order of at least ance of the monastery and produced an attractive ers, Alberic and Stephen Harding to a place south ten Burgundy leagues and two from the farms, or if courtyard or córner formed by the main entrance of Dijon called Cíteaux, whose Latin ñame is Cis- this place to which the move has been made had and the church facade, with access from the ex­ tercium, whence the ñame Cistercian, which could that of another order nearby: in this case the first terior for the faithful who used this site as a in turn refer to the rushes (cistels) which grew in place will be abandoned, either completely, or else cemetery. From the cloister of San Esteban de this wild countryside. A short time later Robert re- a farm will be built there, if they are not more than Ribas de Sil, the words of Ambrosio de Morales turned to Molesme, where he died in 1110, leaving one day's journey apart. However, in those places acquire their full meaning when he described the Alberic and Stephen Harding in Cíteaux. To them which have begun to be built before this general place in 1572 as "such a wild and rugged place as we owe the true founding of the new order, which chapter, it is permitted that the monastery be raised, one can imagine, though with many cool springs was to bear the ñame Cistercian. Alberic drew up if before the general chapter of the following year and groves and well suited to solitude and con- the Statutes, which are known as Instituía mona- there could be a special one in accordance with the templation". chorum de Molismo venientum, while Stephen statutes of the Order" (chap. LXXXVI).

353 The numerical reality, which exceeded the Clu- when certain criteria were approved which affect­ here can be made out a serpent's tail, on a fish niac phenomenon of the eleventh century, called ed monastic organisation, starting with the location there the head of a quadruped. In one place, a for a clear and modern organisational structure, of the monasteries: "None of our monasteries may beast which is a horse in the front, half goat at the and this was provided for in the Charta Charitatis, be raised in cities, castles or villages, but in seclud- back; in another, a horned animal, which is a mentioned above. To sum up, in contrast to the ed places, far from the coming and going of peo- horse in its upper part. In a word, so much and so centralised organisation of the Benedictines of pie" (chap. i). Another section refers to the míni­ variable a variety of divers forms appears every- Cluny, the Cistercians, who recognised the abbot mum number of monks that must go to a new where that it is more pleasing to read the mar- of Citeaux as the head of the order, were adminis- monastery, who like Christ and the Apostles had to bles than the códices and spend the whole day tratively organised around the four abbeys men­ be thirteen in number, and on the belongings they admiring these singular things than meditating on tioned, in such a way that they had authority over are to take: "Twelve monks, thirteen with the ab­ the law of God". everything connected with their respective daugh- bot, must be moved to a new monastery; however, In the same way, everything from towers to any ter establishments. These enjoyed a high level of they must not be sent there until the place is sup- sumptuous sign such as the use of gold or stained autonomy, though they were subject to the annu- plied with books, buildings and remaining neces- glass was strictly forbidden and "any excess of al surveillance established by the general visitors sities. As regards the books, the missal, the Rule, buildings and food" (1213) was prohibited. This named by the abbot of Citeaux to ensure obser- the book of usage, the Psalter, the hymnal, the col- process of elimination, a process of genuine artistic vance of the Rule. This family arrangement of lectaneum, the lectionary, the and the with no attempt to establish a Cistercian mother abbeys and daughter abbeys, accurately gradual; and as regards buildings, the oratory, the aesthetic, eventually shaped one of the episodes expressed in the term "filiation", as though they refectory, the dormitory and the cells for the guests with most personality in the history of architecture, were "branches" of a genealogical tree, with mu­ and the porter" (chap. xii). eclipsing all other monastic architecture. When we tual obligations between one another, produced Many further stipulations reveal the sense of speak or think of a medieval monastery, it is by de- surprising results which exceeded the territorial austerity of the Cistercian Order, which made them fault a Cistercian monastery. demarcations of the Cluniacs and brought the Cis­ the distinguishing element in relation to Cluny. It is In the choice of site for a new Cistercian foun­ tercians unity in diversity. The ñame of Charter of known that they condemned figurative and orna­ dation, special care was taken to ensure there was Charity is itself due to this cióse relationship, since mental art in general, when the same General a river to serve the monastery, a forest to provide the Cistercians, "separated by the body in differ- Chapter of 1134 forbade "pictures or paintings to isolation and wood, land for the maintenance of ent parts of the world, but indissolubly united by be made in our churches or in any other of the the community, pastures for the animáis and quar- the soul, Uve in the same charity, under the same monastery buildings, because while attention is ries nearby for the construction of buildings. The rule, observing the same customs". paid to such things very often one forgets the ben- Cistercians in their constructions made advances in This approach also affected the arrangement of efit of good meditation or the discipline of reli- hydraulic engineering and building techniques, in- the monasteries and the styles of their churches gious seriousness" (chap. xx). These and other venting devices to supply their monasteries with and oratories, since in the same way that children similar precepts were undoubtedly inspired by running water, at the same time as they introduced take after their parents, the daughter houses also Saint Bernard, who is well known for his Apología the new systems of ribbed vaults into the rest of repeated the features of the mother abbey. For this to William of Saint-Thierry, a friend of the Cluniac Europe. All of this activity and ingenuity is reflect- reason, when we say that one monastery is daugh­ reformer and abbot, who reproaches him for the ed in a Life of Saint Bernard, written by Ernald be­ ter to another, we are also specifying certain dif- luxury and grandeur of his monasteries, the im- tween 1133 and 1145, which includes a descrip- ferential distinguishing traits which are inherited mense height of the oratories, the inordinate lengths, tion of the construction of the second Clairvaux regardless of other circumstances of time, place the necessary widths, the sumptuous decorations, monastery, following the decisión to move it to a and artistic fashion. Thus while the monasteries of the curious paintings, which attract the gaze of more suitable place. In it he tells how, in the Poblet and (Tarragona) are Cistercian, those at prayer and prevent their worship" and ex­ midst of general enthusiasm, the work was joined their churches show considerable differences in pressed his opposition to the sculptural world by people of very different trades, who resolved spite of being descended in the last instance from which enlivened the Cluniac cloisters: "Amongst the technical problems: "With abundant means Clairvaux. The monastery of La Oliva in Navarre is the brothers who read in the cloisters, what is the and workers recruited at great haste, even the also Cistercian, but it is descended from Mori- purpose of that ridiculous monstrosity, a certain brothers (fratres) set to work in every sense. mond, and while it is immediately recognisable as admirable deformed beauty and a beautiful defor- Some cut wood, others quarried stone, others a Cistercian establishment, nevertheless the sanctu- mity? What is the purpose, then, of the foul mon- raised walls, others divided the broad-banked riv­ ary of the church is built differently from the two keys, the fierce lions, the monstrous centaurs, the er and built the waterfalls for the milis. But also preceding examples. Unity and diversity, separated half-men, the striped tigers, the warring soldiers, the fullers, millers, tanners and artisans and other but united in the same customs —this in part is the the trumpeting hunters?". craftsmen made ready their respective machines key to the agility of the Cistercian movement. There is no doubt that Saint Bernard casts a so that the seething river, wherever and whenev- In the Cistercian Order, as also happened in doubt on the capitals of so many fine cloisters in er necessary, ran along underground channels Cluny, the annual meeting of the General Chapter the Romanesque world, where the Bestiary had beneath all the buildings (basically latrines and at Citeaux was of capital importance for organisa­ inspired artists, not wanting to go into the possi- kitchens); and having provided its services in all tion and Ufe. It was attended by all the abbots and ble scope and symbolism of these animáis and the rooms (oficcinas) and cleaned the monastery, fixed many issues that are not in the Rule of Saint representations, which in a way must be under- the two sepárate water courses are returned to Benedict or in the Charta Charitatis and which stood as the pages of an open book. Bernard him- the main river and to this is returned its own vol- formed the basis of the Cistercian customs or Con- self referred to this very interestingly in the Apolo­ ume... The monastery rose up, and as though the suetudines. This happened in the General Chapter gía: "Beneath a head you see many bodies, and new-born church were alive and moving, it ad- of 1134, on the eve of the foundation of Clairvaux, beneath a body many heads. On a quadruped vanced and grew".

354 The layout of the Cistercian monastery is one of its most important period was between the is an agreeable object to the eye. In the fields of the clearest and, taking advantage of the basic so- twelfth and fourteenth centuries, when it had im­ the región there are vineyards and olive groves lution already tried in the Benedictine monastery, is portant communities of Cistercian nuns like the and in the meadows nearest the Mis many woods even more rigidly organised. The chief novelties one at Las Huelgas in Burgos, one of the most suitable for hunting and for pasturing goats. But can be seen in the apsidal end of the church, the powerful women's foundations of its time. the chief excellence of the town and región of wing of the cloister corresponding to the refecto- In the fifteenth century an important reform was Poblet is the goodness and perfection of the cli- ry and the área for the brothers or lay brothers. carried out amongst us by a former Hieronymite, mate, which is one of the most suitable for the The church tends towards a "T"-shaped floor Martín de Vargas, which materialised in the Sagra­ preservation of human life, because the air is plan, with a straight front, in what is called the da Congregación de San Bernardo y Observancia healthy, the sky bright, its influences températe "Bernardine floor plan" but without discarding de Castilla, which (1425) freed of its and although its temperament in winter is very other more complex solutions. It has a nave and links to Cíteaux and its General Chapter and which cold, the abundance of good firewood, which is two aisles, the nave being occupied by the two led an independent life sepárate from the Cister­ on hand in the forests, makes it less noticeable, choirs for fathers and brothers, or monks and lay cian Order. Later, in the sixteenth century, the Con- and in summer it offers the convenience of not brothers, each one with a sepárate access from regación de Aragón was formed, and finally there having to suffer the closeness of the night which the cloister, as throughout the monastery they were more radical reforms, like the one carried out is so disturbing in other places. There rarely lacks tend to be separated from one another. In the in France during the seventeenth century by Raneé the necessary rain to achieve an average crop, north transept there is usually a way out to the giving rise to La Trappe and the Trappists, who are such as wheat, barley and pulses, and wine, oil cemetery and the south transept communicates simply reformed Cistercians or Cistercians of the and other fruits which can be gathered almost via a staircase with the fathers' dormitory. The Strict Observance. Once more, history repeats itself outside the monastery". This image of fertile fathers sleep in their clothes so as to be able to in the return to lost rigour. There were no substan- woodland probably has something to do with the get to the choir more quickly during the night. tial changes in the arrangement of the monastery, ñame of Poblet, which comes from the "Hortus The church, which the Cistercians always refer to and the oíd Cistercian foundations provided the Populeti" which appears in the monastery's old- as the oratory, shares one wall with the cloister, framework for the new observance, as happened est documents and which has repeatedly been in- usually the southern one, and this corridor of the at Santa María de Huerta, amongst other abbeys. terpreted as coming from populetum and popn- cloister is called the reading corridor, as it usual­ lus, the Latín ñame for the poplar which was ly has a stone bench where the monks sit and common there. read at certain moments, taking a book from the SANTA MARÍA DE POBLET (TARRAGONA). This was the heaven on earth in which Poblet nearby armarium or armariolitm. was built. The monastery flourished. after its diffi- This little niche where the books are kept is in In the foothills of the Sierra de Prades, in the cult beginnings in which the twelve newly arrived the wing of the chapter house, on a level with the province of Tarragona, stands one of Europe's monks and their abbot dealt with the problems of which communicates with the church. The great Cistercian abbeys, where after many changes accommodation and of building the essential ele- front of the chapter house also includes the way of fortune it is still possible today to hear the voic- ments of the monastery, and grew into the great up to the monks' dormitory and the parlour, which es of the monks beneath the vaults of the church. abbey it was, reaching a large number of monks in also serves as the way out to the garden and infir- The order is therefore still attached to the same the community, on average between eighty and mary. Leading off one side of the third corridor is place the first monks from France once chose 100 in the fourteenth century, though if we count the monks' hall, the calefactory (the only heated when they arrived from the now privately owned the many lay brothers and donados who brought room in the monastery), the monks' refectory, the Abbey of Fontfroide, cióse to Narbonne, and itself the monastery to life, this number is doubled. This lay brothers' kitchen and refectory, all of them per­ descended from Clairvaux. They had been called increase in the number of monks clearly reflects pendicular to the gallery opposite the church, in by the Count of Barcelona, Ramón Berenguer IV, the support received from the rulers of Aragón, an unmistakably Cistercian arrangement. Finally, in in about 1151, after he had driven the who made the Cistercian temple their pantheon. the lay brothers' wing, where there is a long, dark back as far as the Ebro river, which for a time Here are buried Alfonso II the Chaste, James I the passage providing direct access to the church with­ formed a natural border between Christians and Conqueror, Alfonso V the Magnanimous and Mar­ out being seen or having to leave the cloister, is Muslims, that is between Catalunya Nova and el tin I the Humane, amongst many other kings, the grain store and the lay brothers' dormitory. Out- Andalus. In fact, the cities of Lleida and Tortosa queens and infantes and infantas. This resulted side this cloistral área, which is a model of function- had fallen and it was time to think about the re- in sustained royal favour in the form of exemp- ality, are the infirmary, market , workshops, population and colonisation of the land on the left tions and privileges which produced a rich her- farms, milis, stables and everything that gave the bank of the river. An important part was played itage of real estáte, as well as having jurisdiction monastery its autonomy. in this task by the Bernardine monks, not only over seven baronies and seventy villages and The introduction of the order to Spain dates from Poblet but also from the nearby abbey of towns. At the same time, its abbots enjoyed con­ from the days of Saint Bernard himself. The Santes Creus, whose monks arrived at about the siderable political influence, as the monks of Poblet monasteries of Moreruela (Zamora), previously same time, but from Grandselve, a daughter house were the confessors of kings, their , coun- under Benedictine observance, and of Fitero of Morimond. cillors, alms collectors, testamentary executors, etc. (Navarre) were the first of a long series of founda- Of the site chosen for the Poblet settlement, we The fact that the Cortes of Aragón met in Poblet tions which as indirect daughter institutions are have the following description made in 1753 by under Peter IV the Ceremonious and that later linked first of all to Clairvaux and then to Mori- the monk and archivist of the abbey, Jaime Martin the Humane built a there adjacent mond. Only three abbeys are directly related to Finestres: "A peaceful and happy spot, because in to the monastic buildings gives a good idea of how Cíteaux and none to La Ferté or Pontigny. Its all the countryside around the trees keep the green closely the Crown of Aragón identified with this growth in the Peninsula enjoyed royal favour and of their leaves all the year round, their luxuriance monastery, which in return gave custody to their

355 mortal remains and remained in vigilant prayer for with the foundation of a trust which, after the in- erful, with its crowning row of battlements, is the their eternal salvation. terlude of the Civil War, not only began the Royal Gate, whose prism-shaped projecting bod- But as well as the monarchs the highest Cata­ restoration of the monastery complex —which ies became a reference point that inspired similar lán joined in this support in return for had been declared a National Monument in 1921— systems in Valencia. To make up for the forebod- similar spiritual benefits. Poblet received dona- but also allowed the return of the Cistercian ing military character of the Royal Gate, a short tions from families whose ñames figure amongst monks in 1940. The restoration work is worthy of distance away is the facade of the church built in the in its church and cloister: the Dukes of praise, and a special mention should be made of the seventeenth century under the generous, sus- Segorbe, Cardona and Girona, the Anglesola, Mon­ the architeets Martorell and Ferrant and of the tained patronage of the Dukes of Cardona. The eada, Boixadors, Guimerá, Montpalau, Copons fam­ Sculptor Frederic Mares, to whom is owed the dif- work is by the master builders Francisco Portella ilies and more. ficult task of recomposing the monumental royal and José Llagostera, with the collaboration of the Many of the abbots of Poblet —who from the graves in the church. The final restoration cam- Sculptor Domingo Rovira. The facade is in an un- twelfth to seventeenth eenturies were perpetual as paigns, which took place between 1975 and 1982, mistakable baroque style which includes, be­ a unique privilege and then quadrennial— went were carried out by the architeets Ripoll, Garreta, tween columns, the statues of Saint Benedict and on to become high ecclesiastical dignitaries inside and, in particular, Bassegoda Nonell, who amongst Saint Bernard, as well as the image of the Virgin and outside the order. This is the case, for exam- other things recovered the beautiful dome over at the top. We must not forget that she is the pa­ ple, of Arnaldo de Amalric (1196-1198), who carne the transept crossing. trón of Poblet. to be General of the Cistercians, Archbishop of The main entrance to the monastery is via the The church is the main building supporting the Narbonne and papal légate in the Crusade against oíd avenue or Camí de Poblet, which leads to the rest of the monastery on its northern side. This is the Albigensians, which speaks for the considera- Prades Gate, which takes its ñame from the near- one of the most impressive Cistercian churches tion of Rome towards the monastery. In fact, the by range of hills. A Hule further on, a second gate, there is to be seen, in terms of the architecture and popes of the second half of the eleventh century set in the large walls which mark the enclosure of the overall dimensions. The floor plan is in the —that is from Eugene II (1152), to Alexander III the monastery, direets our steps towards the Gold- form of a Latín cross, with a nave and two aisles, until the pontificate of Urban III— favoured Poblet en Gate, a work dating from the end of the fif- transept and a chevet with apsidal chapéis. It mea- on repeated occasions by putting it under the pro- teenth century, defended by a military row of bat- sures eighty-five metres at its longest point, the tection of the Holy See, according to a large num­ tlements. But íf we want to get to the monastery nave is rather more than eight metres wide, whíle ber of pontifical instniments. itself we must cross yet a fourth gate, the so-called the height reaches twenty-eight metres, unusual Poblet's period of greatest glory was from the Royal Gate, set in the wall Peter the Ceremonious proportions in a twelfth-century building. The twelfth to fourteenth eenturies, when the main nu- had built in the years when Guillermo de Agulló church must have been started in 1186, coinciding cleus of the monastery was fortified with solid was abbot (1361-1393), as we are reminded by the with the beginning of the term of office of Hugh walls which stand out for the Royal Gate. By then shields above the gate. (1166-1181), sixth abbot of Poblet, who took on it already had daughter houses like the monaster- Before going in, between the first and second the important project we know of today and in ies and priories of Piedra in Saragossa (1194), enclosures, as well as market gardens, farm build- which Alfons II played a decisive part. Alfons Benifazá in Castellón (1235), Santa María la Real ings, presses, cellars, brickyards, fountains, barns, wanted to be buried in the new church, thus es- in Majorca (1239), San Vicente Mártir in Valencia lodgings and gatehouse, amongst other construc- tablishing the royal pantheon, whose political (1287) and Nazaret in Barcelona (1311). In the fif- tions, there is an extremely interesting architec- symbolism is stressed by the fact that he was the teenth century, thanks to Ferdinand the 's tural complex, from the chapel of Santa Caterina, first king of Catalonia and Aragón, representing mediation before the Pope, Poblet managed in a thirteenth-century work retaining distinct Ro- the unión of the Catalán counties with the king- 1480 to break with its dependence on Fontfroide, manesque traces which bring to mind the oldest dom of Aragón. its mother abbey, to whom it had been paying a parts of the monastery, to the chapel of Sant Jordi, Following the death of the king in Perpignan large sum of money every year, as well as being built by Alfons the Magnanimous (1442), whose (1196), his remains were moved to Poblet. By then subordinated in other delicate issues such as the facade is a delicate example of late Gothic. The the church must have been almost completed, al- election of the abbot of Poblet, an event until then new abbot's palace, begun by Juan Oliver de Bo- though the work went on into the thirteenth cen­ presided by the abbot of Fontfroide or his delégate. taller (1583-1698), dates from the sixteenth centu­ tury. In fact, the aisle on the Epistle, or south side, With the recognition of this administrative au- ry but was not finished until the eighteenth cen­ was rebuilt during the following century, in the tonomy in the temporal order, Poblet in the six- tury. It is joined to the main monastery complex years of the highly active Abbot Ponce de Copons teenth century faced the first attempts at territorial by a covered passageway also dating from the (1316-1348), increasing the number of chapéis on organisation, which were not to materialise until eighteenth century. that side. The church interior, according to Torres the following century, when it became part of the In the unequal but picturesque square in front of Balbás, "gives an unforgettable impression of Congregación de Aragón, along with the other Cis- the monastery enclosure stands Abbot Guimerá's severity and grandeur, achieved purely through ar- tercian abbeys of Catalonia, Aragón, Valencia, the (1564-1583) elegant boundary cross, a work recov­ chitectural resources, as it is extremely bare: there Balearics and Navarre. After that, life went on un­ ered in París by Eduardo Toda, to whom we are is not a single decorative detail, not a singe leaf til things were brusquely interrupted in 1835. At indebted for his zeal in the physical and moral re- on the capitals, not a single rose on the keystones, that point, secularisation led to the dispersal of the covery of Poblet. not a single story on the corbels". In other words, community of Poblet, which was then made up of Above the stretches of wall stand towers of dif- Saint Bernard's ideas rejecting luxurious decoration fifty-nine monks and a dozen lay brothers. ferent forms with ñames referring to widely vary- in churches are taken literally, as expressed in the The subsequent sacking and abandonment of ing events, such as, amongst others, the Prior's General Chapter of the order of 1134, when he for- the monastery left it in a state of extreme ruin from Tower, the Shoemaker's Tower, the Tower of the bids "pictures or sculptures in our churches or in which it diel not begin to recover until after 1930, Oil and the Tower of the Hosts. The most pow- any of the monastery buildings".

356 he won in 1176, where this noble knight did great Marquis of Cerralbo, who devoted some of his re- most primitive images of Huerta. It consists of a deeds for his law and for his king; for which rea- search to the monastery (1908). By then Huerta large nave built with massive walls and divided son his ñame shall be praised and his efforts es- had been deciared a National Monument (1882), lengthways by a series of five robust columns teemed. Everything he owned in Cuenca he gave but it was in a state that left much to be desired which give rise to twelve sections of quadripartite to this monastery of Huerta. And today we have a and the predominant image was one of neglect de- ribbed vaulting. farm which is called Alvadalejo, cióse to Cuenca, scribed by Manuel Pérez-Villamil in 1875, though The beauty of the lay brothers' refectory lies in and the Mint in Cuenca. And as well as this he the heroic beauty of the ruins did nothing to ease its undisguised lack of refinement and shows how, gave us one thousand five hundred gold men­ the desire to return to past times. Things took a in the work within the monastery, the rapid ad- éales to make this gallery which is beside the re- turn for the better following the death of the Mar- vances in architecture were introduced into the fectory, where he is buriecl. He left this life in the quises of Cerralbo, when the provisions of their buildings at Huerta. In comparison, the monks' re­ year 1206." wills expressed the wish that a Cistercian commu­ fectory, built in the first third of the thirteenth cen­ Shortly afterwards, Martín Ñuño, Abbot Martín's nity should return there. This wish materialised in tury, comes across as a highly elabórate work of nephew, paid for the work on the extraordinary 1930, with the arrival of a small number of monks Gothic architecture. The discerning use of large refectory since 1215, while other people and from the abbey of Cóbreces (). sexpartite vaults in fact made it possible to elimí­ friends linked to the abbot, like Rodrigo Ximenez The general arrangement of Santa María de nate the intermedíate supports, giving a trans- de Rada, Archbishop of Toledo, paid the cost of Huerta follows the rigid Cistercian scheme in parency to the space which the powerful natural the former dormitory of Huerta, in which monastery which everything is regulated and repeats a tried lighting added to. This is unquestionably a mas- he wished to be buried, as he declares in the will and tested functional organisation. The church has terpiece of , given the way he signed in París (1201): "Sepulturam mihi apud a T-shaped floor plan in which the greater depth in which walls and vaults are connected, and also Ortam elegi". Other burials complement these ac- of the semi-circular chevet stands out. By contrast, on account of its size and proportions. The refec­ counts, like those of the executors of Ximénex de the four apses that accompany it, two on either tory has the inevitable , with steps set out of Rada, "who made this part of the cloister, and gave side, have a straight front and correspond to each the way within the wall, behind an attractive here the books and ornaments that belonged to of the four sections forming the arms of the cross- ramping arcade. Between the monks' and lay this bishop...who ordered that it be done so. They ing. The main vaults have very simple ribbed So­ brothers' refectories is the colossal monastery left this life in the year 1236 and the year 1259". lutions and are amongst the earliest cross vaults kitchen, with a square floor plan and the cowl of This is how we know in some detail the first stage in Spain. This in no way means that the building its monumental chimney in the centre forming an of the building at Huerta, corresponding to the is Gothic, as the construction, the thickness of the ambulatory around it characterised by colonettes, thirteenth century, when the monastery managed walls and supports, the proportions of the sec­ vaulting and capitals with crockets of undeniable to complete the most important buildings. tions, buttresses, pillars, proportions, etc. are en- French descent. However, it was yet to go through a further pe- tirely within the strictest Romanesque tradition. The monastery still preserves the walled ceme- riod in the sixteenth century of capital importance Nevertheless, the church saw later additions and tery with embattled towers, on one of which could for the building work. The addition of a second reforms, such as the raised choir at the western be read, until its loss, the following inscription in cloister, the so-called cloister of La Hospedería, the end, already mentioned, along with the organ memory of the great building campaign undertak- upper cloister over the original cloister of Los Ca­ gallery, as well as the changes in the vaulting of en in the time of Charles V: balleros, and the changes made in the church the aisles. Its general appearance also changed "Alfhonsus nonus fundabat anno 1142 tendit ad show what joining the sixteenth-century reform of considerably, as its present nakedness and the re- perfectionem anno 1551, regnante invictísimo Car­ the Congregación de Castilla meant for the moval of the excellent monks' stall, with ninety- olo Cristianísimo 5o Católico Rege Nostro". monastery of Huerta. Some apparently minor but one seats, from the nave to the raised choir, re­ in fact capital details, such as the fact of abandon- duces the vitality of this central part of the church. ing the oíd tradition of large community dormito- On the pillars separating the nave from the aisles LAS HUELGAS DE BURGOS. ries in favour of individual cells or of considering can be seen the simple corbels or stepped springers the church a public place, for example, led to the on which are supported the pilasters of the ribs of x\.ll those who have written about the Real Monas­ construction of the second, structure the vault. These spring from a certain point leav- terio de Las Huelgas de Burgos remember the men- over the medieval cloister, connecting it with the ing room to fit in the oíd wooden choir, a char- tion made of them in the Cantigas, when they say, new choir, also raised, at the western end of the acteristic element of what could be called the Cis­ church. These and other measures, which are not tercian style. "De sí en Burgos moraba due to stylistic flights of fancy so much as to the To the north of the church is the original clois­ E un hospital facía architectural expression of new rules of life in the ter and its attached buildings, including the chap- Él, e su moller labraba Cistercian Order for the monasteries belonging ter house and the "De Profundis" hall. Above o Monasterio das Olgas". to the Congregación de Castilla, gradually trans- these was the monks' dormitory, which commu- formed the nature and usage of other áreas which nicated with the church by means of a staircase The builders of the Hospital del Rey right on took on a new personality which departed from which can still be seen in the south transept. Along the route to Santiago in the vicinity of the rigid early Cistercian model. the side of the cloister opposite the church are Burgos and founders of the nearby Cistercian Santa María de Huerta, like other monasteries, aligned the kitchen, refectory and calefactory, and monastery of Las Huelgas (1187) were none oth­ suffered the secularisation of 1835 and the subse- finally, on the west side, there is the so-called lay er than Alfonso VIII of Castile and his wife, Eleanor quent neglect, until its sale by public auction brothers' passage or staircase, running parallel to of Aquitaine. The ñame of Las Huelgas, as Father (1846). It then had various owners until it carne the grain store, and beyond this the lay brothers' Flórez states in his España Sagrada (1772), comes into the hands of Enrique de Aguilera y Gamboa, refectory, which provides one of the harshest and from the fact that this was "a place of pleasure,

358 recreation and rest, which in Castilian is called her "total, exclusive authority, like the lords and Fernando and "Claustrülas" cloisters with their ad- 'huelga', and the founding monarchs took that bishops, having the power to hear criminal, civil jacent constructions. The oldest part of the whole house to recréate their spirits in the times unoc- and beneficial lawsuits, providing ecclesiastical site is the twelfth-century Romanesque cloister, cupied by war". It is also possible that the king benefits, granting letters dimissory for orders, li- known as "Claustrillas", where the simplicity of the had a holiday estáte there before the founding of censes to preach and hear confession, exercise the capitals tells us something of Cistercian decorative the monastery. care of souls, enter religión, profess, rear and con- restraint. This part of the monastery is all that re- Whatever the case, the foundation is an excep- firm , notaries, procurators, form consti- mains from the days of Alfonso VIII and Eleanor, tionally privileged one as regards both temporal tutions, move convents, cali a synod and impose and includes the chapel of La Asunción, whose and spiritual matters, by the king as well as by centuries through their ecclesiastical judges: for- oldest part take us back to the early years of the Pope Clement III. It is generally accepted that the tunately it goes against or above all customs of thirteenth century. This chapel, as Torres Balbás foundation was the initiative of Eleanor, "who as a the Church for the Crown to deposit all this in reminds us, could well be the royal palace which believer and a woman, wished to found a convent this great lady, the only woman with such privi­ Alfonso VIII, according to Tudense, built "like a for women which would shine with royal splen- leges: which is why it is a common saying, that if latter-day Solomon, next to the monastery". The fact dour and with the worship of God, as nowhere the Pope had to marry (with all due reverence) is that it mixes palatial elements of civil architec- else. The king approved the queen's determination there would be no more worthy woman than the ture with delightful Almohad decoration, which in- and the work got under way..." (Flórez). The nuns of Las Huelgas" (Flórez). corporated Christian elements of Romanesque tra- who arrived at Las Huelgas in 1187 carne from the This truly exceptional power was endorsed by dition when it became a chapel. Navarrese monastery of Tulebras, which was the both the king and the pope, so that Alfonso VIII, in This Islamic component is repeated in other first Cistercian foundation for women in Spain the founding charter, actually states that "if any of parts of the monastery, as in the case of the chapel (1157). The ñame of the first abbess that has come our blood, or foreign to it, should daré to infringe of El Salvador or the adjacent chapel of Santiago, down to us is Sol, or Misol, as she was also called. or diminish in any way this our charter of donation where Muslim elements such as the In 1199, when Guy was abbot of Cíteaux, the and privilege, he shall incur fully the wrath of God columns and capitals of the entrance, the pointed foundation was formally handed over to the or- Almighty and be condemned with Judas the be- horse-shoe arches, the loops and Moorish plant der, "declaring that the Abbey and special daughter trayer to the ravages of hell, and as well as this motifs in plaster and the wooden ceiling structure, of Cíteaux had the authority of the Pope and the shall pay the king, in penance, one thousand gold are a direct reminder of models from Hispano- Cistercian Chapter, and was chosen by the King pounds and make restitution twofold to the Muslim architecture. and Queen for their burial and that of their chil- monastery for the damage he may have caused". The thirteenth century saw the construction of dren" (Flórez). In other words, the king was again Pope Clement III, for his part, stated in the the church and the large adjacent cloister, which thinking of a dynastic pantheon with the presence founding bull the ecclesiastical independence of the represent a finished model of Cistercian organisa- of a religious order, this time female, which would monastery as regards the bishops "and if any bishop tion, following Burgundian prototypes with Solu­ ensure sustained worship as permanent interces- because of this should pass sentence against your tions that are fully Gothic. The work must have sion before the Almighty. persons or the monastery itself, we shall declare begun during the lifetime of Alfonso VIII, when "From then on", adds Flórez, "the King and this sentence nuil and void, as passed against the the king recompensed a master masón named Ri­ Queen added to this Royal House with so many pardons of the Holy Apostolic See". However, all cardo, although it was completed two years later, properties, exemptions, prerogatives and privileges these special privileges expired in 1873, following during the second third of the thirteenth century. that it had to be seen to be believed: because in Pius IX's Bull Quae diversa. The church has a T-shaped floor plan, broken this Prelate [abbess] they formed an Ecclesiastical In the nineteenth century the monastery was only by the deep chevet which ends in a pentag­ and Civil Prince, uniting in her what separately plundered by the Napoleonic troops on their way onal arrangement whose vaulting makes use of could aggrandise others, and united here forms a through Burgos. On the other hand, it was not af- an earlier sexpartite solution. This high chapel grandeur without equal, with quasi-episcopal juris- fected by the general secularisation of 1835, by ex- houses the altar and the chaplains' choir men- diction in temporal and spiritual matters over a press request of the local authorities of Burgos, in tioned above. Four more minor chapéis open off large área of convents, churches, towns and vil- spite of its small number of nuns, which Madoz, the transept on either side, leaving the chapel of lages". One of the most complex questions in the in 1846, put at a total of eight. Los Clérigos outside the church but joined to the early years was the submission to Las Huelgas of Today the community is made up of forty nuns, north transept. the remaining women's abbeys of Castile and though the monastery's past grandeur responds to The body of the church consists of a nave and León, which carne to a total of fourteen. King Al­ a very different number which can be estimated two aisles, with the "ladies"' choir, followed by the fonso VIII put every effort into this enterprise, hav- from the seating in the choir. Counting nuns and lay sisters' choir occupying the nave. The architec­ ing the Abbot of Cíteaux himself come to forcé the lay sisters, there are more than 100 seats, not in- ture is one of the earliest examples of French seven monasteries then in existence (1199) to cluding the choir for the nuns' secular servants Gothic in Castile, the nave and aisles being cov- recognise Las Huelgas as their mother monastery. or the twenty-six chaplains who took their place ered with simple quadripartite ribbed vaults, ex- That meant, amongst other things, that these monas­ in their own choir located in the church pres- cept for the crossing, which is covered with a teries owed obedience to the Abbess of Las Huelgas, bytery. In other words, a considerable number of dome resting on eight ribs. who used a mitre and staff, exempting them from nuns, chaplains and servants inhabited not only The nave and aisles are each known by differ­ that of any bishop. the seclusion of the monastery but also the hous- ent ñames; that of the nave being All , while Its jurisdiction also extended over a total of six- es and accessory constructions that formed the sur- the south or Epistle aisle is named after Saint John ty-four towns, villages and hamlets, forming a sort rotinding courtyards. and the north or Cospel aisle is named after Saint of , over which the Abbess of Las Huelgas, The main nucleus of the monastery is made up Catherine. All three contain a magnificent series of who was required to be of royal blood, exercised of church, tower and porch, along with the San tombs of kings, queens and infantes and infan-

359 tas, noteworthy on account both of the historical a number of extremely noble tombs, whose sides are on permanent guard waiting for their Lord so as significance of those resting there and of the beau- and lids are covered with coats of arms and some to open up to him as soon as he should cali, in a ty of the carved stone tombs. The most outstand- of which also include interesting reliefs. wasteland quite a long way from human habita- ing are the tombs of the founders, Alfonso VIII and Next to this gallery and joined to the front of the tion in every direction. Of its pleasantness and of its Eleanor of England, who both died in 1214. Their north wing of the church is a large vaulted mild, healthy air, of the vast, beautiful plañe stretch- situation in the middle of the "ladies"' choir and lit by a magnificent rose window with a rigid radial ing away between mountains, with its green mead- their simple but refined stone coffins, decorated structure. From here one has access to the church ows and flowered pastures, what can I say? How with the coats of arms of the two royal families and or to the chapel of Los Clérigos or San Juan, all of can I describe accurately the view of the hills ris- scenes from the founding of the monastery, give the this beneath the belfry which in spite of its func- ing gently all around, the seclusion of the shady place added solemnity. Also in this choir are the tion can not disguise its military bearing as the fi­ valleys, the pleasant abundance of rivers, streams tombs of the mother and daughter of Saint Ferdi- nal blazon of so much nobility. and springs? Neither is there any lack of watered nand, both named Berenguela, and of Blanche of All this history still features prominently in the land, ñor of varied and fruitful trees." Portugal. While that of the younger Berenguela, part played by the monastery of Las Huelgas with- Then, realising how hedonistic his words were, who was abbess of the monastery (1241-1279), in the female Cistercian family in Spain as head of he adds, "But why do I linger over these things? has reliefs showing evangelical themes on the lid the twenty existing monasteries belonging to the Surely there are other delights for the wise man, and sides in an unmistakable French Gothic style, Federación de la Regular Observancia de San which being divine are more pleasing and useful. that of Blanche, daughter of King Alfonso III of Bernardo. However, our weak mind, weary from austere dis­ Portugal, is decorated solely with the coats of cipline and by the exercises of the spirit, is often arms of Castile, León and Portugal, in skilful com- relieved by these things and breathes. The bow binations. THE CARTHUSIANS that is ever tensed slackens and does not serve its An account of all these tombs, true marvels of purpose." There is in all this a conscious search for medieval funerary sculpture, would take too long, SAINT BRUNO AND THE CUSTOMS OF THE CARTHUSIANS. balance between solitary nature, in the form of the but suffice it to say that in the Santa Catalina aisle desert, and the spirit, which makes Bruno add to there are various sons and daughters of the I he life of Saint Bruno, who was born in the Ger­ the letter, "What usefulness and divine joy are founders, as well as Fernando de la Cerda and oth- mán city of Cologne in about 1032 and died in brought by the solitude and silence of the desert to ers, while the San Juan aisle contains female buri- 1101, was spent mainly in France and Italy. Trained he who loves them, is only known to them who als of infantas and queens, many of whom pro- at the famous cathedral school of Reims, he carne have experienced it." fessed in this monastery, like Constanza "the saint", to be a teacher and canon there, a life he eventu- These words speak for Master Bruno's eremitic the daughter of the founders. ally abandoned following an intímate wish for soli- vocation, though shared with other companions, The large cloister, built on to the south side of tude, silence and meditation. Almost coinciding whence we deduce that the Carthusians reconciled the church, is named after Saint Ferdinand. Today, with the time of the founding of the Cistercian the individual solitude of the hermit with life in efforts are being made to recover as much as pos- mother-house in Citeaux, Bruno and six compan- community, that is the life of the coenobite, from sible of the original Gothic arcades, which at some ions visited Grenoble in 1084, and presented them- the Latin coenobium, itself from the Greek "koinos", point were bricked in. The galleries of the cloister selves before Bishop Hugo, who on seeing them common, and "bios", life. The Carthusian monastery are another example of the coexistence of East and identified them with the seven stars he had seen in therefore differs from the community life of the West, of medieval Christian art and the Islamic or­ a prophetic dream. These are the stars that figure Benedictines and the Cistercians as much as it does namental world. Its pointed masonry barrel vaults on the coat of arms of the order, indícatíng a point from the purely eremitic life of the were rendered between 1230 and 1260 with extra- in his diocese at which to build a church. founded by Saint Romuald in Camaldoli, near Flo- ordinary Moorish plaster work by masters from The fact is that Bruno and his companions spent rence, in 1012. This, basically, is what makes the Córdoba or Seville. six years living an eremitic life a few kilometres Carthusians original. Of all the buildings opening off the cloister, the from Grenoble, in the Alps, at a height of just over But when Saint Bruno died in Calabria he had chapter house will always stand out on account of 1,100 metres, in wild and isolated countryside dif- left no written rule, no constirtition, no Consolidated its purity of style, in which one can see that the ficult to reach. This is the so-called "desert" of Char­ order as such, just a model of life, a series of ideas work was interrupted leaving the bases and capi- treuse, whence the ñame Carthusian. Later, called gathered in his writings, like those described in the tals of the columns undecorated. Four spectacular by a former pupil at Reims, now pope with the letter to Raúl le Verd and, especially, an extraordi- supports provide the springing point for the fine ñame of Urban II, Bruno moved to Rome in 1090 nary and heroically ascetic nature. It is enough to ribs of the vaults. Amongst the works it houses where he stayed at the Baths of Diocletian, the fu- read the chapters of the Consuetudines Cartusiae, today is the outstanding Pendón de las Navas, ture Carthusian monastery in Rome. After turning or Customs of Chartreuse, written in 1127 by Guigo, which is in fact part of the field insignia of the down the archbishopric of Reggio, he looked for a fifth prior of the Grande Chartreuse, to gauge that caliph Abu Ya'qub Yusuf, known to us as Mira- secluded spot in Calabria, where he founded the inner strength of Saint Bruno and his first com­ mamolín, who in 1212 suffered a great defeat at Carthusian monastery of Santa María de la Torre, panions, which has stood fast throughout histo­ the hands of Alfonso VIII at the famous battle of where he died. This spot was unquestionably more ry, as the order's proud claim to fame is that it has Las Navas de Tolosa. Though unconfirmed, tradi- pleasant than Chartreuse, and we have a lively de- never been reformed, because it has never been tion has it that the knights who collaborated with scription of it by Master Bruno himself, as everyone deformed: Cartusia nunquam reformata, quia the monarch in the battle were also buried at Las called him, in a famous letter he wrote to his friend numquam deformata. However, the Consue­ Huelgas, in the gallery known for this reason as Raül le Verd, provost of the chapter of Reims, in tudines, which acted as the real constitutions of Los Caballeros, on the north side of the church. which he says, "I live in lands of Calabria with my the order, were altered in different transcriptions What we do know for fact is that this is the site of religious brothers, some of them very learned, who in the course of history, adjusting not so much to

360 the times as to better practices in the order's be yearly, and to the Prior of the Grande Char­ the church, as can still be seen today in the Carthu­ coenobitic and eremitic life. treuse. These dispositions were foilowed by others sian monastery of Jerez. It is still striking to read the rules for fasting and in successive General Chapters which gave an ad- The large cloister housing the cemetery has the meáis, which in chapter xxxm say, "On Monday, ministrative structure to the new Charterhouses be- monks' cells grouped around it, initially twelve plus Wednesday and Friday we make do with bread, ing founded in Europe, which were few in number the prior's, then twenty-four, until they no longer water and, for he who wants it, salt. On Tuesday, compared with the Benedictine and Cistercian have a predetermined number. The cloister consists Thursday and Saturday we cook ourselves pulses monasteries. of a single story and bears no similarity to those of or something similar, and receive wine from the In Spain the Order of Saint Bruno was intro- other monastic orders. The passages are long, as the cook (mixed with water), and on Thursday, cheese duced by Alfonso II the Chaste, King of Aragón, row of cells, like small terraced hermitages, cali for or some better food...When we eat in the refecto- who favoured the foundation of Scala Dei (Tar- a mínimum frontage, making these galleries end- ry Con Sundays), to the vegetables or pulses is ragona) in 1163. From then until the seventeenth less perspectives on to which the simple door of added cheese or some similar allowance, and be- century a total of twenty-one Carthusian monaster­ each cell opens. These are distinguished with a let- fore supper, fruit or salad, if there is any." But if ies were founded, each of which met with very dif­ ter, often the initial of some Biblical verse or sen- all of this suggests to us a fairly severe existence, ferent fortunes in the course of its history, but tence of the Holy Fathers, or simply taken from the we have to bear in mind that, furthermore, from which in the present European scene form a nu- alphabet. Beside it is the guichet or hatch through September to Easter the Carthusians take only one cleus of great responsibility. Carthusian monaster­ which food and drink reaches the hermit-monk. meal a day, and two the rest of the year. ies alive today are those of Portaceli CValencia), The most obvious characteristic of the Carthu­ If we look at the schedule of prayer, work and Montealegre CBarcelona), Miraflores (Burgos) and sian monastery lies in the cells, whose rooms and rest, living conditions get even harder, as on a nor­ Jerez (Cádiz). their arrangement have remained unaltered mal day the Carthusian monk gets up at half past In relation with the architectural model for the throughout the history and geography of the order. ñve in the morning, and at six o'clock says Prime Carthusian monastery, its nature can be inferred Each cell has two storeys; on the ground floor, the of the day and Terce of the Office of Our Lady. from the Customs, though they tell us nothing — entrance and the hatch, a way out to a small gar- Half an hour later he recites the Ángelus, which is nothing at all— about the form or layout of the den with an arcade leading to the facilities for foilowed by a short period of prayer. At seven the monasteries. Many other things are also missing washing, the store room for timber and the car- Litanies are recited and the conventual, or commu- from them and Guigo, aware of these limitations, pentry workshop, where the monk does manual nity mass is held. One hour later they say prívate writes in the last chapter of the eighty making work. A staircase leads up to the antechamber, the prayer, in some of the chapéis of the church or up the Consuetudines, "We do not believe, how- first room on the upper floor, which is known as cloister, and Terce of the day and Sext of the Office ever, that in writing this it has been possible to the Ave María on account of the prayer the monk of Our Lady are recited. At nine there is meditation include everything so that nothing at all is miss­ recites mentally when he enters or leaves. After foilowed by a spiritual reading. At ten o'clock, Sext ing. But if anything has escaped us it can easily this comes the cubicle where he sleeps, studies of the day and None of the Office of Our Lady. A be indicated in private conversation." We can and prays, all in a space roughly divided by walls quarter of an hour later he occupies himself with take this to mean that there are other dispositions and the elementary fumishings. manual work until eleven, when None of the day forming part of unwritten customs which are tak- The Consuetudines say nothing about the distrib- is said and the monks eat. At midday, the Ángelus en for granted. The point of the Customs is that ution of the cells either, as this is taken for granted. and a short break, always in the cells. From one they single out fundamental aspects such as the On the other hand, it describes in fine detail —like o'clock until two he occupies himself with study clear distinction between monks, or fathers, lay an inventory— the objects in the cell: "The inhabi- and then goes down to the manual work área, brothers, brothers or données and novices; be­ tant of the cell is given, for his bed: straw, strong without leaving the cell as such. At half past two tween coenobitic life, eremitic life and the more cloth, a pillow, a cover, a mattress or blanket made Vespers of the Office of Our Lady are said, foi­ servile state which, under the ñame of obedi- of thick sheepskins and covered in rough wool. To lowed by Vespers of the day and the Office of the ences, refers to the various essential occupations wear: two hair shirts, two tunics, two pelisses: one Dead. At four there is a light meal and a break un­ such as cook, baker and cobbler, and a whole se­ more worn, another better one, and also two til five o'clock, when time is spent on spiritual read­ ries of further basic observations, to which the cowls, three pairs of stockings, four pairs of san- ing and examination of conscience. Half an hour monks in their construction gave the most appro- dals, furs, cape, shoes for night and for day, grease later he says the Ángelus and Compline, and he priate and functional form. to rub on them, two pairs of drawers, a belt, these retires to bed at six o'clock. At a quarter past ten he Thus, on the basis of a scheme which could (the drawers and belt) of thick hemp. And he will gets up to say Matins and Lauds of the day until be said to belong to the Benedictine tradition, not look to the thickness or the colour of every­ two in the morning, when he says Prime of the Of­ the Carthusian monastery always consists of thing belonging to the bed or dress, because the fice of Our Lady and the Office of Mass and goes three basic groupings around three cloisters or lot of all monks, and ours especially, is the humil- back to bed. He gets up again at half past five in courtyards, beginning to with the lesser cloister ity and wear of the cloths, and roughness, poverty the morning and repeats this strict timetable to the —so called on account of its smaller size—, and abjection in everything we use. He also has sound of the different ringing of the bells. around which are arranged the monastery build- two needles, thread, scissors, a comb, a razor for The Customs, were foilowed, in the days of Pri­ ings such as the church, the chapter house, the the head, a stone (for sharpening) and a leather or Saint Anthelm, Guigo's successor at the Grande refectory and chapéis for individual worship. As strop for sharpening." Chartreuse, by the celebration of the First General the community has monks and lay brothers, the An equally detailed description is given of the Chapter of the order in 1140, which established the church is also divided in two parts with their cor- tools for writing and copying manuscripts; the two patterns and the organisation of the different foun- responding choir stalls. Similarly, there are two books he can remove from the library; the cooking dations there were at that time, putting them under chapter houses, one for each, and a wall or door utensils (when each originally cooked his own obedience to the General Chapter, which was to separating them in the refectory, the same as in meáis); the elements for lighting a fire; the axe and

361 the adze for working... "To anyone reading this we be delivered or paid" (1435). These words show to reconsider the oíd territorial limits of its Carthu­ beg them not to smile or reprehend until he has once more how death carne to be the principal sian provinces, establishing a new one, Castile, resided some time amongst great snowfalls and forcé behind so many abbeys, monasteries, char- which was independent of the province of Catalo- such appalling cold". Thus wrote Guigo, who in terhouses and convents, with the object of ob- nia and included the foundations at El Paular 1132 saw the Grande Chartreuse buried under a taining their patrons' favours with God in the (Madrid), Las Cuevas (Seville), Aniago and Miraflo­ formidable avalanche of snow which put an end to hereafter. This is how things had been until then res. John II again increased the endowment to Mi­ the life of several monks and called for the con- and this was how they would go on afterwards. raflores, changing the allowances of wheat, barley struction of a new monastery in a safer place, on At the same time, here, as in other cases, the wish and wine to 50,000 maravedís a year, and fur- its present site. to establish a dynastic pantheon surfaces, com- thermore in 1443 he granted them the royal rev- The cell, in short, is the natural setting for the bining the aspirations of father and son. The very enues from a total of fifty-seven towns and vil- Carthusian, where he spends practically all his life words of John II on his father's wishes are clear: lages. These were followed by further royal and in silence and solitude. This is why the Consue- "I, in respect and consideration of all this, and of ecclesiastical privileges and exemptions, and Pope tudines list "so many objects for each one, so that the great devotion which King Henry my father Nicholas V offered five years' pardon to anyone he has no need to leave his cell, something we and my lord, whom God grant holy Paradise, had helping in the construction of the monastery, consider illicit. This, indeed, is never conceded, for the blessed Lord Saint Francis...And because whether with donations or with personal work except to meet in the cloister or in the church". his wish was to instruct that a monastery be built (1449), while the king granted the charterhouse Finally, the courtyard of the "obediences", in devotion to the said blessed Lord Saint Francis first refusal when buying fresh or salt fish not only where the brothers come and go, with more out- which...because of his death he could not do in over prívate individuáis but also over other monas­ side contact, contains the various workshops and his lifetime. And I desiring that his good intention teries (1450). storehouses which the procurator supervises and be fulfilled and executed by me. And also on ac- With all these means the work was soon com- tidies, always in a silence broken only when ab- count of the great devotion I have to Saint Fran­ pleted, taking advantage of the structure of Henry solutely necessary. cis, and the good devotion and the religious in­ III's oíd palace and channelling water through tention of the said King Henry my father be costly aqueducts. The "desert" around it was en- fulfilled and executed by me in the service of closed and other needs seen to, but when every- CARTHISLAN MONASTERY OF MIRAFI.ORF.S. BURGOS. God. My grace and desire was that my [of thing seemed to be finished, in 1452 a voracious Miraflores] be a monastery and bear the ñame of fire reduced the palace-charterhouse of Miraflores O n the left bank of the Arlanzón river, not far Saint Francis". to ashes. This is why the present building corre- from Burgos, Henry III the Sufferer raised a small What is curious about this inclination towards sponds entirely to a new project from the second palace which took the ñame of the valley that lay the Franciscan Order is that it is not mentioned half of the fifteenth century and the beginning of at its feet, Miraflores, a place where the hunting again and from the start of the new foundation it is the sixteenth, because as the king died two years was plentiful and the countryside pleasant. The the Carthusians that appear. In 1441 the king ad- later the construction of the new monastery was palace included a small chapel and ampie fences dressed their General, offering him Miraflores, left in the hands of his children, Henry V and, es- which closed off the royal hunting grounds in which he endowed splendidly, assigning 100,000 pecially, Isabella the Catholic. which no-one could hunt, graze or fish. This led maravedís to build a church, at the same time fixing The floor plan and general distribution are ex- to constant lawsuits between the king and then other incomes consisting of 1,000 pitchers of wine a emplary in their completeness and the number of the Carthusians with Burgos City Council, as this year, 500 fanegas of wheat, the same quantity of rooms, arranged around courtyards and cloisters of was common land. The king died in 1406, leav- barley and 50,000 maravedís in money, with the widely varying rank, size and use, all conceived ing the work unfinished but expressing in his will promise to increase this amount if necessary. This with an impeccable sense of function. A first clois­ the wish to raise a Franciscan convent there: Franciscan about-turn towards the followers of Saint ter, called the gatehouse cloister as it provides the "Having promísed to build a monastery of the Or­ Bruno could have some connection with the fact entrance to the monastery, leads to the church, der of Saint Francis, in compensation for certain that Queen Mary, the first wife of John II, founded which has a single nave with its sacristy and things I was wont to do, I order that my aforesaid the Carthusian monastery of Aniaga, near Valladol- chapéis. On one side of the church is the lesser executors should do it; and if my aforesaid ex- id, that same year 1441, for which reason certain cloister, with the more or less reformed family ecutors consider it best, that the cost of doing so Carthusian were at the court in Burgos. What chapel and the chapter house and refectory. The should be distributed to other monasteries of the we do know is that the following year Miguel de refectory has a pulpit for reading, which is used on said Order that are not in good repair, let them Ruesta and Juan de las Fuentes, priors of the Sundays and feast days, as the remaining days the do so and so comply". Carthusian monasteries of Scala Dei and El Paular, Carthusians eat alone in their cells. The lesser Several lustres were to pass before the king's took charge of the palace of Miraflores, which was cloister and the great cloister are connected very wishes were fulfilled, after overcoming the fierce headed by Fray Beregario Strud, a "monk of the cióse to the prior's cell, which is the largest, as opposition his son John II met with from Burgos mass" at Scala Dei, and Fray Juan de Arévalo, a lay foreseen in the Consuetudines. The simple pas- City Council, the Court and even his own favourite brother at El Paular. Before long new demands sages rather more than sixty metres long are lined Alvaro de Luna. In fact, this attitude on the part of aróse for the maintenance of a community which on all four sides with twenty-six cells, distin- Alvaro was one of the things that weighed against was initially estimated to be made up of a prior, guished only by a letter from the alphabet, from A him when the king decided on his execution, since twelve monks, eight lay brothers, twelve servants to Z, all identically laid out —the Ave María room he had always been "disturbing and interfering so and some guests, though the foundation got under and gallery for work downstairs, the oratorium, li- that I should not build the church and monastery way with only five monks and one lay brother. brary and bed, upstairs— and each with its en- of Miraflores which I chose for my burial, and that The nearly contemporary foundations at Aniago closed garden. The cloister garden is divided into the maravedís I ordered to be given should not and Miraflores in Castile led the General Chapter four parts separated by the two main paths which

362 meet at the central fountain. Cypresses grow in ings were finished. The monastery could be said tery of Siloe. Characters from the Oíd and New one of them to indícate the cemetery área. No to have been completed in about 1540, at which Testaments amongst purely anecdotal themes, grave, no burial stone, no particular indication, just point it housed thirty-five monks. some free-standing and others in relief, all carried some wooden crosses presided by a monumental The church is an excellent example of the out with a skill difficult to equal, accompany the stone cross mark the spot where the Carthusians Castilian Gothic of the second half of the fifteenth magnificent recumbent figures of the King and lie buried, wrapped in their own habits, with no century. Its one long nave has room for the pres- Queen on their deathbed. These figures are an ex­ coffin. As Tarín y Juaneda pointed out, "What does bytery, the monks' choir, the lay brothers' choir ample of mastery in the trade, reproducing in al- it matter that their ñames should be unknown to and guests' área, all duly separated. The vaulting abaster the fine detail of the embroidered cloths the curious who happen to visit these poor graves? over the presbytery is especially rich in drawings and the richness of the jewels and precious stones. In their presence, these consoling words from the and complex decoration, in contrast to the extreme John II's crown has been damaged but one can see Holy Scripture come to mind unbidden: 'Beati simplicity of the church's exterior appearance. The in the crown on the head of Isabella of Portugal mortui, qui in Domino moriuntur'. In other words, doorway has an elegance typical of the art of the the extremes reached by this Sculptor. 'Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord' (Rev- Colonias and stands out for its relief Pietá on the To him also we owe the tomb of Don Alfonso, elation, 14, 13). The brothers' cells, for their part, tympanum and the coats of arms of Castile-Leon on the Gospel wall, where the infante appears are arranged around their own cloister, known as and of John II on either side of the thin ogee arch. alive, kneeling and praying at a magnificent prie- the cloister of obediences, very cióse to the court- The whole body of the church is poised on the dieu on which he has left his prayer book. Here yard where the storerooms and depositories are buttresses with slender pinnacles, those at the east- the architecture and the sculpture are so intricate- grouped, to that of the hospice, that of the kitchen ern end being slightly later and different and even ly fused that it becomes difficult to tell where one and that of the gatehouse. All this área is deliber- more elegant. The simple bell gable has a single ends and the other begins. Both the staging and ately separated from the fathers' área, though well opening which faces the coenobitic área, its calis the backdrop to this mural sepulchre, covered in connected with it. being distinguished with two bells. thistle leaves, weird animáis and children tangled In 1454, the year of the death of John II, Juan de There are two ways of talking about its interior. in exuberant vegetation, make this tomb in which Colonia was contracted to draw up the plans for On the one hand, there is an unquestionable spir- the infante maintains a serene gaze the swansong the Carthusian monastery for the sum of 3,350 itual beauty residing there, while on the other, it of Spanish medieval sculpture. What a long way maravedís. In May of that same year the first stone contains Ítems that are exceptional in the artistic the loquacious wealth of these royal tombs is from was laid in the área of the great cloister, where terrain. This is not so by chance, ñor is it a contra- the anonymous silence of the Carthusian burials! three years later twenty-four of its cells were com­ diction. On the contrary, these are two comple- The tomb of the infante must also have been plete, at the same time as the construction of the mentary fields in which sensuous and inner beau­ finished in about 1493- Gil de Siloe was paid, for church began. The work progressed at a good ty complement one another and are offered to us the two, rather more than 600,000 maravedís, a pace until the funds provided by John II ran out. as two distinct paths, both leading to the Truth. large sum, indeed, but one matching the quality Apparently, his son Henry IV did not entirely re- When someone has had the incomparable fortune of the work. Three years later the same Sculptor spect these provisions and the work carne to a of walking in the long passages of its cloisters, they began the for the Carthusian monastery standstill in 1464. It was Isabella the Catholic who remember neither their image ñor their style on in partnership with Diego de la Cruz, to whom we fulfilled her father's wishes and resumed con­ leaving, they take with them nothing more than a owe the gilding and . This unusual altar­ struction of the monastery in 1477 until it was profound impression of silence, a white silence, not piece was completed in 1499- Unlike the tradition- practically completed. This is mentioned in a frag- sad but vigorous, a silence in order, a silence like al arrangement of lañes and panels, it used a high- ment of the inscription in the church atrium, which the limpid antechamber to the hereafter, a reflec- ly original composition which presented the rich reminds us that, "Ecclesiae fabrica, sepulcrorum tion on existence itself. When one speaks of the iconography set in a series of circles. John II and structua, conventos perfectio, dotisque amplifica- monastic desert as solitude and silence in God, Mi- Isabella of Portugal, this time in the orant position, tio, debeturpietati et devotioni Regina Catholicae raflores has it and offers it. appear as the original worshippers, one on either Elisabeth". As well as that imponderable beauty whose side of the altarpiece. At the bottom are two doors, But by then the chief master masón, Juan de scope exceeds the possibilities of these lines, the undoubtedly for the small chapel of El Sagrario be- Colonia, had died (1466), having also been master Carthusian church endoses one of the most beau- hind the altar, where the is kept, as hap­ masón of the Cathedral of Burgos, where he erect- tiful tombs of the Middle Ages, the free-standing pened very early in Carthusian churches. ed the famous traceried spires. His substitute as tomb of John II and his second wife, Isabella of As well as the celebrantes chair in the pres­ director of works was the master masón Garci Fer­ Portugal, carved by the Sculptor of Flemish origin bytery, the church still conserves the beautiful seat- nández Matienzo, who was to raise the walls of the Gil de Siloe. The contract was drawn up in 1458 ing from the fathers' choir, the work of Martín church as far as the springing point for the vaults. and by 1493 the work was finished. Everything Sánchez de Valladolid, who finished it in 1489- These were finally built by Simón de Colonia, about it is striking, from the star-shaped floor plan Next, a wall with an opening in the centre, with Juan's son, who finished them in 1488. However, of the sepulchre, which multiplies the área to be the "Félix Coeli Porta", is the brothers' choir, something must have happened to these vaults, decorated, to the Germano-Flemish style of the presided by two of its own, which is also because in 1538 Diego de Mendieta was called on sculptures and reliéis. The sharpened sense of ob­ usual in Carthusian monasteries. After this second to intervene. That same year, the cross was put in servaron, the naturalism of the heads, the spon- choir, with its own seating and excellent sixteenth- place crowning the end gable of the main facade, taneity of movement of the figures, the wealth of century seating, a railing separates the área re- whose outline exaggerates the true inclination of details, the folcls of the drapery, the virtuosity with served for the occasional laity who joined the reli- the roof. The chapéis in the church, which were which the architectural elements are treated, the gious services. not originally foreseen, were also built in the 1530s, plant motifs and the animal world that decórate Of the many works of artistic interest kept in the at the same time as various of the monastery build- the sides of the sepulchre, all speak for the mas- monastery, it is worth mentioning Pedro Bemguete's

363 Annunciation, the extraordinary Saint Bruno once used to be a palace or royal chase which remains were distributed between the Cathedral carved in about 1635 by the Portuguese Sculptor served as the basis for the new monastic founda- of Toledo, the Carthusian monastery of Miraflores Manuel Pereira, the series of canvases on the life of tion, perhaps embracing the intention of creating and the Hieronymite monastery of Guadalupe. the founder of the order painted between 1634 a complex made up of the palace, a monastery El Paular, whose monastic buildings are today and 1637 by the Carthusian Fray Diego de Leyva and the pantheon of a new dynasty, that of the shared between a Benedictine community and a for the cloisters, sacristy and chapter house, and fi- Trastamaras. In fact, the confirmation of the privi- tourist firm which coincides with what used to be nally the panel with the portrait of Isabella the leges granted by the ancestors of King John II to called the monjía —the monks' área— and the Catholic, of about 1497, which is today to be found the Carthusian monastery of El Paular, dated in frailía —the área for lay brothers and guests— has in the Palacio Real in Madrid. Valladolid on 15 May 1432, clearly shows the sup- seen varying fortunes, so that it is not a shadow of Antonio Ponz, who visited Miraflores shortly be- port of Henry II, the first Trastamara, and his de- what it carne to be before disentailment (1835), fore 1788, having admired its prodigious interior, scendants for this royal foundation: "The King Hen­ and the supposed restorations of the twentieth of which he provides information unknown until ry [II] my great grandfather, whom God grant holy century have done little to help either. then, says, "Much pleasure have I had in ascer- paradise, being in charge of a Monastery of the The arrangement contains all the elements that taining this information, taken from the seats of the said Carthusian Order which was burned in the go to make up a Carthusian monastery, but the monastery, because it is right to conserve the war against France, and to unburden his con- distribution is original, to say the least, in view of memory and the ñame of subjects so worthy of it, science, ordered King John [I] my grandfather, the parallel arrangement of its rooms, which alters who would latigh so much, were they alive today, whom God grant holy paradise, to build a com- the usual sequence of the Carthusian monasteries. at the ponderous fatigues of our times! There is pleted monastery in his Kingdom of Castile, ac- If we add to this not only the royal palace of Hen­ no doubt that it would take more than six years to cording to the Carthusian Order". ry II which used to stand there and of which there do what they executed in one". The time that has This John II does not mention his father, Henry are important remains, but also the enlargement passed since then increases the valué of his words. III, though in another confirmation of privileges to ordered by Henry III in 1406, the year of his death, the Carthusian monastery the latter provides com- things become even more complicated. plementary information of great interest. Consid- Unlike the case in other orders, in which the SANTA MARÍA DE EL PAULAR (MADRID). ering himself the executor of his father's last wish- cloister forms the nucleus of the monastery com­ es, he wrote, "I the King gave a public deed by plex, here it is the church that forms the backbone When the Carthusian monastery of El Paular was Juan Martínez del Castillo, my chancellor of the of the Carthusian monastery, with the monks' área founded, says Ponz, "it is remembered as an im­ seal of purity, which was shown to me by Fray on its north side, whereas the royal palaces, the penetrable spot from Rascafría to the rise of the Lope, monk and procurator of the Carthusian Or­ área for lay brothers and visitors and the hospice river [Lozoya], because of the denseness of the der, according to which it appeared that the king are to the south. The church is a perfect example trees and bushes there were there; in the course John, my father and my lord, promised under oath of a Spanish Carthusian church, with its elongated of time this denseness was reduced as well as the to build a monastery of the said order and to begin ground floor proportions and its single somewhat number of wild animáis, although there is no when the following two months had passed, in a narrow nave, which includes the following differ- shortage now of boar, deer, fallow deer, wolves, part of his kingdoms where he thought right, and it entiated áreas starting from the west: a covered foxes, wild cats, etc. The fíat part is the best for appears from the said deed that in declaring the atrium, a space for the laity, separated by a railing white and black poplars. I think there must have said king where he wanted the said monastery by the Carthusian Francisco de Salamanca (1492) been a lot of the black poplars in ancient times all built by grace and charity by oath of inheritance it which is still in place, the lay brothers' choir along the river bank and the valley, and it is very should be in his palaces called El Paular cióse to which, with the dividing wall —now destroyed—, likely that the word populus (poplar) comes from Rascafría and in the place of Lozoya..." two altars and the door communicating with the pobos, which means the same, like pobeda (poplar At this point it is worth pointing out, the bet- fathers' choir, repeated the same arrangement still grove), and that the oíd ñame of pobolar should ter to understand the geographic and political im- preserved at Miraflores; the fathers' choir, whose have been turned into that of Paular". In this way, plications of this decisión, that the Carthusian exceptional sixteenth-century seating was proba- the origin of the ñames of the Cistercian monastery monastery of El Paular today forms part of the bly the work of the Segovian Sculptor Bartolomé of Poblet and the Carthusian monastery of El province of Madrid, but that at that time it be- Fernández and is now in the convent of San Fran­ Paular would have been the same. longed to the Land of Segovia, in whose capital in cisco el Grande in Madrid; the presbytery presided It is trae that oíd accounts mention El Paular in that same year 1390 took place the Ordenamien­ by the extraordinary Flemish Gothic polychrome this way to refer to a spot of great beauty, cióse to to de Segovia by John I, by which the Real Audi­ altarpiece from the end of the fifteenth century, Rascafría, at an altitude of just over 1,100 metres, encia (Lawcourt) was established in this Castilian with several scenes from the Life of Christ, with the from which can be seen the highest peaks of the city. This important decisión, added to the habit­ image of the monastery's titular, Saint Mary of El Guadarrama range, which more than double the ual presence of the Trastamara in the Alcázar of Paular, in a stone altarpiece style; a small sacrari- height of the Carthusian monastery. This cold but Segovia, in which city the Cortes frequently as- um reached by two doors at the base of the altar­ not inhospitable place, where the snow abounds in sembled, and the foundation of the Carthusian piece, that is a sacrarium conceived in the fif­ winter ensuring the wealth of its springs in summer, monastery also in 1390, the year of the death of teenth century; the tabernacle or monumental is one of the Spanish Carthusian monasteries which John I and the beginning of the reign of Henry III, eighteenth-century great Sacrarium, an extraordi­ would most easily bring to mind the setting for the are highly significant. Would it be true to say that nary work in Andalusian marble by the Andalu- Grande Chartreuse, the Great Charterhouse, found­ the Carthusian monastery of El Paular could have sians Francisco Hurtado Izquierdo and Teodosio ed by Saint Bruno cióse to Grenoble (France). been for Segovia what the monastery of El Escori­ Sánchez Rueda (1725); and finally the chapel of El The animáis Ponz refers to are inseparable al was for Madrid? It could have been, except that Sagrario which forms part of the same Baroque from the first moments of El Paular, where there no Trastamara was ever buried in El Paular; their project and which represents a place of profound

364 Carthusian significance in its seclusion, because Guas and presided by the Pietá, as in Miraflores, ly boasted that it had never been reformed. In this here is monumentalised what had always been a with the Latin inscription in which the Virgin asks sense, the Carthusian monastery of Granada, in its narrow space for Eucharistic worship, now ampie, if your suffering is the same as hers, would make arrangement and distribution, leaving aside the full of light and colour, in the company of various up an endlessly fascinating visit to El Paular and style, is still recognised as such. well-loved images, but very especially of the its distant farms which, like the one at Talamanca, On one side of the Camino de Alfajar, which Carthusian fathers par excellence-. Saint Bruno, still survive. As we bid farewell to this Carthusian used to be called the Camino de Viznar, leading Saint Hugh, Blessed Nicolo Albergatí and Saint An- monastery, we must remember that from the to the Puerta Elvira in Granada, is the land on thelm. Apart from the different styles and periods milis, ponds and dams it used for manufacturing which first the oíd and then today's new charter- of which the church of El Paular is made up, from paper carne the pages on which was printed the houses were built, all on a large enclosed site. the typological and spatial viewpoint it is one of first edition of the Ingenioso hidalgo D. Quijote de There Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, the Gran the richest examples in the history of Spanish ar- la Mancha. Capitán, had two orchards, called Aynadamar and chitecture, unsurpassed by any other monastic Los Abencerrajes, which he donated in 1513 as a church. For their part, the connection between the contribution to the oíd dream of El Paular of church and the chapéis opening off its south side, CARTHUSIAN MONASTERY OF GRANADA. founding a daughter house in Granada, giving it the unusual location of the adjacent chapter house, the title of Santa María de Jesús and making it the the sacristy and even the striking tower, built on Xn Madoz's Diccionario (1847) we are told that, depository of his mortal remains. Before long the to the north wall, all embraced by two long pas- "In Granada there were 19 convents, counting the work began according to the design by Fray sages, make the whole of this nucleus something three monasteries of San Basilio, La Cartuja and Alonso de Ledesma, a lay brother from El Paular. very out of the ordinary. San Jerónimo. In them there were delicate paint­ He was "devote, exemplary and averagely knowl- The lesser cloister, also called the cloister of La ings, fine sculptures, select libraries and admirable edgeable about buildings", but for a series of rea- Recordación, opens on to several buíldings, includ- architectural work, which has almost all disap- sons they decided to move to a different site near- ing the large refectory with its attractive pulpit for peared..." Later he says that La Cartuja "was a mu- by, leaving behind what since then has been readings. This pulpit is considered the work of the seura of rare delights, and for this very reason known as the Cartuja Vieja, in the vicinity of the Segovian master of Moorish origin, Abderramán, to greed has set upon it with greater interest: it is a Jesuits College. whom the first designs for El Paular are attributed. miracle that there are still remains of the rich dec- This change displeased the Gran Capitán, who Another master who also worked a lot in Segovia, orations in the church and the sacristy." Indeed, according to Valles said, "if they [the Carthusians] Juan Guas, built the great cloister between 1484 the immediate effect of disentailment was the sale change the site, I am not obliged to keep my and 1486, in a style we could cali Isabelline, full of the monastery and its subsequent demolition promise". From then on he had nothing more to of imagination, with a series of ogee arches whose (1843) to make use of the materials. Only the do with the charterhouse and when he died in points are transmitted to the vaults of the galleries church, the lesser cloister and adjacent buildings 1516 he was buried in the convent of San Francisco on to which the doors of the fathers' cells open. were saved by a Royal Order. But amongst the ru- Casa Grande, opposite his house in Granada, and The cloister garden has a canopy in the same ins important remains were left standing, such as his remains were later moved to the monastery of Gothic style, but completed by Herrera, which the Priory, with an extremely interesting court- San Jerónimo. The following year work began on houses a fountain in its interior. This can be con­ yard with porticoes on its two storeys, which was the Cartuja Nueva on a more appropriate site near- sidered a characteristic trait of Spanish monaster- demolished in 1943. After a century of neglect by, with "many groves and plenty of waterways ies, which monumentalize the crossing of the two and demolition, therefore, it certainly is a "mira- and large ponds. Some of them are so big that main axes of the cloister, something which can ele", as Madoz says, that we can still see what is they are more than one hundred and fifty paces also be seen in the monastery of Guadalupe. Con- left of the Carthusian monastery of La Asunción around, surrounded by tall cypresses. In different ceived as a Christian Tower of the Winds, the sides de Nuestra Señora, in Granada. parts of this countryside four springs or wells arise have different sundials and moondials which mark The distinct appearance of this Carthusian with the best water to be had in all the land, the passage of the days, contemplating the fleet- monastery in relation to the medieval Castilian ex­ which together in a pipe come to two fountains ing nature of life and the nearness of death in that amples provides a lesson in plástic and chromatic which go to the convent's two cloisters. Running córner of the cloister, set aside as a cemetery. Only expressiveness, showing the new image of the along the top of the hill is a from the Alfajar the tomb of the bishop of Segovia, Melchor de Carthusian cloister of the eighteenth century, spring, which drops down in two different places Moscoso, has more presence in this ground, in which coincides with the expressive peak of the three picas high. From this house can be seen al­ which for centuries anonymous Carthusians were Baroque style. Art and spirituality seem to use most all of the Vega de Granada, the Sierra de Co­ buried at the foot of a stone cross. analogous arguments in such a way that medieval gollos, the Sierra de Colomera, Modín, Alambra Other courtyards such as that of El Ave María, moderation is now followed by the extravagance and the Sierra Nevada..." With these words Valles with the monumental entrance to the charterhouse of the Baroque sermón, showing a surprising vi- described the emplacement of the new Carthusian attributed to Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón, born in tality on the eve of its decline. This is undoubted- monastery, which also changed its former titular neighbouring Rascafría; exterior chapéis such as ly a last move, in common with other religious or- for the Assumption of Our Lady. that of Los Reyes, in the so-called La Cadena court- ders, to strengthen monastic life, which in Europe The new building was also designed by the lay yard, where Fray Lope Martínez, the first prior of El and America was not to survive the Age of Reason. brother Fray Alonso de Ledesma, while the progress Paular, took possession of the monastery, accom- This could be the ultímate interpretation of the of the works was the direct responsibility of Fray panied by six Carthusians from Scala Dei (Tarrago­ Carthusian monastery of Granada, which seems to Rodrigo de Valdepeñas, also from El Paular, who na); buildings such as the excellent library, next to be the opposite extreme to the sombre nature of was rector, inspector and finally first prior of the the prior's cell, with good mural paintings; door- Saint Bruno's first foundations, even though its Granada charterhouse. All of this happened in the ways such as that of the church, probably by spirit lies in the observance of the rule that proud- first half of the sixteenth century, and the work

365 went on until the following century, when the fin- Bruno, who since his canonisation in 1623 has biographers, in 1115, and his life from then on was ishing touches were made to the lesser cloister, seen endless representations, his worship having one of prayer, preaching and reform of the clergy, which measures fifty-three metres on each side been prohibited and only tolerated after the fif- spent in strict evangelical poverty, in the midst of a and has an arcade on Doric columns, and to the teenth century. generalised climate in favour of a renovation of the church. Later, in the eighteenth century, the church The church sacristy (1724-1764) is conceived Church, initiated by Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085). was added to with the sacrarium and the sacristy, as a real chapel, presided by an important altar in During a retreat in the forest of Saint-Gobain, so that the monastery has Gothic elements, such as the chevet with a sculpture of Saint Bruno, but between Laon and Soissons, Norbert had a visión the ribbed vault of the lay brothers' chapter house, what is really exceptional is a small carving of the in which a group of men in white clothes passed which is the oldest part of the complex, and the founder of the order which is exhibited on the al­ before his eyes singing psalms as they made their delirious baroque forms covering the interior of tar table. This highly refined work by José de Mora way to a ruined chapel. He interpreted this as a the sacristy. is, in the words of Orozco, "an acute expression of premonitory sign of what he had to do —that is, In spite of so many losses, we can clearly see the mystic Carthusian soul". In turn, as an expres­ found a new order. God had foretold it to him, had here the nature of the lesser cloister in the organi- sion of the artistic soul of the Granadine Charter- shown him in advance, henee the ñame Premon- sation of life in a Carthusian monastery, as the only house, a team of plasterers, carpenters, sculptors stratensian, from the Latin praemonstratum, which buildings that have survived in the vicinity are pre- and painters, under the outstanding direction of we can transíate as "shown beforehand", and which cisely the communal áreas such as the church, the José Bada, produced a work which took Spanish in French is premonstré. This was the ñame he gave monks' chapter house, that of the lay brothers, the art to the limits of what is possible, as the free- to the abbey he built there with his followers, on so-called "De Profundis" hall and the refectory, dom in the conception and execution of the inte­ whom he imposed the canonical rule of Saint Au- apart from the prívate chapéis. rior decoration of the sacristy is such that a single gustine, the Premonstratensians therefore being The spatial organisation of the church is analo- step in the same direction is hardly imaginable. It canons regular. gous to that of El Paular, with a first área at the has something of an unfathomable formal polypho- The so-called Rule of Saint Augustine, which in western end for the faithful, a second space for the ny at the service of religión, offering a world with­ fact derives from his letters and sermons, showed lay brothers' choir and farther on the monks' choir out limits, only density and depth in an infinite differing degrees of intensity in its observance, so opening on to the altar. The altar was designed by image. that alongside the Ordo primus, with its less rigor- Francisco Hurtado (1710) as a baldachin with a By contrast. the oldest parts of the Charterhouse ous conception, there aróse the Ordo novus fol- beautiful and bold formal and material conception, around the lesser cloister, such as the refectory or lowed by the Premonstratensians. This severe form from the marble altar table to the mirrors covering the chapter houses, all resembling chapéis, show of the Augustinian rule, also know as the Ordo the columns around the monastery's titular, by the the clear simplicity of more austere times. In these monasterii (Order of the monastery), was the one Grana diñe José de Mora. What is remarkable about buildings the paintings of the lay brother Fray Juan Norbert imposed in Premontré in 1120, reminding the process of transformation of the sanctuary of Sánchez Cotán take on greater forcé and special his followers that "Charity, toil, fasting, even dress, the Carthusian churches, where Eucharistic wor- significance. Cotán is universally known for those silence, obedience, mutual respect, deference to ship saw a gradual increase, is that the monumen­ still Ufes in which the Carthusian spirit lies in their one's superiors, all these points are clearly estab- tal sacrarium is joined to the church via a curtain. simplicity. After all, he professed in 1604 in El lished by the Rule". Later, as regards the Order's The open conception of the altar-baldachin means Paular, before being transferred to Granada. To habit, Norbert adds, "According to the Gospel, the that the Sancta Sanctorum can be seen from the him and to Vicente Carduco, who also worked for angels that witness the Resurrection are dressed in church without the need to build a chapel behind El Paular, we owe a series of paintings depicting white. Following the custom of the church, peni- for the community, as at El Paular. The meditation the most outstanding passages from the history of tents dress in wool. In the Oíd Testament, the which used to cali for prívate withdrawal can now the Carthusian Order. Levites also dressed in woolen clothes, but in the take place from the church and the choir stalls. sanctuary they had to wear Unen clothes. It there­ However, the former option is not denied here, as fore seems that white clothes must be worn follow­ there are two small oratories situated on either side THE PREMONSTRATENSIANS ing the example of the angels, and wool against the of the sacrarium, with access from the presbytery. flesh as a sign of penitence. In the church and dur­ Inside and also by Francisco Hurtado, who SAINT NORBERT AND THE CANONS REGULAR. ing the mass, linen will be worn". planned all this part of the church (1704-1720), This then was the direction taken by life in the with the collaboration of the sculptors Risueño, JL he particular ñame of this religious order comes community, something which the Pemonstraten- Mora and Cornejo, stands the great tabernacle in from that of the abbey of Premontré, in France, sians made compatible with a vocation towards red and black marble from Sierra Elvira and Cabra, which in turn refers to a miraculous event in the others through preaching and the sacraments, housing the sacrarium itself. On the corners of the life of its founder Norbert of Xanten. Norbert was since they saw the abbey as the centre of parochial tabernacle are the four cardinal virtues and crown- born in about 1080 in Xanten, an oíd Román town activity. Their place in history is halfway between ing it a representation of Faith. On the walls are on the road from Cologne to Nimega, where tradi- that of the monastic orders and the mendicant or- four more images of special devotion in the Cartu­ tion has it that Siegfried, the hero of the "Ni- ders, between the monastery and the convent, be­ ja de Granada: Saint Joseph, Saint Bruno, Mary belungs", was born. This other flesh-and-blood tween coenobitic isolation and the need to com- Magdalene and Saint John the Baptist. On the hero, Norbert, belonged to an aristocratic family municate with the society they lived in, though dome, painted by Palomino (1712), a complex ce­ whose comfort he did not disdain until one day, since the twelfth century it has seen important lestial visión unfolds, emphasising the figure of like a latter-day Saint Paul, he was knocked off his changes in every sense. Saint Bruno holding a monstrance. In other words, horse by lightning, something he saw as a divine The same year that Norbert was promoted to the rich iconography of the Carthusian monastery action, to which he answered, "Lord, what will you the archbishopric of Magdeburg, in 1226, Pope is a continuous exaltation of the Order of Saint have me do?". This took place, according to his Honorius II approved the order and the number of

366 abbeys began to multiply rapidly, from Hungary its statutes reveal a spirit whose origin can be teries, but in this case fate —or rather man— was and the Low Countries to Spain. In Central Eu- traced back to the Carta Caritatis of the Cister- particularly cruel to this precious pearl of me­ rope they were especially widespread and the cians —and in some passages is a literal copy—, dieval culture. For Miguel de Unamuno, in An­ most optimistic accounts speak of a total of 1,300 the general conception of the Premonstratensian danzas y visiones españolas, the ruins of Aguilar foundations. abbey belongs to the mainstream of the great de Campoo were like a reflection of our spiritual Norbert died in 1134 and it was his disciple monastic architecture which preceded it in histo- ruin. "The ruins of Santa María la Real, convent and successor, Hugh of Fosses, who really organ- ry, where only the specialist can detect variations that was of the Premonstratensians! Ruins! Ruins ised the order with a sense of pragmatism. The like the Abbot's chapel or the so-called Dediserio, in which the finches and sparrows nest, chirping spiritual foundation was followed now by its which had not appeared earlier. In this respect, the their joy at living outside of history, and amidst practical structuring, beginning with a territorial existence of a cloister around which the commu- nearby greenery passes the clear water that de- organisation in circaries, a ñame which comes nal buildings are arranged on the ground floor, scends from chalky ridges. And the ruins contin­ from the Latin and refers both to the circator, or in­ and the idea of reserving the upper floor over the ué their ruin. There are missing capitals that have spector of the abbeys, and to those who are cióse sacristy and the chapter house for the fathers' been taken to the Archaeological Museum in or around (Quae circa suni), allowing the forma- communal dormitory, as well as the área for lay Madrid. This is pruning by science. Science? And tion of a religious province. In Spain there were two brothers, with their corresponding refectory and in the same way the whole of Spain is going to circaries, that of Gascony, shared with the south of dormitory, make up the typical and most complete the Museum. And a Museum is the most terrible France and including the abbeys of Navarre, Cat- monastery, without here going into the details of of cemeteries, because the unfortunate dead are alonia and the Balearics, and Spain, which includ- those monasteries that admitted canons and not left in peace! And then ruins of cemeteries, ed the lands of Castile and León, where forty canonesses. The order itself was to undergo im- ruins of tombs..." abbeys were founded, amongst them, as well as portant changes affecting some of the most char- When Unamuno wrote these travel notes in Retuerta, Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia) and La Vid acteristic buildings in the abbey, such as, for ex- 1921, the monastery had already suffered the ne- (Burgos). After varying fortunes and a failed at- ample, the conversión of the communal dormitory glect of secularisation and the subsequent uncon- tempt by Philip II to reform the Premonstratensian into individual cells, so that we must always take trolled plunder, as Parcerisa reflected in his litho- abbeys by means of the Hieronymites, the Span- into account the circumstances of the time if we graphs. But here the plunder was also official and ish foundations of Premontré achieved indepen- are not to reduce a changing reality in history to governmental, as after it was declared a National dence, giving rise in 1573 to the Congregación Pre- false stereotypes. Monument in 1866, capitals, columns, mouldings monstratense Hispánica, extinguished, like other and architectural elements were carried off, as orders, in 1835. well as some tombs, which in 1871 were sent to With regard to the statutes that governed the life SANTA MARÍA LA REAL. AGUILAR DE CAMPOO (PALENCIA). the Museo Arqueológico Nacional de Madrid, as of the Premonstratensians, many points coincide Unamuno reminds us. Later, in 1932, the odd Ítem with those of the Benedictine and Cistercian Or­ Of all the Spanish Premonstratensian monaster­ was diverted to the Fogg Museum, at the Univer- ders, which is natural, as these were tried and test- ies, that of Santa María la Real in Aguilar de Cam­ sity of Harvard (USA), to balance along with oth­ ed experiences which, as in the architecture and poo, in Palencia, is of special significance, not er artistic objects the return of the exceptional the organisation of the monastery, offered a safe only because it is one of the earliest foundations, eleventh-century sarcophagus lid of the son of point of departure. It was Hugh of Fosses who in along with Retuerta and La Vid, but because the Count Pedro Ansúrez, which had come from Sa- about 1135 drew up the first statutes, which later positive and negative facets of its particular histo­ hagún and had also left Spain and is today in this went through various subsequent draftings. Their ry reach extremes that can hardly be equalled. We same Madrid museum. sixty-three chapters, grouped under four main know that it has links with the first steps of the or­ When I say capitals, barbarously and selective- headings or Distinctions, lay down the proper der in Spain taken by Sancho Ansúrez, nephew ly removed ío save them, I am referring to one of conduct for the canons as concerns the liturgical of Count Pedro Ansúrez de Valladolid, and Domin­ the finest collections of twelfth-century figurative celebrations, the day's hours for prayer, the work go Gómez de Camdespina, son of Queen Urraca capitals in medieval Spanish sculpture. When I timetable, the readings during meáis, illness, clothes and Count Gómez de Camdespina. The former say architectural elements, absurdly transferred, I and personal appearace (tonsure, hygiene, etc.). founded Retuerta, in Valladolid, and the latter, as we am referring for example to a shaft on which is writ- Another of the Distinctions details the different shall see later, the monastery of La Vid, in Burgos, ten part of the history of the construction of the posts and responsibilities of the members of each both of which are daughter houses of Casedieu in monastery. The shaft tells us who built the chapter abbey, from the abbot, the precentor and the rest, France. house it was taken from and when: "Era MCCXLVII down to the porter. As well as the whole range of Not long afterwards, Alfonso VII founded the futí facturn hoc/opus, Domunicus". When people faults, to which it devotes another Distinction, the abbey of Santa María la Real in Herrera de Pisuerga, say that stones also talk, as well as being taken in its last of the four refers to the General Chapter which also in the , and gave it to the figurative sense on account of all they bring to was to be held annually (annuale colloquium), to abbot of Retuerta. In 1169, the foundation moved mind, it should also be taken literally, since me­ the relationship between the mother abbey and its to Aguilar de Campoo, at which moment the abbey dieval architecture, like an open book, left a writ- daughter houses, inspectors and endless details became identified with that "pleasant and deli- ten record behind it of the process of construction which cióse the circle of the uses and customs of cious" spot —as it is described by all the authors— of its hardened skin, so that the building itself be­ the Premonstratensian Order. on the left bank of the Pisuerga river, giving rise to came the most highly prized and document. There was no novel architectural project in its one of the most important medieval monasteries in With these pages torn out, we lose another imma­ monasteries; in the same way that the conception Castile, thanks to the royal favour of Alfonso VIII. terial treasure of incalculable valué, as happened at of the order falls between that of the monastery Its long history was brought to an end in the Aguilar de Campoo, where many inscriptions were and that of the convent, and in the same way that nineteenth century, like that of so many monas­ destroyed, some of which we know of thanks to

367 the people who transcribed them before they character. After that and during the thirteenth centu­ gables, which in my opinión are one of the order's were irremediably lost. ry the essential image of the monastery took shape, most emblematic exterior elements, giving the On top of all these misfortunes was added an- though in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries traveller advance warning of the presence of a other no less harmful which was its supposed important work took place, such as the upper clois- house of the Order of Saint Norbert. Other orders, restoration between 1955 and 1970, approximately, ter with the individual cells for the monks commu- such as the Cistercians or the Carthusians, who a building campaign that disfigured and destroyed nicating them with the new raised choir at the west- also rejected bell towers, made use of bell gables, the essence of the monastery architecture as such, ern end (1600), or the large galleries which grew but these are always humble and unpresuming, because it failed to grasp the character of a Pre- up between 1787 and 1790 in the área of the or- without that imposing and expressive sense to be monstratensian monastery. But, as Unamuno said in chard, on the eastern side of the abbey. found in that of Santa María de la Real over the reference to Santa María la Real, "Even a ruin can be The cloister, with the four sides we might cali plañe of the western facade, lending the church a cause for hope". The firm determination of the ar- canonical, being habitual —those of the church, truly surprising monumental sightliness. From chitect José María Pérez González has returned the chapter house. refectory and grain store—, has an here, from this medieval image of its bell gable, it lost dignity of the monastery of Aguilar de Cam- interesting arrangement of pointed arches on the is easier to understand the Baroque bell gable of poo, which, as home to new and noble uses such ground floor which house minor series of three La Vid, as over and above the style there remains as the Centro de Estudios del Románico, a Museum, arches on colonettes, whose capitals have suffered the spirit of the order. a Technical School and a Secondary School, has every possible misfortune. The architecture, apart been skilfully recovered from so much loss and so from the seventeenth-century second floor, shows much ruin. different moments, from the oldest forms in the NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LA VID (BURGOS). The history of this monastery has a legendary Romanesque tradition, such as the monks' door and remote prologue in a foundation long before communicating the cloister with the church, to the Ax the beginning of the eighteenth century, the the arrival of the Premonstratensians in Aguilar more refined Gothic forms of the thirteenth centu­ Premonstratensian and historian of the order Este­ (1169), as it used to be the site of a monastery ry, such as the general vaulting of the galleries, as ban José de Noriega, who had professed at La Vid linked to the Benedictine Order. This legend, we must remember that some of the previously ex- at the age of fourteen, recounted an oíd legend which has episodes analogous to that of many oth­ isting structures were made use of for the new about the origin of this Burgos foundation, one of er miraculous finds of images and relies, is told by monastery. In this respect, it is the church that of- the first in the Spanish circary. The learned Noriega Father Antonio Yepes in his Crónica General de la fers variations in its proportions and building ele- —who was Professor of Theology at the order's Orden de San Benito (1610), which gives a histori- ments as well as in the definition of the chevet. college in Salamanca— tells how King Alfonso VII, cal account of all the monasteries belonging to the This is obviously an enlargement of the previous while out hunting in 1132 in some woods "and Benedictine Order. He recounts that there, Al- one, as is recorded on the floor of the church, coming across some undergrowth and brambles of pidio, hunting in the forest in about 820, found "a when a Romanesque solution was replaced by an­ a small town called San Pedro de Villanueva, God church founded beside a rock and below it was other unquestionably Gothic one, with the same opened the eyes of this emperor's soul and he saw another built with three titles, that is —in keeping Romanesque-Gothic sequence repeated in the pil­ some angels who were incensing in that place of with the style of the time— it had three altars and lare, vaults and Windows of the church, with many such dense undergrowth; with which wonderful on each altar were relies... The first was dedicated undefined intermedíate solutions which make an news he had people called to open the way and to Saint Peter and Saint Paul, because beneath the aecurate interpretation as difficult as it is interesting. clear the overgrown wilderness of scrub. Having altar stone were the relies of these two apostles, If we wanted to find the truly Premonstratensian completed this task a vine was discovered and un- and in the other church, benath the cliff, he also corners of Aguilar, we would have to go to the der it an excellent image of the Virgin Mary, a rel­ found three altars; on the largest, which was in the gallery of the chapter house to see first the ele- ie of the Goths, as she was seated as they used to middle, there were relies of Our Lady to be seen; ments common to other monasteries, such as the do... The emperor, rejoicing at this discovery, in- by chance some part of her sacred vesture..." Al- sacristy; the armariolum, which must have also formed his brother the Blessed Abbot Santo pidio told his brother Opila about the find, and de- been used to keep the little books of meditation Domingo (who with the King's consent had found­ cided to build a monastery on this spot, of which for reading in the mandatum gallery parallel to the ed his poor monastery of Montesacro) whose holy Opila himself "built the floor of the monastery church; the beginning of the staircase leading up image was carried in procession by the Premon­ and raised the walls. Twenty years later, after the to the oíd community dormitory; the chapter stratensian Canons authorised by the emperor foundation of the monastery of Santa María de house, the passage to the orchard and the beauti- Don Alonso, his sons Don Sancho and Don Fer­ Aguilar, or rather of San Pedro y San Pablo, as this ful monks' hall. But there are other buildings as- nando, King García of Navarre, the Count of monastery was first called, although it later sociated with the uses of the order, such as the Barcelona Don Ramón and other personages and changed its ñame, the monks going down to live chamber over the south apse of the chevet, open deposited it with the utmost veneration in the said at the lower church..." to the community dormitory, or, in particular, the Montesacro". These nebulous accounts are followed by many so-called Capilla del Abad, behind the present sac­ That abbot by the ñame of Domingo was none others regarding donations and the order that risty, which is one of the oldest parts of the com- other than Domingo Gómez de Camdespina, son took charge of the monastery, as it seems to have plex and which is recorded as having been conse- of Urraca and Count Gómez de Camdespina, who been linked to the Benedictines. For Yepes, the crated along with the monastery church by the along with other Castilians supported Urraca in the first abbots after Opila were Benedictines, while Bishop of Burgos Don Mauricio in 1222, that is queen's comings and goings with her second hus- others maintain that they were secular canons. All one year after the first stone of Burgos Cathedral band Alfonso the Battler. The fact is that Domingo of this was before the first abbot Miguel began the was laid by the same prelate. Gómez and Sancho Ansúrez travelled to France, monastery's Premonstratensian period in the The Premonstratensian features can be traced in where they met the person who as from the six- twelfth century, which gave the architecture its other more remarkable elements such as the bell teenth century would be Saint Norbert. They en-

368 tered the Premonstratensian monastery of Saint been the oíd sacristy, and so on, successively; more and once concluded the high chapel of this church Martin in Laon and they returned to Spain where or less altered, the basic cloistral buildings can still his bones were transferred to this same site. 1579". they founded the monasteries of Santa María de be located. On the opposite side to the church, fol­ íñigo, who barely set foot in La Vid, since as well Retuerta, in Valladolid, and Santa María de Monte lowing the norm, is the refectory running parallel as being bishop of Coria, archbishop of Burgos Sacro, in Soria. From the latter and following the to the gallery, instead of being perpendicular to it and appointed cardinal by Clement VII, spent miraculous discovery of the image of the Virgin, as is habitual in the Cistercian monastery. Finally, many years away from Spain because of his links Domingo moved to the place in Ribera de Duero on the western side is the storehouse, still visible in with Charles V from the years when he was still where the present monastery of Nuestra Señora de the present museum hall. prince in the Low Countries. íñigo was the emper- La Vid stands, not far from . This cloister was reformed in the sixteenth cen­ or's ambassador in the court of Henry VIII of Eng- The complex is dominated by the powerful tury with still Gothic vaults, during the period in land, having accompanied him in Italy where he body of the church transept and the fíat bell gable which íñigo López de Mendoza was the com- intervened in affairs at Naples. He exchanged cor- over the gateway, but hardly anything remains of mendatory abbot appointed by in 1516. respondence with Erasmus of Rotterdam and inter­ its medieval past beyond a few elements in the While as a general rule the commendatory abbots vened in important affairs of state. íñigo's person- cloister, as after suffering other misfortunes, church took advantage of the revenues of the monasteries, ality was such that at la Vid, as well as paying for and monastery were completely rebuilt in the six- bringing ruin on them, in La Vid it was the opposite. the work that buried the medieval image of the teenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. If With the abbey in total material and spiritual de­ monastery, he put an end to perpetual abbacies, Aguilar de Campoo can be said to show the me­ cline, íñigo brought new life to it, beginning the which from then on were all triennial, so called be- dieval image of a Spanish Premonstratensian abbey, work of the new church, which he conceived as cause of the duration of their term of office. La Vid represents the next sequence, that of an his own pantheon, as we shall see later. íñigo's personality explains the character of the abbey crossing into the Modern Age with all the In the eighteenth century a second storey was work done, as it is much like a funeral chapel in changes that this called for. Then carne the disen- added to the cloister, in a faltering Ionic style, and the way it is powerfully centralised beneath the tailment and secularisation of 1835 and a Premon­ a measure of comfort was introduced in 1766 star-shaped dome. I would not be surprised if his stratensian was left in charge of the monastery. The when, "with a view to the convenience and shelter original wish was to be buried in a free-standing church, as on so many occasions, served as a of the matins and the residents of the convent and tomb in the transept crossing, beneath the key- church. This was, after all, one of the objectives considering also that the oíd cloisters were and are stone of the great lantern, along the lines of what pursued by Saint Norbert in the twelfth century. open and uncomfortable, both in cold and snowy he had seen in the Capilla del Condestable in Its possessions scattered, amongst them the li- weather and in great heat, this venerable commu- Burgos, at whose cathedral he had been titular. brary of some 40,000 volumes, and the monastery nity decided to cover them", in the way in which For whatever reason, his remains were placed abandoned, in 1865 it was purchased by the they can be seen today on the ground floor. very late in a lateral niche in the presbytery, op­ Province of the Philippines of the Order of Saint The growth in the number of monks during the posite the one where those of his brother repose. Augustine as a house of study and noviciate. The sixteenth century and the abandonment of the His brother, Francisco de Zúñiga y Avellaneda, división in the order gave rise in 1926 to the Au­ communal dormitories made it necessary to build Count of Miranda, ordered the high chapel of the gustinian Province of Spain, and the former Pre­ a new wing for the monastery to house the cells church to be built along with his brother the car­ monstratensian monastery became the home of which face south. Today this forms the main facade dinal, who had died in 1536. the Interprovincial Noviciate of the Spanish Au- of the monastery, which is at right angles to the The chevet of the church was begun between gustines, with a truly remarkable library, archive facade of the church and forms a courtyard. The 1522 and 1534, during its patrons' lifetime, with and museum. Suffice it to say that the library, style is sombre and not unlike that of El Escorial, work by Sebastián de Oria and the person Ceán from which barely 2,000 volumes were rescued, and there is an attractive classicist doorway with an calis his nephew and disciple Pedro Rasines. A today contains more than 85,000, including real image of Saint Norbert, which must have been commission carne from Burgos to see how the bibliographic gems that make it one of the most completed in the first quarter of the seventeenth work was progressing, made up of Bartolomé de important libraries in the country. Paradoxically, century. At the same time, the building's main Pirienda, Juan Vizcaíno and Juan de Rasines, who the ñame of Saint Augustine once more unites staircase was being built, located between the oíd returned to the monastery again in 1547 "by order those canons regular who followed the rule of cloister and the one built in 1754, during the ab- of D. Juan Núñez, abbot of San Millán de Lara, a the bishop of Hippo and the present Augustinian bacy of Bernardo Hernáez, which brought a total dignitary of the cathedral of Burgos and relative of fathers, devoted to the analogous tasks of forma- reorganisation of the oíd monastery buildings, all the Cardinal". The work was approved, though it tion and renewal. on the eve of an inevitable crisis which was to suffered severe delays before it was completely Having recovered, with dignity, all its buildings, bring this brilliant architectural history to an end. finished in 1572, the date which can be read on the oldest part of the monastery consists of the The church is undoubtedly the most remarkable one of the supporting arches of the crossing. This cloister, which, though rebuilt in the sixteenth cen­ part of the monastic complex, for which essential tends to become an autonomous space, whose tury, like the church, is the same size as the origi­ information is provided by the inscriptions that fig­ size and elevation are achieved to the detriment nal must have been. Here we can still see the en- ure on the eighteenth-century coffins or Baroque of the high chapel, the transept arms and even the trance and the Windows that lit the chapter house, tabernacles beside the main chapel, which refer to naves of the church, which are like appendages with its unmistakable, playful Romanesque style, a the Zúñigas. The first says, "Here lies the Extreme- of the large nucleus of the chapel-crossing. Its twelfth-century work with reminiscences of Silos. ly Eminent Cardinal Don íñigo López de Mendoza, width is the same as the sum of the nave and On this same western side there is still the space Bishop of Burgos and Abbot of this Monastery. aisles. A square floor plan and an octagon in the for the armariolum, where a few liturgical books Founder of the main chapel of this church, and of dome beneath the star-shaped vault give shape to and prayer books were kept; the present pan- the hospital of this Town. Passed away in 1533- His this centripetal space in which the transitional ele­ theon, where the founder is now buried, must have body was deposited in the Convent of Aguilera ments between the square and the octagon be-

369 come artistic motifs of the first magnitude, decorat- THE FRANCISCANS the Gospel, especially the passage in Saint Matthew ed with the traditional scallop shells. Beneath them which inspired his Rule-. "And as ye go, preach, we encounter the Premonstratensian saints as a THE MINOR OF SAINT FRANGÍS. saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal concession to the order now partly engulfed by the the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast personality of the last perpetual abbot of La Vid. Xhe apparition of the mendicant orders in the thir­ out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. The Zúnigas' patronage made itself felt for a teenth century was an extreme novelty in the reg­ Provide neither gold, ñor silver, ñor brass in your time, as the excellent high altarpiece was paid for ular arm of the Church, as the traditional monk, purses, ñor scrip for your journey, neither two by Juan de Zúñiga, Count of Miranda and Viceroy enclosed in a monastery away from the world and coats, neither shoes, ñor yet staves: for the work- of Naples, who ordered it from the Italian painters devoted to the liturgical offices and to contempla- man is worthy of his meat. And into whatsoever resident in Naples Fabricio de Santa Fe, Domingo tion, now gave way to the living in the re­ city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is Nizenio, Wensel Cobergher, Juan Cavagna and gión of the city, devoted to prayer, for sure, but worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. And Jerónimo Napolitano. The canvases painted be­ in direct contact with the faithful through an end- when ye come into an house, salute it. And if the tween 1591 and 1592 ¡Ilústrate the childhood of Je­ less task of preaching which required intellectual house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: sús and surround the Gothic carving of the titular preparation, a rich inner life and a very special gift but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to of the abbey, Our Lady of la Vid, which can be for words. you" CMat, 10, 7-13). dated to the year 1300. These and many others were the virtues of Saint In fact, the so-called First Rule or Life, drawn The rest of the church belongs to the eighteenth Francis, who without intending to found a new up by the Poverello of Assisi, the "little poor man", century in spite of the fact that its pillars and vaults order, eventually gave his ñame to one of the most feeds on this series of evangelical exhortations. Its are Gothic. This is confirmed by the date of 1734 influential orders of the whole of the Middle Ages. twenty-three chapters, which say nothing of ar- which figures on one of the arches of the central His history and legend make him one of the most chitecture, contain the spirit of the order, the nave, which forms part of the last building cam- characteristic medieval figures in European culture. same as other monastic rules, and not the regula- paign at the monastery. The church was defini- His writings and miracles were so famous that tion of the uses and customs of community life, tively completed coinciding with its , even before being canonised in 1228, two years af- which at all events would be the object of subse- which is described in the inscription on the Gospel ter his death, his image was already reflected in quent development through the decisions of the side of the chevet, which says, "The extremely il- painting in the frescoes of the chapel of Saint Gre- General Chapter. Of that First Rule, approved by lustrious Sr. José Esteban de Noriega, Bishop of gory in the Benedictine monastery of Sacro Speco Innocent III in 1209 and revised in the definitive Solsona, son of this house, consecrated this church in Subiaco, and not long afterwards, in 1235, the Regula hnllata confirmed in 1223 by Honorius III, on 18 May, 1738". painter Berlinghieri left us the famous panel with which very simply describes poverty and service The raised choir at the western end, spanning his "portrait" and six episodes from his life, now to others, there are certain aspects which do not the nave and aisles of the church, with excellent kept in the church of Saint Francis in Pescia. initially suggest a conventual architectural organi- eighteenth-century seating in walnut, provided for Add to this the ampie iconography generated sation as solid as that of the so-called major or­ the divine office of the community of la Vid. by the Life of the saint written by Saint Bonaven- ders. Saint Francis's was an Order of Friars Minor The watchful bell gable over the door of the ture, the order's "second founder", which in the (Ordo Fratrum Minorum), where "none shall be church is one of the most beautiful ever built, hav- fourteenth century inspired Giotto and other artists called prior" (chap. 6), because all are brothers ing been conceived not just as a support for the who worked on the frescoes of the basílica of As- and equals. This equality, or rather fraternity, of bells but as a resonant highlight which prolongs sisi, or the words Dante devotes to him at that time the Franciscans, as opposed to the separation ex- and monumentalises the doorway. From here it is in The Divine Comedy, and we get a rough idea of isting in monasteries between fathers and lay worth reading the lines of Gonzalo de Berceo, not what this man represented in the collective con- brothers, was to simplify the future convent, as just to relive the visit of Saint Dominic to this Pre­ sciousness and of his influence not only in Italy there would be no separation in the church, chap­ monstratensian monastery, but as a contemporary but also in all of Europe and, after 1492, in Ameri­ ter, dining-room, refectory, etc. calling for a dupli- testimony to the importance of La Vid in the first ca, where the Franciscan convent was to take on cation of the monastery buildings according to the half of the thirteenth century: very special characteristics which are not the sub- rank of its inmates. ject of these pages, but which are interesting in Amongst the Franciscans, as the rule itself tells De Sancto Domingo vos quiero contar that they follow a model which is stricter than the us, there was a difference between the clergy and Que fiz miraglos por tierra, e por mar. Oíd World model. the lay brothers (chap. 3), but this distinction in for- Nació en Calaroga, que es muy grand logar There is no room here to even sketch the rich mation or mission did not materialise in a physical Que en aquella Alfoz diz no tiene par. personality of Saint (1182-1226), separation in the convent, as they were all friars Su padre fue feliz de los Gudman but just to remember that he preached and made and all dressed in the same habit, made up of a Su Madre fue Joana, que con grande afán a reality of poverty, humility and service to oth­ "Tunic with a hood and another without hood, if it Le parió, en el dia del Señor san Juan. ers, living off alms, owning nothing himself. This were necessary, and a cord (as a belt) and under- Soñó doña Joana, que tenia un can, is the reason for the ñame of mendicant given to habit. And all the friars shall dress in coarse clothes, Et un cirio ardiente que dava ñamados, the order in reference to the begging on which and may patch them with sacking..." (chap. 2). Oc- Que por todo el mundo eran resplanados; they depend for their survival, quite the contrary casionally I tend to think that in the Franciscan Porque fue flagelo de Apostatados. to what happened with the monastic orders which habit, sublimed by the brushes of El Greco, Zur- De catorce años se fue a un Padre Abad, had extensive properties and received healthy in- barán and Ribera, lies the true architecture and the Porque le criase con gran caridat, comes. Francis of Assisi was simply poor by con- style of the Order of Friars Minor. que fue en el convento de gran santidat, viction, having abandoned his wealthy family po- At the same time, the vocation for preaching que se diz e la Vid, cerca do fue nat. sítion so as to do nothing but live according to gave the life of the Franciscan an itinerant sense,

370 much like the life of Saint Francis, which is con- to construct buildings in other places, saying that the convents of Franciscans and Poor Clares, their trary to the stable nature of a monastic establish- in Santa Maria della Porziuncola, which is the female branch, with examples such as that of San­ ment. Add to this the fact that they did not own first convent of the Order, are raised large and ta Maria de Pedralbes, in Barcelona, and San Juan and could not receive money "because we must spacious houses; therefore, so may we build, in de los Reyes, in Toledo, which are a far cry from not give more account and reputation to money the places where we fix our dwelling, buildings the original austerity of the Franciscan Rule and than to stones" (chap. 8), living off alms (chap. 9), similar to those". Life. The church with the single nave, to improve it is very difficult to conceive a Franciscan convent One of the chapters of the Mirror is devoted to the acoustics for the preaching, the cloister with from the rule. The rule refuses to fix their activity "the opposition to the Blessed Francis by some the chapter house, refectory, library, infirmary and spatially and only in chapter 18 does it say, "Each friars, especially prelates and men of science, in passage to the individual cells make up the princi­ Minister (Provincial) may meet every year with his the matter of the way of building convents", as pal nucleus of the Franciscan convent, to which friars in the place where he pleases, for the festivi- they opposed the way of life which required a should be added several other buildings not in- ty of Saint Michael the Archangel, to deal with the firmer physical constitution and very especially cluded in the rule, arranged around a series of things they fulfil in the service of God. And all the befo re the increase in new adepts. This question courtyards without any pre-established order. Nev- Ministers from overseas and ultramontane regions, must have worried the saint until the end of his life, ertheless, the series of variations introduced into once every three years, and the other Ministers as in his will he wrote, "The friars must beware not the convents of the Friars Minor by the place or once a year shall come to the Pentecost Chapter to receive in any way churches, houses and other the historical circumstances make them a model at Santa María della Porziuncola, unless the Minis­ buildings built for them, unless they are in keeping of adaptation to their surroundings, very different ter and servant of all the fraternity (General.) orders with saintly poverty, dwelling there like pilgrims from the rigid control the major orders exercised otherwise". and passers-by". over their monasteries. This declaration suggests a territorial organisa- Undoubtedly there was pressure within the or­ Franciscan presence in Spain goes right back to tion, which in the course of time was to be com- der joined to the inevitable necessity of seriously the thirteenth century, and in 1217 it was one of the posed of Provinces, Custod.es and Convents, as building solid, well structured and functional con­ five provinces the order had outside Italy. Here, as well as the existence of a mother house, the Porz­ ventual organisations. This carne about during the in the rest of Europe, it had great influence amongst iuncola, a chapel inseparably tied to the life of the term of office of Saint Bonaventure, designated the common people, but above all amongst the no- saint, who strongly urged his brothers never to General of the Franciscan Order in 1256. Four bility, and its churches became a favourite choice abandon it. Without being in any way a model for years later the General Chapter met in Narbonne, of burial place. The number of foundations grew the future architecture of the Franciscans, it says a where once again an appeal was made for pover­ so much that in 1232 the province of Spain was di- lot about the character and scale of the construc- ty, including certain details concerning the archi­ vided into three —Santiago (with part of Portugal), tions which were to serve as a conventual setting tecture of the Franciscans: "As the select and the su- Aragón and Castile—, with a total of 123 convents, for the friars. In fact, the Porziuncola, preserved to- perfluous are directly opposed to poverty, we which did not stop growing in subsequent years. day as an architectural relie beneath the dome of order that delicacy in the buildings be rigidly avoid- During the fifteenth century there was a split be- the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, near As- ed in paintings, carvings, Windows, columns and tween Observants and Conventuals, which Cis- sisi, where the saint's cell is also said to be, is a other things, or the excess of length, width and neros managed to redirect towards Observantism, modest construction which must have been sur- height according to the conditions of the place. But while the Conventuals disappeared in Spain in the rounded by the fragüe cells the brothers oceupied. those who daré transgress this constitution, shall be second half of the sixteenth century. By then, the On this point one should read the writings of the severely punished, and the principáis irrevocably two branches of the Order of Saint Francis con- disciples of Saint Francis, who gathered very inter- expelled from their places". sisted of 50,000 friars distributed all over the world. esting accounts of those years, such as The Mirror In supervising the compliance of these statutes ofPerfection and the Legend ofthe Three Compan- of the General Chapter, the inspectors of the order ions, in which it is generally accepted that Brother had full power to take action to forbid their in- SAN JUAN DE LOS REYES. TOLEDO. Leo, an inseparable companion and a witness to fringement, as "in no way may churches be vault- many episodes in the life of the saint, had a hand. ed, except the presbytery. Also, the church belfry An the rich panorama of religious architecture in In The Mirror ofPerfection it is said that the friars will in no place be built as a tower; similarly, there Toledo, the Franciscan convent of San Juan de los of the Porziuncola "only had a very small cell cov- will never be storied or painted glass, except the Reyes, unquestionably the most notable building ered with straw, whose walls were of straw cov- main window, behind the high altar there may be after the cathedral, stands out for its size and char­ ered with mud", but that on more than one occasion images of the Crucifixión, of the Holy Virgin, of acter. Its origin is traditionally linked to the battle the friars suggested making a solider construction, Saint John, of Saint Francis and Saint Anthony; and of Toro (1476), when the Castilian troops defeated either for the oratory in which to say the offices, or if others were painted they shall be removed by the Portuguese who supported Joan (La Beltrane- else for the convent in general. the inspectors". ja) in her aspirations to the crown of Castile, which These moves were always opposed by Saint Without going any further, even the church of she disputed with Queen Isabella. In thanksgiving, Francis, who reacted with utterances such as, San Francesco in Assisi, where the saint is says Fray Pedro de Salazar in his Crónica e Histo­ "Brother, this convent must be an example and a buried, begun in 1228, consecrated in 1253 and ria de la fundación y progreso de la Provincia de model for all those of the religión (Order), there - enriched in the course of the thirteenth and four- Castilla de la Orden del bienaventurado padre San fore I prefer the friars to suffer here hardship and teenth centuries with an unrivalled collection of Francisco (1612), the queen decided "to found a discomfort for the sake of God, and the friars that frescoes, itself contravenes the spirit not only of very stimptuous church and dedicate it to Saint come here to return to their constructed convents the Poverello but also of the agreements reached John the Evangelist, of whom the Queen was a with a good example of poverty, rather than find in Narbonne and endorsed by later General Chap­ great devotee, and also because the Prince had comforts and gifts and take this as an example ters. History is witness to the growing wealth of been born, whom they called Don Juan. He was

371 born in the year 1478, and they say that the Queen The building was completed in 1504, some signed, carved and invented a great number of so- tried to have a collegiate church of Canons built years after the death of the architect of San Juan de lutions and details not previously known, but they in San Juan de los Reyes, for her burial, and that of los Reyes, Juan Guas, in 1496. By that time the were incorporated in the original work so natural- King Fernando her husband, and that this had no convent was well advanced, with the presence of ly that only an expert could discern them. During effect, because in this town there was a major other masters who finished the project, such as those years it was declared a National Monument church which countermanded this". In a word, the Simón de Colonia, Enrique Egas, and finally, Alon­ (1883) and the restoration work extended until archbishop and the cathedral chapter opposed it so de Covarrubias, who not only built the vault 1926, though a third large-scale intervention was openly for fear this royal foundation in some way over the main staircase but the second cloister de- necessary after the Civil War, between 1940 and lessened their privileges. stroyed during the French occupation in 1810. This 1950. Four years later, the Franciscan Order once Although the collegiate church was not to be, was the starting point for a nineteenth century in more occupied the house which had given famous the new foundation could be handed over to an which the destruction by the French and an initial, ñames to the history of Spain, some as well known order like that of the Franciscans, as the Queen partial restoration was followed by secularisation as that of Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, who pro- said with determination: "Since I have and have in 1835, when the conventual church became the fessed at San Juan de los Reyes and who carne to always had a very special devotion to the blessed parish church of San Martín (1840) and the clois­ be confessor to Queen Isabella, Archbishop of Lord Saint John and to the Order of Observants ter galleries still standing became the Provincial Toledo, Cardinal and Regent of Spain. of the Lord Saint Francis, I have decided to make Museum (1846). All in all the complex was in a The general outline was conceived by Juan and build a House and Monastery of this Order of sorry state. Parts of it were in ruins, the convent Guas, no doubt with the collaboratíon of the Saint Francis of Observance, and in devotion to had been plundered, one of the two cloisters had Sculptor Egas Cueman, as both appear in the doc- the blessed said Lord Saint John, Apostle and been lost and one of the galleries of the remain- umentation as major masters (1479), there having Evangelist, in the very noble and very loyal city ing one had collapsed. In a word, an unhappy been some differences of opinión with the queen, of Toledo". predicament for one of the most important Span- who must have disliked the simplicity of the first The Franciscans had already been established in ish artistic complexes of the time of the Catholic project. The architect, probably wanting to avoid the city since the thirteenth century, as it seems Monarchs in what has come to be called the Is- grandiloquent, gaudy architecture, had in mind the that from 1230 they had had a modest house just abelline style. sober character befitting a convent of the order of outside Toledo, in a place known as La Bastida, It took the sensitivity of a poet such as Gustavo the poverello of Assisi. But the queen. who had until a few years later when they built an impor- Adolfo Bécquer to break with the oblivion of peo- conceived the church of San Juan as a royal pan- tant convent inside the city walls. In 1501, when pie and institutions and draw attention to San Juan theon until the conquest of Granada made her the new house of San Juan de los Reyes was fin­ de los Reyes with the publication of an extraordi- change her mind and build the Capilla Real there ished, Queen Isabella offered the Franciscan narily clear-sighted and sincerely romantic work, for her burial, rebuked Juan Guas, saying, "Is this women's branch the friars' oíd house, today the the Historia de los templos de España (1875): "Silent trifle what you have done for me here?". Leaving nucleus of the convent of Concepción Francisca. ruins of a prodigy of art, imposing remains of a aside this anecdote, which expresses the royal in- San Juan de los Reyes was built in the Jewish forgotten generation, sombre walls of the sanctu- terest in the new foundation, it is a fact that there quarter, cióse to the former parish church of San ary of the Lord, I am amongst you. Hail, compan- were many changes between the original idea and Martín, over houses and land which had belonged ions of meditation and melancholy, hail. I am the the constructed work. Suffice it to compare the to Henry IV's chief bookkeeper, Alonso Álvarez de poet. The poet, who brings not even the parch- present church with the extraordinary and detailed Toledo. The building work must have started in ments of the historian, ñor the compass of the ar­ drawing on parchment from San Juan de los Reyes about 1477 and ten years later the church was well chitect, who knows not the technicalities of one, now kept in the , where the inte­ advanced. The sculptors who carved the rich and can only just, thanks to the traditions pre- rior of the church appears represented in perspec- heraldic decoration of the interior of the transept served in his songs, follow the other along the tan- tive with an arrangement different from today's. completed the royal coats of arms shortly before gled paths of his overwhelming knowledge. The The church is a typical conventual church, with 1492, as the rich fruit symbolising the end of the poet, who comes not to reduce your majesty to a single nave, chapéis between the buttresses, a Reconquest and the capture of Granada is not to lines ñor your memory to numbers, but to ask of short transept aligned with them and a raised be seen on the point of the shield. From subse- you a flash of inspiration and an instant of calm. choir at the western end. On the south side, built quent years we have the exceptional eye-witness Bathe my forehead in your pleasant shade, lend me on to the church, is the cloister, with two storeys. account by the Germán traveller Hieronymus a branch of your willows on which to hang my , Opening off the ground floor level were once the Müntzer, who while visiting Toledo in January may the melancholy that dreams within your breast library (on the west side), chapter house (on the 1495 wrote, "The King and Queen Fernando and surround me with its transparent wings, and I when south side) and sacristy (on the west side and the Isabella are building this edifice in cut and squared I leave shall repay this hospitality with a tear and a present entrance for the public from the exterior). stone, so magnificently and splendidly that it caus­ song." This lyricism is followed by a detailed de- Between the sacristy and the church is a monu­ es admiration. The church is finished, except for scription of the convent which is an indispensable mental staircase leading to the upper corridors of the chevet which is profusely decorated with the source of reference for knowing its state at that time. the cloister. Next to this cloister was a second, shields of the king and queen..." Farther on he The restoration of San Juan de los Reyes would built in the sixteenth century by Covarrubias, and refers to the cloister which "will be very beautiful" have to wait until the time of Alfonso XII, when around it were situated the refectory, kitchen, pri- although it is not finished and says that, speaking the architect Arturo Mélida was entrusted with a or's cell, and secondary buildings. On the site of with the architect of the work, Juan Guas, he was project (1881) to restore the church and cloister to this former cloister, Arturo Mélida raised the inter- assured that the whole building, once finished, their original state. This Mélida did in his twofold esting Escuela de Industrias Artísticas (1882), spir- would cost some 200,000 ducats, a considerable capacity as architect and Sculptor. Invested with itually and physically related through the archi­ sum which shows how exceptional it was. the authority of a new Juan Guas, he planned, de- tect to San Juan de los Reyes.

372 The exterior aspect of the church is one of ex­ The church is connected to the cloister through and the elegant sobriety of its cloister are a pre- treme simplicity, relieved only by the restored pin- a door in the transept. Its four galleries have stone lude on an equal with the magnificent architecture nacles, the new knights restored by Mélida at the vaults whose rigid ribs avoid crossing in the centre, of the monumental convent of the Poor Clares. chevet, and by the fetters of the Christian captives in contrast to the pleasantly sinuous Flamboyant This, today, is part of the urban network of the liberated in the Granada campaign, also hung as ex tracery on the arches, in which Simón de Colonia city that has grown out from the nucleus of me­ votos on the front of the church. Beside the sim­ probably collaborated. Finely worked carving dec- dieval Barcelona to reach the convent of Pe­ plicity of the volume of its architecture, the interior orates the arches, pedestals, imposts and mould- dralbes, which nevertheless still lies on the out- offers an unrestrained decorative wealth, especial- ings, on which dwell a fauna and a flora which the skirts. We owe its foundation to King James II and ly the chevet, which is also the transept crossing, sculptors treated with demanding realism but at his wife Elísenda de Monteada. The latter, after her high chapel and royal tomb, all beneath the spec- the same time infected with the Franciscan spirit of husband's death, furbished rooms in the convent tacular presence of the cupola. Space and the valué love towards nature. and lived and died in the company of the nuns of of surfaces are admirably combined here, bathed in The arches opened on the second storey of the Pedralbes, to whom she left all her possessions a light which today is more aggressive, having lost cloister are a very different shape to those on the when she died in 1364. The most beautiful and po- the stained glass that Ponz was able to see in 1783 lower storey, the mixtilinear intradós and the Re- etic testimony of Elisenda's preference and patron- and which, in his judgement, was "painted as well naissance character of their balustrades suggesting age of the convent is her unusual tomb, which, as the best in the cathedral". there was a change in the master of the works. The like a medal, has two sides. In this way, while the The general vaulting of the church shows dif- upper storey also has a wooden framework, with funerary carving which appears on one side of the ferent combinations on the basis of straight ribs, Mudejar roots but done by Mélida in the nine- presbytery of the church shows the queen dressed very characteristic of Juan Guas, making the stellate teenth century with great skill. To the same archi- as befits her dignity, on the other side of the same solution of the cupola even more impressive. On tect is owed the crenellation of the cloister and its tomb facing the cloister the recumbent figure is the walls of the transept Guas conceived a brilliant gargoyles, some of which, as well as being signed, dressed in the modest habit of the Poor Clares. royal retinue, to the extent that the unwitting visitor leave no doubt as to their date: 1888. This impor- What better definition of the two periods of a life, forgets that this is a conventual church and not a tant work, which saved the cloister from ruin, fits queen and ? royal chapel. On either side, like an image reflect- well with those words by Bécquer, who said of Ever since the first stone was laid in the church ed in a mirror, is repeated the same composition of San Juan de los Reyes that "in its various capaci- on 26 March 1327, the convent has never stopped a frieze on which the coat of arms of the Catholic ties as a page from history, a monumental building growing, both in its architectural dimensión and Monarchs under the eagle of Saint John is repro- and a source of poetry, it enjoys the threefold priv- in the number of nuns and servants. Whereas in duced five times though without monotony. Here, ilege of speaking to the intelligence that reasons. the spring of 1237, on the occasion of the conse- the blazons of Castile and León appear quartered the art that studies, the spirit that creates.". cration of the church, a small group of church- with those of Aragón and Sicily. At the feet, lions, women carne here made up of twelve nuns, two the yoke and the arrows, along with figures of lay sisters and fifteen novices from the Barcelona saints in the lañes separating the shields, forming SANTA MARÍA DE PEDRALBES. BARCELONA. Poor Clares convent of Sant Antoni and Sant one of the noblest images in Isabelline architec­ Damiá, the Ordinances of 1334 limited the num­ ture. Guas resolved this peculiar art of the church Münzer visited Barcelona in 1494, he wrote ber of nuns to sixty and fixed that of friars and by recreating in a monumental tone the famous that it had "the city within the precinct, and out- chaplains to four and ten, respectively. This num­ emblematic combination conceived by the human- side it, at a journey of two leagues, more than thir- ber was adjusted up or down, accordíng to the ist Antonio de Nebrija, with constant allusions to ty monasteries of friars and nuns", one of the most circumstances, but it gives an idea of the quanti- the yoke and arrows whose initials are repeated remarkable being that of the Poor Clares. Today tative importance of this religious group, to which separately, concealing the ñames of Isabella and this convent is still alive, though some elements must be added the no less notable number of ser­ Ferdinand. The lost portraits of the monarchs, on have been lost or segregated which used to stand vants of the convent in their different trades, either side of the early altarpiece, left no doubt as within the walled precinct with its gates defended without forgetting that Pedralbes also had about to the ultímate destiny of the church as a royal pan- by towers. Here, as well as the convent itself, with forty slaves in its service. theon, situating a free-standing tomb beneath the its several gardens, were the majordomo's house The main nucleus of this foundation of Francis­ cupola. It is tempting to mentally transfer the tomb and, what is most interesting, the so-called "Con- can nuns is formed by the church and the buildings carved for the Catholic Monarchs by Fancelli in the ventet", or little convent, of Franciscan friars and communicating directly with the cloister, bearing Capilla Real in Granada to this convent in Toledo. the houses and gardens of the chaplains who be- in mind that the long history accumulated on its an- It would fit in perfectly. A surprising note that adds longed to the . Between them they cient walls has involved various additions, trans- to the interest of the church is the presence of catered for the needs of worship and spiritual assis- formations, mutilations and restorations at different raised galleries, no doubt conceived as choirs or tance of the nuns, forming an interesting conven­ times. It is certainly a surprise to see the relation- places for the minstrels, whose present silence tual group with the church of the Poor Clares, ship between the proportions of the church and the forces us to consider the musical side of a liturgy around the present open space before the church imposing size of its cloister, as well as the simplici­ which would also have been exceptional. To this which was once intramural farmland. The Friars' ty of the composition of the parts of the cloister, harmonic reality of the church —invisible, but as "Conventet" had a complete organisation around where three large galleries —that is, dormitory, re- real as the hardness of its seating— we have to add the attractive Gothic cloister, with its own chapel, fectory and infirmary—, along with the church, the importance of the deep raised choir at the which in 1920 was converted as a prívate home by make up the perimeter of the cloister. Here, in western end and the organ gallery, which would the architect Enríe Sagnier. Inside one can still ap- my opinión, there is a cióse parallel with the have given the required solemnity to the liturgy in preciate the far from accessory interest of this little arrangement of the former convent of Santa a church with ideal acoustics. fourteenth-century Franciscan convent, as the size Clara, built in the thirteenth century and dedicat-

373 ed to Saints Anthony and Damián. This is where The cloister of Santa Maria de Pedralbes is one of the prívate life of a convent which, cióse in time, the first nuns and novices are said to have come the most beautiful to be found in Gothic architec- tells of the care Abbess Nathan takes of her nuns, from. After the sixteenth century it passed into ture. Its dimensions are unusual, some forty metres always striving to improve their life together: the hands of the Benedictine Order and it was along each side, and its three storeys are exception- demolished in the eighteenth century during the al. On two storeys there are extremely elegant series "L'abadesa anava tot jorn per lo monestir, per construction of the Citadel. of uninterrupted arches, dating from the fourteenth encerchar si atrobaria ullan cosa qui fos ordena- The arrangement of the church, also single- century, while the third, with its fíat arches, added at ment d'oyment. Un jorn l'abadesa entra en l'ort, e naved with a raised choir at the western end, us- the beginning of the following century, is more do- viu estar dues dones qui filaven a Ia part, e viu-ne ing the space beneath the choir as a visitors' room, mestic in scale and character. estar una per cabal. Puxes entra en lo dormitor, e follows the same scheme we find at Pedralbes, re- The use of wood in the roofing means that the del dormitor entra en les altres cases on les dones vealing its personality as a church standing out arcades can be extremely light, the arches resting on solen filar, e viu que no filaven ensemps en un against the varied range of monastic and conven­ extremely thin nummulitic colonettes carved in the loch. L'abadesa l'endemá maná capítol, e féu sta- tual churches. The style and the construction of the workshops of Girona. Opening off its galleries on bliment que totes les dones filasen en un loch, e church are identified with fifteenth-century Catalán the ground floor is the chapter house, today con­ que alcuna dona legís alcun libre qui fos en ro­ Gothic, with its spacious single nave and its chapéis verted as an interesting museum of the history and mane, per co que les dones lo poguesen enten- between the buttresses, the amplitude of the hep­ art of the convent, with many noteworthy Ítems of dre. Aquell llibre fos de la passió de Jesu Crist, e de tagonal chevet matching the width of the nave. all types and conditions. Of particular interest here la vida e del martire deis sants e de les santes, e de la This gives it an enviable transparency, in the midst are the attractive Unes of the architecture, the work vida deis sants pares qui son passats; en aquell lli­ of which is situated the monks' and beneficiaries' of Guillermo Abiell and Antonio Nato between 1418 bre fossen les miracles de madona santa Maria, e de choir, like a scola cantorum, with twenty-six wood- and 1420. Its large ribbed and partitioned vault is les vérgens e mártirs, e deis altres sants: e aquell li­ en seats, all much reformed and restored but with closed by an impressive keystone representing the bre legissen a les festes e ais altres dies, segons que good remains of the oíd work dating from about scene of Pentecost, a relief painted by Pedro Sa cascuna dona venria per tanda e per orde. Aquel li­ 1400. Until it was reformed in the twentieth centu­ Closa in 1420. The rest of the east gallery is oceu- bre fo encerchat, e aquell ordenament fo fet en ry, the raised nuns' choir at the western end over a pied by the infirmary, and the south-east side cor- aquell monestir e en molts d'altres, qui d'aquell ne depressed vault had a high wall which, without responds to the refectory, which also dates from the prengueren exempli". reaching the vault of the church, shut off this en- fourteenth century but was renovated in the nine­ closed área more decisively. A gap in the middle al- teenth. Its large nave with pointed and lowed a view from the choir of the ceremonial in that of the long dormitory, on the south-west THE DOMINICANS the presbytery. The church's natural lighting comes gallery, with a wooden ceiling on diaphragm arch­ through large Windows and oculi open all along es, several times modiñed, rebuilt and turned into a SAINT DOMINIC AND THE ORDO PAEDICATORUM. the top, with fine stone tracery and a beautiful col- series of cells, speaks for the changing customs the lection of stained glass Windows, of which the old- convent has seen in its long history, each time call- Whe n Dante, in The Divine Comedy, has the est date from the fourteenth century and the most ing for works of constant adaptation. founding fathers of the most important mendicant recent from the nineteenth, which give a soft, bal- There is nevertheless a spirit that remains, per- orders, Saint Dominic and Saint Francis of Assisi, anced light. The stained glass window in the centre haps in the less monumental aspects, such as the enter Paradise, he says something which is all too of the chevet, one of the examples from the four­ series of lesser chapéis and cells distributed all over true: "I shall speak of one of them, as one is speak- teenth century, represents the Saviour in the centre the cloister, many of them for brief retreats by the ing of both by praising only one, whichever it is, and larger than the Virgin, between Saint Francis monks, such as that of Abbess Sa-Portella, known because their works were directed at the same end" and Saint John the Baptist, in the lower register. At as the chapel of San Miguel (1346), with the ex- (Paradise, XI, 40-43). In fact the poet goes on to the bottom the coats of arms of Aragón and Mont­ ceptional series of mural paintings by Ferrer Bassa, speak of both of them, but the idea that the two of eada are repeated continuously along the interior the imitator of the fourteenth-century style of Giot- them are identified with a single task of preaching, of the church facade and the whole of the cloister. to, the painter of the Poverello of Assisi. at a moment when the church was in need of these The quatripartite vaults have interesting key­ Everywhere one goes one hears the arcane voices, is absolutely true. They lived at the same stones with reliéis of the following subjeets, starting voices of former abbesses of Pedralbes. Here in time, around the fourth Lateran Council (1215) and from the chevet: Coronation of the Virgin, Ascen­ the cloister garden, works like the fountain for discussed their project with the same popes, Inno- sión, Pentecost, female saints, Epiphany, Birth of washing one's hands outside the refectory or the cent III and Honorius III. Like the Franciscans and Jesús, Annunciation and Christ in Majesty. This se­ curb of the Renaissance well conjure up the ñames in a role complementing theirs, they approached ries of major keystones is continued on the lesser of the abbesses Teresa Enríquez (1495-1506) and the cities and lived discreetly in suburban áreas keystones of the lateral chapéis, where some have Teresa de Cardona (1521-1562), respectively. In where they raised their convents, which at first identified the work of Reinard des Fonoll, James II's the galleries of the cloister are gathered tombs, fu- were very modest but by the end of the Middle architect and Sculptor. Some authors attribute this nerary statues or simply magnificent burial stones Ages had become spectacular. master with considerable participation in the with coats of arms of the nobility, keeping alive The founder of the order was the Spaniard church of Pedralbes, on the basis of its affinities the illustrious family ñames (Sa-Portella, Caixans, Domingo de Guzmán (1170-1221), born in the town with other works by Fonoll, as can be deduced March, Centelles, etc.) of those who once gov- of , in Burgos, where there is still a com- from the very doorway of the church of Pedralbes, erned this convent with loving care. munity of Dominican nuns whose active presence which sweetens the exterior, with its imposing hor­ It is tempting to make this place the setting for a brings life and meaning to Alfonso X the Wise's an- izontal bulk countered by the prismatic slenderness passage from Blanquerna, by Ramón Llull (1235- cient conventual foundation. After an initial prepa- of the tower, in a truly felicitous unión. 1315), who was so cióse to the Franciscans, about ration at the Premonstratenisan monastery of La Vid,

374 which Berceo versified, Saint Dominic entered the was later to reach unsuspected horizons on the The inevitable processional cloister has an up- cathedral of Burgo de Osma (Soria), where he other side of the Atlantic, in the New World. These per cloister providing access to the cells, library formed part of the chapter as a canon regular of chapters developed the administrative organisa- and choir, leaving the lower part mainly for the Saint Augustine. His friendship with the prior of the tion and the régimen governing the order, which chapter house and the refectory. Other courtyards chapter and later prelate of the diocese, Diego de Raymond of Peñafort, as Saint Dominic's second contain the infirmary and various buildings, as we Acebes, was to be a decisive factor in his life. With successor, codified in his Constitutions, always shall see. With regard to the architecture, the con­ him he travelled to Rome, visited the Cistercian putting special emphasis on preaching and study stitutions or statutes tell us practically nothing, abbey of Cíteaux and with him he stayed in the as priority objectives, urging the increase of li- merely repeating the brief observations made on south of France, preaching against the Albigensian braries and forbidding the sale of books. So it is this point at the General Chapter of Paris in 1228, heresy in Montpellier, Carcassone and Toulouse. In not surprising that the first university chairs in Paris when it was recommended that "Medioevos do- 1206, as Jordán of Saxony, Saint Dominic's immedi- and Salamanca were occupied by the friars preach­ mod et humiles habeantfratres nostri...", that is ate successor, tells us in his De principas Ordinis ers, who saw in Saint Thomas of Aquinas one of "may our brothers have small and simple houses, Sancti Dominici, Diego de Acebes and Dominic, the most representative figures in the intellectual and may the walls of the houses, without solad­ "with the object of receiving some noble women, task characterising the Dominicans. ura, not pass the measure of twelve feet in height, whose fathers, having come down in the world, had In Spain the order spread early and quickly, so and with solarium, twenty, the church thirty and delivered them to the heretics to be educated and that the Provincial Chapter held in Toledo in 1250 may the not be built with stone (vault- maintained, founded a monastery, situated between was made up of twenty Spanish and Portuguese ed), except over the chevet and the sacristy. Fanjeaux and Montreal, in the place called Prouille". convents, located in the most important cities of the Should anyone act to the contrary, he shall re- But following the death of the bishop the following Christian kingdoms, from Barcelona to and ceive a punishment as severe as his fault. May year, the foundation and the plans for the new or- from to Valencia. However, each convent elect three of the most distin- der were left entirely in the hands of Dominic, who these were just the first of a growing series of foun- guished brothers, without whose opinión the had seen in Toulouse the harsh events of the war dations, thanks to the social support the Order of buildings may not be built". Although the text is and the heresy in an explosive mixture. Following Preachers received in the Peninsula, especially from short, it no doubt forms part of a series of more the capture of the city by the cnisaders in 1213, Do­ the ruling monarchs, who very often found their extensive precepts, as there is an indication as to minic formed a Congregation of preachers in the confessors and counsellors amongst these educated the height of the buildings which encompasses castle of Casseneuil, with the support of Foulques, friars, as we shall see later. In this aspect, a good proportion. These heights are of the utmost in- bishop of the city, who assigned him an allowance. example is the donation John I of Portugal made terest, as they do indeed suggest modest, rather Two years later the fourth Lateran Council was in 1388 to the Order of Saint Dominic of the than monumental constructions. though with a held, which Foulques attended accompanied by monastery of Santa María da Vitoria in Batalha, built certain distinction, as the church, for example, is Dominic, and from its decrees the Spanish saint to commemorate the Castilian defeat at Aljubarrota almost ten metres in height, standing out above drew the basic ideas still to be established for the (1385). Behind this donation, which made Batalha the other buildings, of which the smallest reach a new order, that is the urgency of preaching to com- the dynastic pantheon for the new dynasty of Avis height of four metres. The reference to a small bat heresy, the need for the administration of pen- in Portugal, were the Dominicans Fray Juan Lam- works commission in each convent is also worth itence, and a labour of to improve the preia, the king's confessor, and the jurisconsult Juan noting; this must have been a very useful instru- preparation of the clergy in sacred matters. These das Regras, who vigorously defended the right of ment which in this and other orders helped the were new aspects which were not dealt with by the former Maestre de Avis to wear the crown of rapid spread of each one's models. In other as­ the other mendicant orders such as the Francis- Portugal as John I, as approved by the Cortes of pects, such as the fact that only the chevet should cans, Carmelites or Augustian Hermits. On their Coimbra. The Portuguese monastery, whose fif- be vaulted and the rest of the church roofed in return to Toulouse, Saint Dominic and his com- teenth-century Manueline additions never complet- wood, it coincides with the directives of the Fran­ panions, at that time some fifteen men, decided to ed the famous cápelas imperfeitas, stands out in the ciscan churches. fit the life of the community to the rule of Saint Au­ context of European monastic architecture for the Just as Saint Francis is buried in Assisi, Saint gustine, with some additions in which the influ- beauty and grandeur of its general conception, Dominic's remains rest in Bologna, in the church ence of the Premonstratensians could be seen. As quite exceeding the more modest model of the of the convent that bears his ñame, a thirteenth- García-Villoslada tells us, they were subject to the mendicant churches. century work, though rebuilt in the eighteenth vita canónica, that is the recitation of the divine of­ In fact, in these, only the nucleus follows a tra- century. This church breaks the rules on height fice (the ), to which were added ditional Benedictine pattern, though without all and simplicity in buildings, as well as the agree- study and preaching. Bishop Foulques gave them those elements which, as in the Franciscan case, ments of the Anagni Chapter (1270), which or- the church of Saint Román in Toulouse, where they had no place amongst the mendicants. Their dered "that nothing should be done in our con­ organised the first convent of the new order which churches have features of the so-called predicant vents that could draw too much attention to the Honorius III endorsed in a bull of 1216. That same churches: a single nave, with a división between paintings, sculptures...". Thanks to the fact that year the first General Chapter of the Order of the friars' choir and the church of the faithful, and none of this was actually put into effect, today Preachers (Ordo Praedicatoruni) met in Bologna, with the pulpit carefully placed to ensure the voice we can contémplate the extraordinary arca di followed by other General but also Provincial carnes, and sometimes, for the administration of San Domenico, with the mortal remains of Chapters, as during the thirteenth century the the sacrament of penitence, a series of confession- Domingo de Guzmán, the combined work of the , Provence, France, Lombardy als hollowed out in the wall between the church finest Italian sculptors, from Nicola Pisano to and Rome were created, followed by those of Hun- and the cloister, so as to facilítate access for the Michelangelo, or admire the paintings of the Do- gary, Germany and England. The Order of Saint fathers without breaking their enclosure, as hap- minican Fra Angélico in his convent of San Mar­ Dominic grew so fast that, like the Franciscans, it pens in San Esteban in Salamanca. cos in Florence.

375 SANTO DOMINGO. VALENCIA. corteges of obvious Burgundian descent appear chapel, miraculously saved after so many changes above the recumbent figures. of fortune, produces unusual emotion and respect. X he foundation of the convent of Santo Domingo, The presence of these noble families in the The present chapel of San Vicente was raised in today the home of the military headquarters in Va­ chapter house, also linked to the Verona and Escala the eighteenth century on the site of an earlier one lencia, is linked to the conquest of the city by James families to judge by the coats of arms that figure begun in 1460, five years after the canonisation of I (1238) and to his confessor, the Dominican Fray there, are a reminder that the cloister and its adja- Saint Vincent Ferrer, who was so closely linked to Miguel de Fabra, who accompanied the monarch cent chapéis were considered a special burial place the history of this institution. This called for the de- on his campaigns in Mallorca and Valencia. The for a civil society, devotees of the Order of Preach- molition of the oíd refectory and the chapéis in the king, a few months after taking the city, gave the ers, which contributed to the work of the west wing of the cloister, so as to sitúate it between Dominicans a piece of land between the walls and monastery by providing chapéis for their burial this and the chapel of Los Reyes. That first Gothic the river Túria "so that they may have and build a such as those still to be seen here today. Especially chapel, of which some ribbed vaults still remain, church and buildings, and the other uses of this or- striking is the gallery in the chapter house, where underwent important work in 1640, and in 1772 and der". Here a modest convent was raised, whose first the traceries on the arches, some of which have 1781 the transept with the cupola and the deep stone was laid in 1239 in the presence of James I. In definite Flamboyant lines, include family coats of presbytery were added. Here the medieval image of later years it took on a monumental tone more in arms which, along with those that appear in the the convent gives way to an excellent classicist keeping with the part played by the convent in the chapéis opening off the cloister, leave no doubt as work in the best spirit of the Real Academia de San life of the city, which grew with the presence in its to who paid for these works: Jofré, Zapata, Castel- Carlos in Valencia, as its creators, the architect Gi- cloister of such eminent men as Saint Vincent Ferrer lví, Esteve, Codinats, Borja, Esplugues etc. The ded- labert and the Sculptor Puchol, belonged to this Cor­ and Saint Louis Bertrand. ications, ñames and patronage have changed n the poration. The beauty of the whole, with its un- The first qualitative change was the constaiction course of time, just as the Gothic vaults were af- orthodox Corinthian order with Doric entablature, in about 1250 of a new and larger church, replaced fected when the upper cloister was built in the sev- owes a lot to the chromatic wealth of the materials, by another in 1382, finally demolished in the nine- enteenth century. The chapel of Santa Cruz, found- amongst which, as a homage to the land of Valencia teenth cenairy. Of (hese there is nothing we can say. ed by Nicolás Pujades, baylegeneral of Valencia and its famous saint, are the finest marble and stone In about 1300, the cloister and chapter house were under Martin the Humane, is one of the best pre- of the región. While the shafts of the columns carne built, very probably as part of a single plan along served. The neighbouring chapel of San Jerónimo. from Portaceli and from Callosa de Ensarna, the with the church. Here there is no doubt that a very also on the south side of the cloister. was also built pedestals are from Naquera. The rich polychrome experienced and highly refined master masón inter- at the end of the fourteenth century by Ramón paving is made with black and white stone also vened, to judge by the east side of the cloister — Nebot, jurado of the city of Valencia in 1392, who from Portaceli, while the presbytery balustrade is the only one completed with its delicate traceries financed four arches in this part of the cloister with carved in stone from Buscarró. The different shades and mullions—, and by the chapter house, located his coat of arms on the keystones. of yellow come from Liria and Torrente. Add to this as usual after the sacristy. This is one of the most But the two most remarkable chapéis of the the imposing sculptures by Puchol and the paint- beautiful chapter houses of Gothic architecture, and now disarticulated convent of Santo Domingo are ings by Vergara and we get a work of the first order its image is a forerunner of the bold solutions of the those of Los Reyes and of Santo Domingo. The within the Valencian art of the eighteenth century. hallenkirche (hall churches) and of the Valencian first is so called as it was begun in 1493 by King The fact that the chapel of San Vicente was built exchanges of the fifteenth century. The four graceful Alfonso III of Valencia and V of Aragón, better over the oíd refectory meant that another one had central supports créate a diaphanous space of great known as the Magnanimous, and completed by to be built to the south of the cloister. Today, this transparency, covered with nine quadripartite vaults John II the Great, in 1463. It was probably planned is the southernmost part of the convent, as every- whose stone ríbs support the masonry which today as a royal pantheon, henee its unusual vaulting, thing that once stood beyond this point has been has been left unrendered. The unknown designer of which is unique in , as it pre- lost, especially the large gallery with the cells, the chapter house achieved an effect of exquisite, sents a Gothic solution without ribs but with all the which can still be recognised on the famous plan weightless elegance, by placing half colonettes on appearance of the schemes of the cross vault. The of Valencia by Tosca (1730). The new refectory, the walls, with the same moulding as the four free- result is a interpreted by arrises, which over which the library would go, was begun in standing supports, creating an impression of sus­ calis for a profound mastery of the art of stereoto- 1560 and provides a paradoxical image in which pensión which is original and very beautiful. The my, in which it is thought that Francisco Baldomar, are mixed the sombre character of pilastered ar­ whole space gets light from the eastern wall and Pedro Compte, Miquel Navarro or some pupil of chitecture with an obvious Renaissance feel and from the cloister through the delicate traceries, also Guillem Sagrera could have participated. the medieval solution of its ribbed vault. fourteenth century. The entrance doorway is very However, it was never used as a funeral chapel Soon afterwards work began on the porch lead- striking; as it could not have mullions to support for these kings, who appear at the feet of Our Lady ing to the church and the chapel of Los Reyes, both the open-work traceries it uses a bold and interest- of Hope on the altarpiece of the chapel. By a priv- of which opened on to a small Tuscan courtyard, ing hanging solution which shows the high standard ilege of the Emperor Charles V, it housed the mor­ by the Dominican lay brother Fray Pedro Gómez. of knowledge of the stonemasons working there. tal remains of the Marquis and Marquise of Cénete, This elegant composition, with its Román Doric or­ The chapter house was financed by Pedro Boil, Rodrigo de Mendoza y Vivar and María de Fonseca. der, has a second wing with Mannerist accents and James II's mayor of the palace, which explains The marble sepulchre is excellently made accord- an air like that of El Escorial, which fits in with the why his great-grandson and great-great-grandson, ing to the design of the Genoese active in Spain visit made by Philip II n 1586 and the 1,000 ducats Ramón Boil II, Lord of Bétera, and Ramón Boil III, and known as Bergamasco, and the sculptures he left for the work. The porch, in a clear exaltation Vice-roy of Naples under Alfonso the Magnani- were carved by Giovanni Orsolano and Giovanni of the Order of Preachers, includes, as well as its mous, were buried in this hall in an interesting fif- Carlone (1563), all in excellent Italian Renaissance coat of arms, the images of its most outstanding teenth-century wall tomb in which funerary taste. Its free-standing position in this imposing ñames: Saint Dominic, Saint Vincent Ferrer and

376 Saint Louis Bertrand, at the top, and Saint Thomas the said city of Ávila there be made and constitut- The church is a beautiful example of the so- Aquinas, Saint Peter of Verona, Saint Raymond of ed and built a monastery of the Lord Saint Thomas called conventual type, frequent at the end of the Peñafort and Saint Anthony of Florence in the nich- of the Order of Saint Dominic of the Observance, fifteenth century and repeated by other orders in es between the columns. On the pediment, a dove and that its chapel and church be built where the the years of the Catholic Monarchs. It has a single symbolises the Holy Spirit referred to in the verses divine offices are held by the monks who are in the nave and a transept with short arms which do not in the gatehouse courtyard, an inducement to ple- said monastery, and that firstly the house and exceed the exterior perimeter of the chapéis open- nary indulgence, hailing the Virgin as follows: dwelling and accommodation be built, where the ing off the church between the buttresses. The sev- said monks may stay, so that the said house and en vaulted sections add up to a total of forty-seven Ave filia Dei Patris monastery are finished sooner, in which said metres in length, and the width and height of the Ave Mater Dei Filii monastery and church be placed and we ordain nave are nine and a half and nineteen metres, re- Ave Sponsa Spiritus Sancti that the arms of the said treasurer be placed there, spectively, which gives it very sightly and slender Ave Templum Totius Trinitatis. so that his memory, as it is said, be conserved and proportions. Nevertheless, in spite of its height, the others may become covetous of doing other similar church is rather dark because of the small number pious works that must be seen". and size of the windows, when in fact the Gothic SANTO TOMÁS. ÁVILA. María Dávila initially gave rather more than one architecture of the end of the Middle Ages went far- and a half million maravedís to begin the work. ther than any other in opening the walls to flood .Tranciscans and Dominicans raised their respec­ This sum was invested in the so-called Noviciate's the church interior with light. Elsewhere I have said tive convents in the vicinity of Ávila, a certain dis- cloister, but Torquemada managed to increase the that the light in Santo Tomás does not match its ar- tance from the city walls and also from the oíd ex­ funds for the work by drawing the attention of the chitectural staicture and that in this sense it is like a tramural parishes, Franciscans to the north-east and king and queen themselves, who, with their dona- Gothic church with Romanesque lighting. Dominicans to the south-east. The two convents tions and the application in the works of the goods The plans were the work of the master Martín had a lot in common, not only as a result of the confiscated from the Jews and heretics, gave a new de Solórzano, who at that time was also active in affinities between the two mendicant orders but character to the convent. In this way, Núñez de the new church of San Francisco in Ávila, and no also in the dates of their buildings, and it would not Arnalte's original project grew under the patronage doubt must have answered to the criteria imposed be surprising if the same builders had taken part. of the Catholic Monarchs, who even declared later on him by Fray Tomás de Torquemada. It may, per- Unfortunately, this comparison goes no further, be- that they had "ordered that it be founded and built haps, be too easy to associate the shadow of his in­ cause whereas the Dominican convent of Santo anew". The construction of a palace around the so- quisitorial office with the gloom of the church. As in Tomás remains practically complete and is still in- called cloister of Los Reyes and the burial in the other conventual churches, that of Santo Tomás has habited by the predicant friáis, the convent of San church of their son the infante Juan, who died in a raised choir at the western end, where the stalls Francisco is a ruin and practically nothing is left of 1497, confirm the unusual nature of the final con­ for the community were placed, but what is unusu­ it except an interesting church in a state of total struction. The first stone was laid on 11 April 1482 al is that the same solution of a segmental arch with destruction. There, in the middle of today's neigh- and the community was able to move in on 4 Au- its corresponding vault is repeated at the eastern bourhood of , named after the person who gust 1493, when only a few parts of the convent end of the church, where the altar stands with the bought the convent following disentailment, can be remained to be completed. extraordinary altarpiece by Pedro Berruguete, for- seen the remains of the oíd thirteenth-century foun- The monastery as a whole is today in relatively tunately in situ. This forms a prívate, conventual dation, over which a new church was built in the good condition, bearing in mind that it was on the level, enclosed and raised, distinct from the lower second half of the fifteenth century. point of being lost in the nineteenth century after level of the public church occupied by the faithful. The formidable building of the convent of San­ various public auctions and after having been pro- In this way, by raising the presbytery, the com­ to Tomás —once known as Los Arrabales—, which posed as a possible textile factory and hospital. It munity can easily see the celebration at the altar dates from the same period, was raised on land be- was saved by the generous soul of one of its pur- from the back of the choir, without hiding it from the longing to the Premonstratensians of Sancti Spiritus, chasers, José Bachiller (1844), who spent his entire faithful in what we could cali the lower church. Con­ whose order had been in the city since 1209. The fortune on maintaining the building and did not ventual enclosure and lay attendance are made com­ main part of the convent was built in a very short even hesitate to pay the cost of services in the patible by hierarchising the space in a unit which time indeed, between 1482 and 1493- The speed church. This eventually ruined him and his credi- does not need railings or other dividing elements. of the work was due to the initial generosity of tors once more put the convent up for auction. An- No doubt this formula must have been repeated in Hernando Núñez de Arnalte, treasurer and secre- other queen, this time Isabella II, bought it and other cases, and in the church of San Francisco in tary of the Catholic Monarchs, who while ill grant- gave it to the bishopric of Ávila, who used it as a Ávila there are signs of this. However, in no other ed legal powers to his wife, María Dávila, and to seminary. After that it was put to use to quarter church has it survived in this form to our day. the prior of the Dominican convent of Santa Cruz troops, until, finally, in 1876, the Dominicans re- This solution no doubt gave a certain theatrical in Segovia, Fray Tomás de Torquemada, to found turned to Santo Tomás. It is true that its assets were air to the church interior, an effect which was ac- a Dominican convent in Ávila. The treasurer's scattered, as, for example, in the case of the altar- centuated when the tomb of the infante Juan, the amazing fortune was distributed by these two after pieces by Berruguete, which were originally in the son of the Catholic Monarchs, was placed be- a curious consultation of the Catholic Monarchs, to church, then in the cloister, and today are in the neath the crossing. Juan, who had married Mar- whom the famous inquisitor general Torquemada Museo del Prado, but the visit to Santo Tomás still garet of in Burgos in the spring of 1497, at was confessor and counsellor. Amongst the many produces a profound impression, both because of the age of twenty, died in Salamanca in the au- clauses of the document containing Núñez de the personality of the church and because of the tumn of that same year. His remains were moved to Arnalte's last wish and testament (1480), one says unique spatial sequence of its three cloisters: Novi­ this monastery by express desire of the king and textually, "Also, we ordain and command that in ciado, Silencio and Reyes. queen, who had reserved the patronage of the high

377 chapel and endowed it at that time with 40,000 with the Order's coat of arms with the fleur-de-lis shall meet and the degrees be given [baccalaure- maravedís, "with the charge of a daily sung mass on the balustrade, and the pomegranates on the ate and degree] the main classroom of Theology and two annual anniversaries for their son", as Cien- spandrels of the arches which announce to the four which is located in the royal courtyard of the said fuegos tells us. By testamentary disposition of Is- winds who the regal builders of Santo Tomás were. Monastery...". abella the Catholic, a magnificent tomb was then But this convent holds further surprises, as there This commendable intellectual activity erases built by the Florentine Domenico Fancelli, who is a third cloister in the part that was Isabella and the times when those walls were the setting for the used marble brought from Genoa (1512), leaving us Ferdinand's palace, with its own independent en- inquisitorial activities of Fray Tomás de Torque- with a work of the most exquisite Italian Renais- trance and with a palatial arrangement of staircase mada, who was initially buried in the sacristy of sance taste. With the church therefore converted as and large rooms on the main floor occupying the the convent, though once he had been forgotten a monumental pantheon, the half-light which al- north and west sides of the cloister of Los Reyes. after the liberáis of Ávila had burned his remains in ways bathes it appears the most appropriate. The king and queen, "orphans of so great a son" 1836, in the so-called brazier of La Dehesa, where Here, where the king and queen were to come (Angleria), used these rooms as their summer many supposed heretics were put to death by the so often to mourn, since here, as well as a son, "the palace, which they continued to visit in spite of their and where, very recently, an impressive hopes of all of Spain" were buried, as the humanist sorrow, while other authors say they spent no more Muslim cemetery has been discovered. Pedro Mártir de Angleria said, we also find the than two summers there. The fact is that there is tombs of Juan Dávila and Juana Velázquez de la the palace, the convent and the pantheon, an obvi- Torre, Juan's tutors. Apparently it was the prince ous foreainner of what El Escorial was to be, as Fer­ SAN ESTEBAN. SALAMANCA. himself who during his lifetime asked his parents nando Chueca so rightly says. The four galleries of for the patronage of this chapel for his mentors. The the courtyard-cloister are roofed in wood and the An Pedro Antonio de Alarcón's Viaje por España, work was commissioned years later from the Sculp­ architecture of its arcades is once again airy, sober published in 1883 but written some years earlier, the tor Pedro de Salamanca, who undertook to have it and on the ground floor decorated with the charac- author gives a poetic description of the city of Sala­ finished in 1550: "the said work must be well made teristic balls that can be seen in many other parts of manca, praising the oíd and new cathedrals and and finished and everything to do with statues and the convent. From the palace, the king and queen then going on to the Dominican convent of San Es­ harpies and history and children and moulding, had access both to the presbytery and to the choir, teban, "gracefully dominating another hill and re- which is all alabaster, must all be polished with pol- where the first two stalls awaited them, with clear flecting the sunlight on its square red cupola...It was ish, so that it is very shiny and very perfected'. royal signs and separated from the monks' stalls. a truly Cesarean scene, of Olympic grandeur...! It His youth and the circumstances surrounding This courtyard, also lined with cells which, as in was further justification for Salamanca's epithet of the death of the prince, the presence of his tutors, the rest of the convent, are located on the south Little Rome". Indeed, anyone who has watched the the nature of the church and the funeral dirge sung side of the complex, died with the Catholic Mon- way the evening sun caresses the facade of San Es­ by the monks from the seating of the magnificent archs, but found new breath in one of the last teban at any time of the year will find Alarcón's feel- choir, attributed to Martín Sánchez (1492), provide wishes of Queen Isabella, which was the founda- ings more than justified. the archetypal ingredients for a romantic drama tion of a University of the Order (1504), with three If any city in Spain can truly be considered a worthy of Bécquer or Zorrilla. lecturers in Arts, two in Theology and a master of conventual city on account of the number and the We have already mentioned three important students. Thus the so-called courtyard of Los Reyes size of its convents, this city is Salamanca. To the cloisters. The oldest of these is El Noviciado, also became a university cloister and remained active mere piety of their founders in other places is known as La Enfermería, as this is where the infir- during the sixteenth century to judge by the dec- added here the express desire of the several orders mary is. It is very sober on both storeys, with de- larations of certain eye-witnesses from the Univer­ to have a house cióse to the University at which pressed arches on octagonal pillars and wooden sity of Salamanca, who in 1576 said, "that in said to edúcate their members. At the same time, the ceilings. The second, callee! El Silencio or El Proce­ CoUege of Santo Tomás de Ávila arts and theology convents themselves can be considered an exten­ sional, as it is used as an extensión of the church have been read ordinarily, and the said arts and sión of the university teaching, as many of them for processions, is the one most closely linked to theology are heard by the college friars of the said had lecture-halls which were attended by the city's the church and acts as a hallway leading to the sac- coUege and the clergy and students of the said city students. Amongst them, San Esteban stood out as risty, chapter house, refectory, library, choir and of Ávila and other places". the most important. cells. The ground floor communicates with the up- This activity took place on the ground floor of But the importance of this Dominican convent per storey by means of a spectacular staircase. It is the cloister, where one can still see signs of what is not measured only by its participation in the uni­ a two-storey structure but, whereas the ground were its classrooms with benches and for versity city's teaching plan. Its walls and its people floor is a massive construction with powerful but- the readings, now lost. The statutes of what was were the setting and the protagonists of capital tresses to counter the weight of the ribbed vaults of to be the University of Ávila, approved by Philip events in Spanish culture, which, referring to Sala­ the four galleries, the upper storey is light and airy, IV in 1638, cover the particular situation of the manca and the sixteenth century, is the same as and its passages are an invitation to stroll in silence, classrooms: "Firstly we ordain and establish that in saying European culture. Elsewhere I have written which is where it gets it other ñame from. This sec­ the city of Ávila, in the convent and college of that it is dizzying to approach the crowded history ond upper storey stands out for its weightlessness, Santo Tomás el Real, there shall be a University, of this community of Dominicans, where one does with its wooden ceiling, which allows generous cloister, schools and classrooms on the site of the not know which to admire more, its contribution openings whose pilasters and arches are decorated cloister of the said Monastery, where shall be read to culture or the monumental architecture provid- with the familiar series of balls which tend to iden- sciences and faculties [Theology, Logic, Philoso- ing the exceptional setting in which that contribu­ tify a modus operandi under the Catholic Mon- phy, Metaphysics]...and degrees be given in the tion was made. It is enough to remember the sup- archs. But even more direct are the symbols of the form these Statutes shall determine; and we indi- port the Dominican community of San Esteban in yoke, the Gordian knot and the arrows, alternating cate as the place where the [university] Cloister Salamanca gave to Columbus's project, through the

378 person of its prior, the theologian Fray Diego de some point in his life he declared that "the first thing This sustained and select patronage partly ex- Deza, the most important figure in the Spanish I must do is demolish this church and build a new plains the grandeur of the convent which began Church at the time of the Catholic Monarchs, along one", as indeed he did following his consecration as according to the plans made by Juan de Álava, the with Cisneros. Like Cisneros, he was archbishop bishop of Córdoba in 1523. Soon afterwards, while first stone being laid on 30 June 1524. Álava was at and inquisitor general, and just as the Franciscan in Córdoba, he put his commitment to the work in that time an experienced master masón whose ac- Cisneros was confessor to Lsabella the Catholic, the writing: "We Don Fray Juan de Toledo, Bishop of tivity was known not only in the city of Salaman­ Dominican Deza was confessor to Ferdinand the Córdoba...The Holy Spirit influenced our heart that ca but in places as far away as Santiago and Catholic. Columbus, in his letters, remembers Fray we take up the habit of our father Saint Dominic in Plasencia, in whose cathedrals he had occasion to Diego de Deza with gratitude and considers him the monastery of the very noble and loyal city of intervene. The architect, or master stonemason, as the reason why "their Highnesses have the Indies Salamanca in which with all the humility and devo- he appears in the documentation, made the and I remain in Castile". Does this explain the tion that we could we made our profession, for church a final, perfected versión of what were ñame of Santo Domingo given to the capital of the whose cause we decided to contribute from our in- known as conventual churches, consisting of a island of , today's Dominican Republic? come some small part to be employed in his ex- single nave, intercommunicating chapéis between Certainly, it is to Diego de Deza that we owe the tremely holy service, therefore we hereby make buttresses, short transept arms, a raised choir at intercession before Pope Julius II for the erection known to you Hernando Rodríguez del Castillo, the western end and a chevet which in Salamanca of the first cathedral in the Americas (1512) in the majordomo of this our Bishopric of Córdoba and to is particularly deep because it is planned to hold city that bears the ñame of the founder of the Or- any other person hereafter holding this post that our the founder's tomb. der of Preachers, Santo Domingo de Guzmán. wish is that now and hereafter the prior, friars and On the basis of this model, so often repeated in The relationship between the convent of San convent of the said monastery should receive from the monastic and conventual churches of Spain in Esteban and the American enterprise was not lim- us each year until the church of the said monastery the second half of the fifteenth century and the be- ited to those substantial beginnings; this was of San Esteban de Salamanca is finished two thou- ginning of the sixteenth, San Esteban is exception­ where the first criticisms aróse regarding the con- sand ducats..." (1526). al, first of all, because of its dimensions, which ob- quest of the continent, in the words and writings But the friar and bishop, who had reserved for viously aim at those of a cathedral. Its main axis of Dominicans educated at, related with or with a himself the property and patronage of the high measures eighty-seven metres and the cupola ex- cell in the convent, such as Antonio de Mon­ chapel, the crossing and one of the lateral chapéis ceeds forty metres in height. In spite of having tesinos, who was followed by amongst others, Bar­ for his burial, died in Rome in 1557 without being been planned in the sixteenth century, the church tolomé de las Casas, Francisco de Vitoria —the fa- able to see the work finished. This work was then is technically and stylistically a formidable example ther of International Law— and Domingo de Soto. interrupted and a long lawsuit began with the heirs of late Gothic. which had in Álava one of its great- Many of their opinions were to guide Philip III's of the Cardinal for the fulfilment of his last wishes. est and last interpreters, well assisted by stonema- Ordinances of 1573 for America. Some of these Indeed, his will expressed his wish to be buried in sons such as Francisco Desquivel, Juan de Albistur, important ñames, university professors, skilful San Esteban "and be buried in the middle of the Domingo de Lasarte and Domingo de Ibarra. preachers, always immersed in subtle theological high chapel where I order that a tomb be made not For reasons that are unknown to us, in about disputes, also had their feet on the ground and so much for pomp and vainglory but to move the 1533, by mediation of Fray Juan Álvarez de Tole­ contributed to the construction and improvement faithful in Christ to virtue and so that looking at me do, the direction of the works was taken over by of the convent. Amongst them was Domingo de they may pray to God for my soul". His remains fi­ the Dominican lay brother Fray Martín de Santiago, Soto, after whom the cloister's monumental stair- nally rested in the crypt beneath the high altar but who lived in the convent itself. To him we owe case is named, who solved the difficulties of access the cenotaph Fray Juan Álvarez de Toledo wanted some of the modifications suggested by Fray Juan to the convent with the construction of a bridge, was not built. himself, such as the greater depth of the chevet to still standing, though modified. Fortunately, after considerable interruptions, house a choir, or the amplitude given the north The Dominicans became established early on in the work continued thanks to other monks who transept forming the chapel of El Rosario, as well Salamanca, as San Esteban figures amongst the carne along, some of -whom also reached different as the increase in the height of the vaults. Follow­ twenty houses the order had in 1250, though noth- episcopal sees from which to divert the necessary ing the death of Fray Martín de Santiago, in 1556 ing remains of that first thirteenth-century founda- incomes for the gradual completion of the con­ the work was entrusted to the great Rodrigo Gil de tion which had the support of Pope Alexander IV vent. Amongst their ñames we find those of Pe­ Hontañón, to whom we owe the final solution of and King Alfonso X. The present complex was dro Herera, Bishop of the Canaries and of Tuy, the transept with its powerful cupola, as well as raised on the oíd site, in such a way that none of who financed part of the sacristy in which he is the design of the Windows in the chevet, amongst what remains dates from earlier than 1524, when buried; Iñigo de Brizuela, consecrated Bishop of may other things. Gil de Hontañón's links with San the new work was started, except for the "De Pro- Segovia and confessor to the Archdukes Alberto Esteban go beyond purely professional considera- fundis" hall, which dates from the significant year and Isabel Clara Eugenia, who paid for the chapter tions, as he had a son, born out of wedlock, who of 1492. The renovation of the oíd convent seems house; Pedro de Godoy, Bishop of Sigüenza, and professed in the convent under the ñame of Fray to foresee the exceptional period the order and this Clemente Álvarez, Bishop of Guadix and Baza, Juan de Sancti-Spiritus. There were still some im­ convent in particular were to see in the sixteenth who financed the upper library; Pedro de Tapia, portant finishing touches needed on the church, century. The initiative is due to Fray Juan Álvarez Bishop of Córdoba, Juan de Épila and Francisco which was not finished until Juan de Ribero com- de Toledo, son of the Second Duke of Alba, for- de Araujo, Bishop of Segovia, to whom we owe pleted it between 1590 and 1610. mer Bishop of Córdoba and Burgos and finally Car­ the seating in the upper choir, presided by the The main facade is one of the most familiar im­ dinal in Rome at the proposal of Charles V great painting by Palomino, partly financed by the ages of architecture, as there are few His noviciate and entry into the order took place bishop of Oviedo, Tomás Reluz, who studied in places like this where, thanks also to the white in the oíd convent of San Esteban (1507), where at San Esteban. sandstone from the quarries of Villamayor, the

379 skilful carvers or sculptors filled this part of the its ministry featuring, amongst others, Saint Do- the desert of Chalcis, in Syria. He was born in Stri- building with a thousand different motifs in minic and Saint Thomas. don, near Aquileia, in Northern Italy, and after which the figurative and the real are combined The convent buildings are arranged in long gal- studying grammar and rhetoric in Rome he be- with the dreamlike and fantastic to make up a leries or ampie open spaces perpendicular or paral- came a monk and moved to the desert to take up genuine facade-altarpiece. The arrangement of lel to the three main cloisters, called Los Reyes, Los a hermit's life devoted to meditation and peni- vertical lañes and superimposed wings indeed Aljibes and La Enfermería. The last two, whose chief tence. This is the image of him perpetuated by seems to have been taken from the altarpiece function is indicated by their ñames (water deposits the traditional iconography, based on the Golden structure, like a foretaste of the high chapel which and infirmary) are similar in style, with analogous Legend. However, the life of Saint Jerome was in this case opens on to the exterior. As in carved formulas using segmental arches on robust columns rather more than this picture of devotion. On his or painted , the greater width of the on both storeys, all very simple and robust. By con- retum to Rome he became secretary to Pope Dama- central lañe contains the entrance door which trast, the architecture of the cloister of Los Reyes, sus I and explained the Holy Scriptures, at the turns the church interior into a sacrarium. At the also known as the cloister of Processions, is ex- same time as he criticised the false, relaxed way same time, the central scene, with the stoning of tremely rich and spectacular, and its galleries com- of life of the monks he met in the city, in whom Saint Stephen, refers to the patrón saint of the municate with the main convent buildings, such as everything "is affected: loóse sleeves, badly fitting church, while at the top the work is crowned by the church, sacristy, main or Soto staircase, chapter sandals, habit too rough, frequent sighs, visits to the scene of the Crucifixión between the Virgin house, oíd chapter or theologians' pantheon, which virgins, murmurings against the clergy and, when and Saint John, as normally happens on any al­ contains the remains of the great jurist Francisco de a rather more solemn feast day comes round, tarpiece. The decorative reliéis and carvings were Vitoria and Domingo de Soto, amongst others. feasting until they vomit". Following the death of worked in the course of the sixteenth and seven- The cloister was begun in the cardinal's lifetime the Pope (384), he went to Palestine and founded teenth centuries, the principal scene of Saint Stephen following plans by Juan de Álava, having a square two monasteries in Bethlehem, one for men and (1610) being signed by the Milanese Sculptor floor plan thirty-six metres along each side. The one for women, where he led a coenobitic life Ceroni. The facade, inevitably, repeats the che- ground floor has slender ribbed vaults using for­ until his death, having first completed the Latin quered shield of Cardinal Álvarez de Toledo at mulas and outlines very characteristic of that mas- translation of the Bible, known as the , various points, reminding subsequent generations ter who did not hesitate to include medallions with which was the official and orthodox versión of of his undertaking. heads on the inner surface of the large pilasters the Church of Rome. The church interior offers a powerful image of from which the vaulting springs. Beneath the arch­ In spite of that monastic experience as a hermit light and architecture, with the formidable propor- es of the galleries, the mullions are Gothic in their in the wild and as a coenobite in the monastery, tions of its nave, which draw the eye towards the slenderness but their design belongs to the "Ro­ Saint Jerome wrote no rule and founded no reli- presbytery. Here, with surprising energy, emerges mán" world, also the criterion for the upper gallery gious order. His ideas on monasteries are to be the altarpiece Prior Gonzalo Mateos commissioned communicating the cells with the church choir. To found scattered in letters, sermons, exhortations in 1692 from José Churriguera, who also made oth- reach this upper floor of the cloister Fray Domingo and other writings referring to the monk (monachus) er altarpieces for this church. Its powerful Solomon- de Soto handed over to the convent all the benefits as an ascetic, as the man who renounces the world ic columns, the beautiful tabernacle and the Mar- from his works to pay for the staircase which right- in search of solitude and even exile, living off his tyrdom of Saint Stephen painted by Claudio Coello ly bears his ñame. The staircase is in the córner of manual work to compénsate the intellectual and make this work one of the most characteristic the cloister and its originality lies in the fact that it spiritual task of the two chief ways of reaching Ítems of Spanish art. is only supported at the top and bottom and is iso- Christ: reading (lectio divina) and prayer. Fasting A few years later, Antonio Palomino painted one lated from the wall, which it never touches. This ("our sustenance is the fast") and other privations of the most remarkable mural paintings in the brief work, unquestionably a prodigy of stonemasonry, made it possible to reach that "spiritual madness'' chapter of fresco painting in Spain. It dates from was directed by the lay brother Fray Martín de San­ which involves "despising delights, desiring what is 1705 and the painter himself wrote of his work, tiago, and its design, as well as its virtuosity, mon- vile, abandoning the cities, searching for solitude, "Since the object of this holy place is to sing the umentality and lighting make it one of the most ignoring love, casting off one's family, and search­ praises to the Creator in this militant church, in rep- spectacular staircases in the Spanish tradition. ing for Christ". resentation of those perennially sung in the tri- The seventeenth century was equally generous That life of Saint Jerome has been imitated by umphant church by the heavenly choirs of blessed with the convent, as between the elegant gate- many other hermits in the course of history, but spirits; it seemed very suitable to paint in this place house porch, the work of Juan de Ribero (1590), what interests us here is the birth of the Order of the church militant and triumphant: she that signi- and the library built over it in 1683, the new chap­ Saint Jerome as such, which took place in Spain fies the congregation and unión of the faithful who ter house (1627-1634) and the sacristy (1635) were and whose foundational bull is dated 1373. There militate beneath the flags of Jesús Christ...". With built in a sober post-Escorial classicist style. is nothing to link Saint Jerome to the order which these words, Palomino makes an express reference since the fourteenth century has borne his ñame, to the choir —the place where the praises are except for those basic ideas on the life of the monk sung— on which he painted this colourful scene THE HIERONYMITES and the devout admiration the saint arouses as one and whose seating was made by Alfonso Balbás of the four Fathers of the Church, but which is between 1651 and 1658. Palomino's monumental THE ORDER OF SAINT JEROME. shared with any . In this respect, composition, which occupies the top of the front Fray Pedro de la Vega, the first chronicler of the wall, is partly inspired in Rubens's tapestries of the •LYlonastic life has always had in Saint Jerome Order of Saint Jerome, wrote in 1539 that "Many Triumph of the Eucharist, making this scene a (347-420) an essential reference, as the testimony years after the monasteiy of Saint Jerome in Beth­ clear Baroque sermón highly suited to a church of of his life and the writings he left make him the lehem was destroyed and its memory had per- preachers, with obvious references to the order and West's first important monk, though weathered in ished, since our Lord wanted to exalt his saint and

380 make his ñame in this way glorious and venerable lutions, with no sign of any options radically dif- and a chapel dedicated to the Virgin (1447), after before us, that for no space of time could it be lost ferent from anything that had gone before. How- which a Bull was obtained from and forgotten, he revealed the establishment of the ever, one can always find aspects that are novel "to build this said monastery specifically in this order in this way''. In other words, the idea was to but immediately shared with other orders, such as place, where it is now founded, as it appears from retrieve his ñame and memory but not to resusci- the raised monks' choir at the western end of the the said bull in the cabinet of the scriptures of the tate any existing order. church, or the arrangement of courtyards that tend convent, in which place there are vines and or- In short, the new order went through two dif- to be associated with their chief uses: processions, chards and flowing waters...", which explains the ferent periods. The first of these, known as the infirmary, accommodation and gatehouse. origin of the double ñame of the monastery: Santa foundational period, began with the bull signed in The first four monasteries following the papal María del Parral (Saint Mary of the Vine). Avignon by Pope Gregory XI in 1373 and saw the bull were those of San Bartolomé de Lupiana The Marquis of Villena, who managed the proliferation of small, mutually independent Hi- (Guadalajara), which was the order's motherhouse, whole of the foundational process, asked the Hi­ eronymite communities all over the Peninsula. The Santa María de Sisla, in Toledo, San Jerónimo de eronymites of Guadalupe for a group of monks "to second period was one of consolidation and ex­ Guisando (Ávila), and San Jerónimo de Corral Ru­ popúlate and build the said monastery" of El Par­ pansión, beginning in 1414 with the bull issued bio, also in Toledo, but when the first General ral. With an initial endowment from the Marquis of by Benedict XIII, by which the Hieronymites were Chapter was held it was attended by the priors Villena himself of 15,000 maravedís, the initial exempted from episcopal jurisdiction, could unite and procurators of twenty-five monasteries. This work was begun with a provisional nature, and the in a single order and hold a General Chapter, like growth continued in the fifteenth century and met newcomers were provided with "a certain sum of the one held the following year in Guadalupe. with special royal favour in the following century, money to buy beds and household objects, and to The bull of 1373 contains the distinctive elements with the presence of Charles V in Yuste and the buy the song books for the choir and missals and of the order, which time was to amend through the foundation by Philip II of the monastery of El Es­ breviaries and some ornaments for the sacristy", resolutions of the 136 chapters held by the Hi­ corial, a crowded synthesis of architecture and which was yet to be built, though one gets an idea eronymites up to the nineteenth century. But what monastic life in Spain. of the prior spiritual construction of the monastery is fundamental about the bull ís the licence it grants by its founders and monks. To this first endow­ to Fernando Yánez de Cáceres, canon of Toledo, ment were soon added another 20,000 maravedís and to Pedro Fernández Pecha —who along with SANTA MARÍA DE EL PARRAL. SEGOVIA. given by the still Prince Henry, who "open-hand- "other men, both clergy and laymen, nobles and edly and magnificently started the building of this plebeians, of the kingdoms of Castile, León and Por­ Xhe famous chronicler of the Order of Saint monastery from the foundations". Indeed, follow­ tugal and from other parts" led a life of solitude as Jerome, Fray José de Sigüenza (1544-1606), had ing the death of his father King John II in 1454, hermits— to cali themselves "brothers or hermits of the following to say about El Parral: "The prince Prince Henry inherited the crown of Castile "and Saint Jerome, given their special devotion to the Don Enrique was fond of life in Segovia, since as he was very devoted to all the Order of our fa­ blessed Jerome". For this the Pope indicated that there he had occasion for his love of the coun- ther Saint Jerome and much more of this house of they should adhere to the rule of Saint Augustine, to tryside and hunting, of which there was plenty in Nuestra Señora del Parral and he saw how the said which we have already referred in speaking about the forests of Valsaín. He lacked something else Don Juan Pacheco, Marquis of Villena, was not the Premonstratensians, "under which you shall mil- which was also to his liking, which was to have a starting to build the said monastery on the said site itate for the Lord, and observe, in accordance with monastery to which to retreat for a few days and he had bought eight years before, showed by his the attached (apostolic letters), with habit and ac- hear the divine office. It seemed to him that if he works what was in his desire". In other words, he cording to the rite, the constitutions, ceremonies built a monastery of Hieronymites in that city he started to build the present monastery, beginning and observance of the monastery of Saint mary of would have everything he desired. He spoke of with the main cloister and its rooms at the same the Holy Sepulchre in Campora (Florence). this idea to his great favourite Don Juan Pacheco, time as he began the church from the end. The pontifical text wants to leave no doubt as to who knew how to respond well to his tastes and Isidoro Bosarte, who was able to see and pub- the scope of the authorisations, and even describes earn his goodwill... He found after careful search- lish the documents of the monastery kept in the the habit: "a closed, loóse tunic of thick or rough ing an admirable place for the purpose, on the cabinet or chest of deeds and later lost for ever, white cloth, with loóse, closed sleeves, plus the bank of the river the locáis cali Eresma, slightly describes the facts of the first reconsideration of scapular and the cape attached at the front either raised on the side of a hill, sheltered by it and by the monastery due to the master masón Juan Gal­ of grey or plain undyed wool; the cape we do not some cliffs from the cold north winds, which are lego (1459): "The distribution of the monastery consider a necessity, except for the modesty of the very cold in that land, facing south, where the clearly shows the judgement of the architect, with said habit, but you shall wear it when you go out sun reaches it from morning to night, a stone's attention to the rooms, courtyards and offices for in public". Finally, the papal authorisation included throw from the walls [of the city], bordering on the use of all the convent. Suffice it to say that he the great yearning of this group of hermits, "to the Alcázar Real, slightly raised to the east, as was able to gather the waters from the springs in found four monasteries or conventual sites, to wit, warm as can be wished for there, and like per­ the rocks and channel them without detriment to each of them with a church, cemetery and hum- petual spring...". the works and make a display of them. A beauti- ble belfry with a single bell, and cloister and the The long description of the place, praising its ful fountain emerges from between the pillare in- necessary offices, in modest places suited to this, virtues, and the changes of fortune that followed the side the cloister, which could have been provided which must be endowed in the course of time with wishes of the future King Henry IV, all of which are to ease the thirst of those entering or leaving the the pious alms and donations of the faithful". recorded by Sigüenza, sum up the basis of this monastery, without the need to ask for water from These slight indications set the basis for the future foundation whose patronage was to be absorbed by the servants. Another can be heard laughing loud- Hieronymite monastery, which already had a tried his favourite, Juan de Pacheco, Marquis of Villena. ly in an inner room leading to the church. What a and tested casuistry as regards possible formal so- The first step consisted in the acquisition of land pleasant sound in the silence of that holy house on

381 hot summer afternoons! In short, the architect pro- inal arrangement of the presbytery) and a raised Extremadura. Here, in fact, appears the unmistak- vided for all sacred, human, rustic and drinking choir over a vault at the western end, the work of able combination of having twice as many arches uses with as much abundance as discretion by the master builderjuan Ruesga, of Segovia, in 1494, on the upper storey as on the ground floor, means of many channels and fountains". without forgetting the organ gallery, now lost. The though in Segovia the outline of the arches has If water is the beginning of all things, as Thales church's originality lies in the arrangement of the lost the Moorish purity of the ones in Guadalupe, of Miletus said, or the source of life, as the well- three apses which form the cross of the ground thus lessening the Islamic effect. On the north side known Latín saying has it, aquafons vitae, in El floor around the transept crossing, as they respond is a third gallery of fíat arches, open to the south Parral the water can be heard as an interminable to a solution which tends to give unity to the high like a solarium, as we find in other Hieronymite prayer issuing from the very entrails of the earth. chapel, the transept arms and the crossing itself, as monasteries such as San Bartolomé de Lupiana or It is something to be noted that the famous Flem- a whole, with light of its own distinct from the rest San Jerónimo el Real in Granada. ish panel by Van Eyck known as the Fountain of of the church, as this part is indeed different, subtly As well as the main courtyard, or courtyard of Grace, today in the Museo del Prado, carne from sheltering behind its railing, now lost, as the en- Las Processiones, El Parral exhibits a full range the sacristy of this Hieronymite monastery, where closed área it was. The pulpit immediately above of lesser cloisters whose ñames are associated to the view of the painting was added the murmur the nave shows which was the área for the faithful, with other functions, distinct from and comple- of the underground water. what we could cali the publie church. mentary to those that take place in the main clois­ With the church yet to be vaulted, the Marquis The alabaster tombs of Juan Pacheco and his ter. Thus we find the gatehouse cloister, the hos- of Villena requested of the king the patronage of wife, María Portocarrero, on either side of the high pice cloister and the infirmary cloister, as well as the high chapel to turn it into a family pantheon, altarpiece, all contracted and carried out in the first another series of arcades opening on to the gar- offering in exchange to finance the work until its half of the sixteenth century, form a striking trip- dens and the countryside that makes El Parral a completion. It was then, in 1472, when Pacheco tych whose arrangement becomes the necessary continuous mirador. contracted with the master masons Martín Sánchez foreainner for the facade of the church of El Esco­ The monastery suffered heavy losses as a result Bonifacio and Juan Guas, of Toledo, and Pedro rial, whose monastery and church.were governed of the French invasión and of disentailment. Think, Policio, of Segovia, to finish off the work, which by this same Hieronymite Order. for example, of the formidable choir seating now they undertook to complete by 1475: "and they be- While the church is extremely beautiful in every divided between the Museo Arqueológico Na­ gan afterwards to work on the said chapel and they detail, the one thing that will always stand out in my cional and the convent of San Francisco el Grande raised it from the entablature to above the right foot memory is the impressive doorway to the sacristy, in Madrid, a beautiful work carved by Bartolomé with its Windows rich in mouldings as it is now". the work of Juan Guas and one of the freest con- Fernández in 1526 on the basis of an engraving The death of Henry IV and of the Marquis of Vil- ceptions of Flamboyant Gothic in our country. Soon by Dürer. On the other hand, El Parral preserves its lena in 1474 held the work up for many years, leav- afterwards, in about 1500, the adjacent sacristy was most highly prized treasure, which is none other ing the sanctuary unvaulted until Fray Pedro de built, which I have descríbed elsewhere as one of than its Hieronymite community. Anyone who has Mesa, the prior and first monk to receive the habit the oldest models of what should really be called had the privilege of sharing a simple meal with it in El Parral, managed to get together the necessary "Spanish ", given the way they are con- in the refectory, where body and soul are fed in funds to cover the high chapel (1485) and the rest ceived as a large chapel with its own altar, leaving impressive silence listening to the day's readings, of the church (1503). In all this undertaking an im- the central space clear as the bulky furniture with knows that there, in those men in their white and portant part was played by another Hieronymite, drawers for keeping the líturgical linen and vessels brown clothes, lies its greatest asset. Fray Juan de Escobedo, who made repairs to the is moved to the little chapéis between the buttresses. aqueduct in Segovia and who, according to Sigüen- The main cloister is of a large size, its máximum za. acted as "master of the works, he gave the plans dimensions exceeding the length of the church, in SAN JERÓNIMO DE YUSTE. CUACOS (CÁCERES). and he gave orders to the builders, shared out the such a way that here one can clearly see its function work and the wages and paid them, and they carne as a distributor around which are arranged the ac- Alie monastery of San Jerónimo de Yuste (Cáceres) to El Parral to receive the money, and everything cessory buildings. These are the church itself, which aróse out of a modest eremitic organisation in the went through his hands, and everything finished communicates with the cloister via the processional first years of the fifteenth century, known as "ermi­ well without anyone protesting and without defects alley; the chapter house; the prior's cell, in the same taños de la pobre vida" (hermits of the poor life). to be found in the work". place and with the same orientation as the prior's Having obtained a papal licence from Benedict Years later the master masón Juan Campero, of cell at the monastery of El Escorial; the monks' cells, XIII to build a small chapel dedicated to Saint Paul Ávila, completed the tower (1529) and with it the aligned on the southern side of the cloister to get the Hermit, they expressed their wish to join the church, though he never finished off the facade, the brighter and warmer midday sun; the refectory, Hieronymite Order to the prior of Guadalupe in which today presents an unhappy, unfinished pie- with an interesting Mudejar roof structure in three 1414. Thanks to the mediation of García Álvarez ture, overlooked by the coats of arms of the heirs sections and the inevitable pulpit for the readings, de Toledo, Lord of Oropesa, one year later they of Juan Pacheco, Diego López Pacheco and Juana with a fine Gothic design; and finally the chapéis achieved their aim and began the process of build- Enríquez, who financed this unsuccessful part of opening off the cloister, after the main staircase. ing. This lasted a large part of the fifteenth century the work. From the stylistic point of view, the cloister is and culminated in the sixteenth with the new Re- The church belongs to the group of "conventual" surprising on account of the Mudejar treatment of naissance cloister. However, the universal fame of churches of the fifteenth century, of which this is its arcades. On all four sides and both storeys, the the was to come a little later, one of the most complete examples: a single nave, arches are supported on octagonal pillars which following Charles V's abdication in favour of his short transept, chapel between buttresses, a pres- bring to mind the Mudejar cloister of Guadalupe, son Philip II and the emperor's subsequent with- bytery on raised steps (inexplicably destroyed in which is not surprising if we remember that the drawal to the modest palace raised on one side of one of the last restorations, which altered the orig­ first friars at El Parral carne from this monastery in the church of the monastery of Yuste, where he

582 who had been its lord and master spent his last been removed. In El Escorial..., another empty especially when that of Guadalupe was so cióse at days on this earth. tomb, from which he had also been temporarily hand, with undoubtedly better conditions for an However, in this case, as in practically all the evicted... And if we chanced on the fantastic hope emperor's retreat. But as Unamuno reminds us in Spanish monasteries, the troubled, turbulent histo­ that the exhumed and mocked mummy of the his Andanzas y visiones españolas, the emperor ry of our nineteenth century causee! the almost to­ Caesar, ashamed at its publie nakedness, could wanted "retreat, true retreat, and Yuste is that". tal destruction of the Hieronymite monastery, cross the Guadarrama, under shadow of the night, The fact is that on the eve of the emperor's ab- palace and imperial pantheon, so that all one can to go and find in Yuste its original grave, we re- dication, Prince Philip, as he still was then, had see today is a sort of architectural resurrection with alised with a shudder that it would not find its his father's rooms in the monastery of Yuste made its successes and its lacunae. If the reader thinks wooden coffin in place either, but perched in what available to him. They were next to the church and this is an exaggeration, see the pages that Pedro was once a niche for a saint who had probably no doubt must be taken as a precedent to Philip Antonio de Alarcón (1833-1891) devotes to Yuste been knocked to the ground with stones... And II's own rooms in the monastery of El Escorial. Fa- in his Viajes de España, whence come these heart- everything like this! Everything like this! Wherever ther Sigüenza describes the episode of the con- felt words: "Of my visit to the ruins of Yuste's clois- the troubled imperial spectre turned his eyes, he struction of the palace for Charles V as follows: ters I keep an indelible memory. Nature has taken would find the same disruption, the same up- "The General [of the Order, Fray Juan de Ortega( it on herself to beautify that theatre of desolation. heaval, his own devastation and misery, as though remained in Yuste, and along with Gaspar de The pieces of columns and the stones from the the world had come to the day of judgement..." Vega, master of the works of Valsaín, the forest arches, which lie on the ground of what were A long, patient task of restoration still in of Segovia, planned the room and indicated the courtyards and galleries, are dressed in luxuriant progress is trying to make peace with history, in distribution and a design was made of all the ivy. The water, now without destiny, from the oíd search of times irremediably lost. All that remains floor and elevation of the whole monastery, fountains can be heard beneath the rubble, as are the shadows of what was once a monastic Ufe, which they sent to his majesty in Flanders. As though buried alive and crying out for help, or as the places once visited by Charles V, but only with master, or rather chief worker of this building, though remembering and calling on the oíd friars a great effort and erudition, like the painters of his­ which was not large, the general indicated Fray to rebuild the monumental building. And every- tory of the nineteenth century, can we reconstruct Antonio de Villacastín, a religious of the Choristers, where, amongst the ivy and the moss, or amongst the general picture of this Extremaduran monastery, who professed at La Sisla in Toledo", in whom the wild flowers and the bushes with which May whose ñame was heard more than once in all the Philip II was to place such trust during the future adorned those mounds of carved marble, we saw courts of Europe. construction of the monastery of El Escorial. the shields of arms of the House of Oropesa, Church, cloisters and palace are the three most In this way the palace was planned, to which the sculpted in the stones that served as keystones or significant elements of this complex, although emperor arrived on 3 February 1557, at five in the capitals of the now ruined arches. there are other buildings added such as the hos- afternoon, "accompanied by all the servants who The four walls of the refectory remain standing; pice or the so-called Casa del Obispo —where the had followed him from Flanders, both those who but the ceiling, which collapsed as a result of the bishop of Plasencia housed his servants when he had been dismissed and those who were to re­ fire, forms a great mass of rubble in the room. stayed in Yuste—, which along with the gardens, main in his service. He was brought in a litter to Work is going on today to remove all this refuse, fountains and pools add complexity to this monas- the door, and there he was put in a chair. The and the tiling that covered the base of the walls is tic site perched on a gentle slope over exceptional Convent carne out to receive him in procession beginning to appear. The Convento de Novicios countryside in the vicinity of Cuacos. as far as the door of the church; then they started subsists, though in very bad condition. There, as As usual in the Hieronymite Order, the church, to sing Te Deum laudamus with fine religous mu- you know, the last friars lived after the catastro- built in a late Gothic style between 1508 and 1525, sic and the organ responding, and so they carne to pbe of tbe Building, which occurred in 1809, until has a single nave and a raised choir at the western the steps of the high altar. The church was filled the catastrophe of the Community, which oc­ end, with a very high presbytery. The north wall of with candles and as decorative as that convent curred in 1835. the church is shared with the Gothic or "oíd" clois- could have it. Having said the prayers the Order We went into some of the cells. The same mute ter, which at first was the processional cloister. has for such occasions, the monks carne to his silence reined there as in the cells of the Palace of Around it were the main monastery buildings until choir to kiss his hand..." (Sigüenza). Charles V. Neither people ñor furnishings re- the so-called Renaissance cloister was built, com- There Charles V found a modest construction on mained... The naked walls spoke the pathetic lan- pleted in 1554 and partly paid for by Álvarez de a raised level reached by a long ramp leading to a guage of orphanhood and bereavement. This was Trujillo, Count of Oropesa, altering the original dis- landing like an ampie, deep gallery. Farther on, and more melancholy than the ruins of the other great tribution which, for example, turned what should with a simplicity that is moving, two rooms on ei­ convent clustered under the ivy. A habitable and have been the chapter house into a large sacristy. ther side of a passage: an audience hall and prívate uninhabited cell represents, indeed, something This room, the refectory, the kitchen, infirmary and quarters open to the south; an ante-room and the more lethal and fearsome than destruction. The other community rooms oceupy the ground floor bedroom which communicated with the church, pieces of marble we had just seen were like closed of these cloisters, wile the cells are located on the just as the emperor had requested, so that from his tombs: the cells of the noviciate were like empty upper storey, along with the laundry and other sickbed he could follow the celebrations at the altar. graves or coffins, from which the corpses have just buildings whose initial use we have forgotten. According to his will, Charles V wanted to be buried been removed. Yes, everything empty! everything There is yet a third cloister or courtyard called beneath the altar steps and in such a way that "half ravaged! everything sacked!... That was how our El Emperador, which is not completely closed and of the body, from the breast to the head, remained eyes that morning saw everything we contemplat- which is on the south side of the monastery, where outside the altar, in the place where the priest ed, everything we remembered, everything that Charles V's palace was built. One can not help but stands to say mass, so that he put his feet on him". carne to mind through the association of ideas. In woncler at his preference for this monastery, which An excellent altarpiece designed by Juan de Yuste..., an open tomb, from which Charles V had is extremely simple even by Hieronymite standards, Herrera and the seating of the monks' choir, re-

383 trieved after being moved to Cuacos, is a tiny part custody of Fray Fernando Yáñez, the first Hi­ all mercies...Such was the wonder these miraculous of the former endowment of a church which was eronymite prior, who was accompanied by thirty- adornments struck in the hearts of the devout pil­ the first to hold the exequies for the emperor, who three monks from Lupiana. grims, that they cast their eyes over all the church, died at Yuste on 21 September 1558, at half past Some elements, such as the church with its and it seemed to them that they saw the captives two in the morning. nave and two side aisles, are not what is usual come flying through the air, wrapped in their amongst the Hieronymites. These, on their arrival at chains, to hang them on the holy walls, and the Guadalupe, made certain changes in the organisa- sick dragging their crutches, and the dead, their NUESTRA SEÑORA DE GUADALUPE (CÁCERES). tion of the monastery, from the new position of the shrouds, looking for a place to put them, because gatehouse to the addition of a deep raised choir at there was no longer room in the sacred temple: so ithin the general panorama of Hieronymite the western end of the church. To judge by an in­ great is the amount that occupies the walls." monasteries, Guadalupe is the exception that proves scription at the entrance to the church, the master of While it is usual to begin a description of a the rule, as its situation in the middle of a popu- the works was a certain Alfonso, though nothing monastery with the church, this is normally one of lated área is unusual, and it is not really Hi­ more than this can be said for sure. It is an attractive the monastery buildings surrounding the cloister, eronymite in origin, while no other house of the Gothic church, with a transept and dome, which the which should be understood as the primary struc- order carne to be as well known as Guadalupe, years have filled with treasures ranging from the ex- ture of monastic design, without which it is im­ which is associated with a cult to the Virgin which cellent presbytery screen, the work of the Domini- possible to frame the whole. In Guadalupe we no- partly eclipses its chiefly monastic condition and cans Fray Francisco de Salamanca and Fray Juan de tice once again how the church and its various makes it a sanctuary for Marian pilgrimages. At the Ávila (1512) to the early seventeenth-century high parts (sacristy, Lady chapel, reliquary, etc.) occu­ same time, the riches accumulated as a result of altarpiece —substituting the earlier Gothic one, pies the south side of the great cloister, which we privileges, exemptions and donations of all sorts, which Münzer says was of gold and ivory— and the could cali Mudejar in its appearance and art and the cultivation of large extensions of land and the monks' choir stalls. This seating, contracted with which, in the seventeenth century was called Los returns from its abundant livestock, ensured the sur- Manuel de Larra Churriguera (1744) and made with Milagros in reference to the miracles worked by vival of Guadalupe after other Hieronymite monas­ the participation of Alejandro Carnicero, was also a the Virgin of Guadalupe and depicted in the paint- teries had faded for ever. replacement for the earlier seating, which itself had ings on the walls of its galleries. This same cloister All these resources allowed for an important replaced the oíd Gothic seating in 1499, increasing was used for processions, as it has a door that monastery building and an extraordinary artistic the number of seats to ninety-four, which gives an communicates with the church, and Fray Francisco treasury which Cervantes ably sums up when in Los idea of the size of the monastery in the first half of de Salamanca's screen was even moved (1743) to trabajos de Persilesy Segismunda he says, "Four the eighteenth century. The seating, the large and clear the way for the processions and be able to days the pilgrims spent in Guadalupe, during which small organs, and the lectern —with its cheerful ro­ get from the sanctuary to the church more easily. they began to see the splendours of that holy cocó style— seem to formally intone the first notes The cloister, which belongs to the first period of monastery; I say began, because it is impossible to of the divine office which is of such importance for constaiction carried out by the prior Fray Fernando see them all". Thus speaks the writer at a time be- the Hieronymite Order in the daily Ufe of the com- Yáñez, between 1389 and 1405, is also a key Ítem fore the existence of splendours we can only briefly munity. in medieval Spanish architecture on account of its mention, such as the formidable sacristy (1636- Münzer, who visited the monastery in 1495, de­ dimensions and its unique character. The masonry 1645), with pictures by Zurbarán, the Camarín de la scribes a church which is very different from to- pillars and pointed horseshoe arches, both on the Virgen (1687-1695) or the new church designed by day's, with thirty altars, sixteen lamps burning day ground floor and on the upper storey, the decora- Manuel Larra Churriguera (1730-1735), today con­ and night, the crocodile skin, the elephant tusk tion framing the arches, the actual planes of the ar- verted as a theatre, the last interesting addition and the turtle shell the Germán traveller saw in the cades —which bring to mind the ablution court- made to the monastery of Guadalupe, governed church interior. But however striking all of this yard of a mosque rather than a Western monastic since 1908 by the Franciscan Order. may be, he was even more impressed by the iron cloister—, reveal their Islamic descent, which had The miraculous discovery by a humble shep- shackles "brought by the Christian captives who precedents in the original church, which has now herd, Gil Cordero, of an image of the Virgin on the were freed from the Saracens by the intercession disappeared but of which the remains of the main banks of the river Guadalupe led to the construc- of the blessed Virgin; some of them were of a great apse are preserved, in an unmistakable brick-red tion a chapel here around which modest houses weight, of twenty or forty pounds". mixture of Mudejar forms and techniques. were built to accommodate the pilgrims who were The miraculous intercession of the Virgin of In the centre of the cloister garden, where the attracted by the miraculous legend which soon Guadalupe in a series of causes had turned her two axes cross, is a baldachin built in masonry and grew up around the image. Amongst its most assid- church into a curious museum of thanksgiving, glazed ceramic, with an eclectic profile housing the uous devotees was King Alfonso XI, who after the with a wide-ranging collection of testimonies to famous fountain whose inscription declares it to be victory over the Muslim troops at the river Salado human affliction. When the pilgrims in the novel the work of Fray Juan de Sevilla (1405), while in (1340) looked with very special favour on by Cervantes enter the church of Guadalupe, the north-east córner is the large conventual Guadalupe. The most important result of this roy- hoping "to find hanging on the walls as adorn- lavabo, indicating the proximity of the large com- al patronage was the formation of a secular priory ment, cloths of Tyrian purple, Syrian damasks, munity refectory. This is the largest room in the (1340-1389) and the construction of the present brocades from Milán, they found instead crutches monastery, and is today used as a museum of em- church over another more modest one. In 1389 left by cripples, wax eyes left by the blind, arms broidery, a task at which the Hieronymite monks the last prior of Guadalupe, Juan Serrano, handed hung there by the armless, shrouds discarded by always excelled. The size of the refectory is a re- over to the Hieronymite Order everything that the dead, all after having fallen into the depths of minder of the large number of monks Münzer re- had become Consolidated there within an impor­ despair, now alive, now healthy, now free, now ports at the end of the fifteenth century: 140 friars, tant walled precinct. Guadalupe carne under the happy, thanks to the great mercy of the Mother of half of which had received and the

384 others were lay brothers. Next, while on the sub- Ménfis e Babilonia ainda quefossem verdadeiras, is usual in the monastic order as regards the dis- ject of food, this curious Germán adds that the nem a casa e o Templo de Salomao, diferentes tan­ pensation of the sacraments of penitence and com- monastery has "so many workmen, builders, shep- to ñas suas dimensioes como na vastidáo, sepodem munion, which had always been reserved for the herds and labourers, that each day, inside and out- comparar con este novo cenobio". parish churches and later for the mendicant orders. side the monastery, nine hundred people are fed". Although it might seem like rhetorical hyperbole But the monastery's relationship with the ever-dan- Next to the refectory was the oíd chapter house to exalt the figure of its founder King Manuel I of gerous world of sailors made it logical to consider which in 1415 was the setting for the first General Portugal, it is no less true that the Hieronymite Santa María de Belém in these terms. Knowing the Chapter of the Hieronymite Order. Later, in 1465, in monastery of Santa María de Belém is a work of contents of the bull, it is no surprise to find, along view of the rising fortunes of the monastery, it was very particular significance in history and art. Dis- the north side of the church on to which the clois­ necessary to enlarge some of the rooms, and build carding the links which traditional ter is built, the confessionals hollowed out of the the courtyard of La Mayordomía and the turreted established between the monastery of Belém and massive walls, with access for the sinner from the pavilion next door for the new enlarged chapter the overseas exploits of the Portuguese discoveries, church and for the friar, from the cloister. How house and library, while the oíd chapter house be- in a move to make the monument an architectural many seafaring men left their faults there in the came the chapel of San Martín, as it is known today. act of thanksgiving, recent studies of the monastery face of an uncertain return? The second cloister in order of importance is have placed conjectures and their object in context. Two years later, in 1498, King Manuel I decided that of La Enfermería or La Botica, as this is where Santa María de Belém stands some distance to hand the foundation over to the Hieronymite Or­ the infirmary is, although it is also known as the from Lisbon, in an área which has changed con- der of which he was a declared devotee, reminding Gothic Cloister on account of the traceries on the siderably now that it is dry land, though at one them of the obligation of the masses and of attend- second storey of the three it has, although the time, as we can see from oíd paintings and engrav- ing to the locáis and foreigners who reached the ground floor still preserves Mudejar features. Be- ings, the sea carne quite cióse to the walls of the shore where so many boats anchored, administer- gun around 1500, one side —known as Enfer­ monastery. Boats arrived at the nearby beach of ing to them not only the penitence and commu- merías Viejas in reference to the buildings replaced Rastrello or Réstelo, where first a chapel, then a nion but outros qaesquer Sacramentos. From then there— was never finished. parish church and finally the Hieronymite monastery on there was no end to the privileges and revenues Many other important elements have been lost, gave shelter to pilgrims and sailors, like the charac- with which the monastery was endowed by some inexplicably, such as the Royal Hospice gra- ters in Cervantes's Los trabajos de Persilesy Segis- Manuel, who granted it a twentieth of all the taxes tuitously destroyed in the nineteenth century. With munda: "The boat reached the shore of the city, raised on the trade in spices and precious stones it was lost the contribution made by the Catholic and at that of Belém they disembarked because from the Indies, gold from Guinea and from the Monarchs to the monastic complex of Guadalupe, Auristela, who was devoutly in love with the fame mines to be discovered in those far-off places. a palace in the Mudejar style of Toledo in which of that holy monastery, wanted to visit it first and All of this was endorsed in the king's generous various master masons took part —amongst them worship the true God there..." will when, in 1517, he openly expressed his wish Juan Guas— and which must have been complet- The first we know for sure of the and later to be buried "in the monastery of Nostra Senhora de ed in about 1490. Parish church is the ínter Coetera (1459), Belém, in the sanctuary before the high altar, at the At one point in his description of Guadalupe, in which Pius II confirmed and approved the church foot of the steps and with no other tomb than a fíat Münzer says openly, "I can not describe every- dedicated to Santa María de Belém, promoting it to stone so that it can be walked on". The will contains thing", as leaving aside the most unusual elements parish church with all its prerogatives and jurisdic- many other points of interest, amongst them the and going on to the most common, he met with a tion, annexing it to the military Order of Christ for number of one hundred monks which the king large number of tradesmen —cobblers, tailors, bak- the lifetime of Prince Henry the Navigator, who was wanted the monastery to have and which explains ers, blacksmiths—, each one working in his work- to be its administrator. On this spot, King Manuel I, the extraordinarily long dormítory which forms an shop inside the monastery precinct "which you the same year of his coronation (1495), wanted to unusual architectural wing at the western end of the could take for a small city". Farther on, "two large raise a monastery which had every appearance of church, with the cells for the monks. Philip II also and beautiful orchards, at the foot of the hill, where becoming the dynastic pantheon of the new House established the number of Hieronymite monks at there are water channels to irrígate the citrons, or- of Aviz-Beja. This is mentioned in Pope Alexander El Escorial at one hundred; in fact, there are a lot anges, myrtles, olives and other trees. The citrons VIFs bull Eximiae devotionis affectus (1496), em- of things at Belém that are foreseen in Philip's were already ripe and offered an attractive sight powering the king, literally, to "over the chapel and monastery. There are differences in the form and amongst the green leaves". It was 10 January 1495. former hermitage of the friars of the order of Christ the period, but there is a common backdrop which found this Royal Monastery of Belém with a church, is no coincidence between this foundation by King cloisters, and all the other necessary buildings, with Manuel of Portugal and Queen Mary, the second SANTA MARÍA DE BELÉM. LISBON (PORTUGAL). the obligation of [saying] a daily mass for the soul of daughter of the Catholic Monarchs, and the Prince Henry, the founder of this place, and for that monastery of Philip II, grandson of the Portuguese JL he humanist Pedro Meneses, in the opening lee- of the said King Manuel, and of his successors, and monarchs as son of Isabella of Portugal. ture for the university year of 1504 in the Universi- grants furthermore that the monks who should live The king was unable to finish the work and in ty of Lisbon, said that the monastery of the Hi- in this monastery may administer to sailors and pil­ the same will he realised that there was still a lot to eronymites in Belém, which was under construction grims the sacrament of penitence, and absolve them be done and explained that the generous income at the time, would have no equal in the world ñor in those cases that are not reserved for the Apos- he was leaving from the "twentieth" on trade with in history: "nenhuma casa, nenhum edifico dos reis tolic See, and also administer to them the Holy the Indies was "to finish...the house in the way I espanhóis e franceses ou des Romanos, nem os Sacrament of the Sacred Eucharíst..." have ordained and instructed it to be done". In Colossos, nem as Pirámides, nem os Anfiteatros, This text is of extraordinary ínterest because the this same sense, the account by Damián de Gois nem as coisas quase fabulosas que se contam de monastery appears with features that exceed what in his Crónica do Felicísimo Rei D. Manuel (1556)

385 leaves no room for doubt: "before he died he left a side, also kneeling and raised up, Queen Mary his The new monarch never stopped adding to the large part finished...there was still a lot needed to wife. These two images are worked in the round monastery's riches, for example with the extraordi- finish it with the perfection a work of this sort re- in "lioz" stone [local marble], and the two faces are nary Renaissance wooden seating designed by quires". Nevertheless, the king, who died in 1521, taken very well from life". In other words, they Diego Torralva in about 1550. was able, one year earlier, to see the arrival of the could be taken as portraits of Manuel and María. Having seen the church, one can not help being group of "friars of the said Order of Saint Jerome The two, in an orant attitude, seem to join in the act surprised at the length of the dormitory, which to- of the Hermits under the rule of Saint Augustine". of Adoration of the Birth of Jesús in Bethlehem day has two levéis but which distorts its original The prior, Fray Pedro and vicar, Fray Martinho, crowning the porch, Manuel presented by Saint appearance after an unrepeatable history of plans, were accompanied by the monks Jerónimo, Juan, Jerome and María by the Baptist. destruction, restoration, construction and succes- Bartolomé, Alfonso, Gonzalo and Alvaro, all from The interior of the church offers one of the most sive collapses which accompanied the work when, Penha-Longa, one of the few houses to materialise surprising images imaginable in the field of monas- after secularisation, the Obra Pía was moved here, as part of an initial project for twelve monasteries tic architecture and reveáis the truly exceptional a noble charitable institution dating from the eigh- of the Hieronymite Order in Portugal (1501). nature of this foundation. It is out of the ordinary teenth century which operated as a large orphan- The first stone was laid on 6 January 1502, the in a Hieronymite church as it has a nave and two age. Whereas the church and cloister survived feast of the Epiphany, with the obvious intention side aisles and a strange transept with a chapel at these actions relatively unscathed, although a of linking the ruling with the Biblical either end, as well as the high chapel in the main mitred cupola was added to the church's small tow- monarchy, making the monastery of Belém a new axis of the church, reformed in 1565 by the archi­ er, this is not the case with the dormitory, which Bethlehem. It is generally accepted that the origi­ tect Jerónimo Ruao. At the western end, inevitably, adjoins the church and communicated it with the nal project was by the French architect Boytac, un- a raised choir was added which affects the nave church's raised choir. The fact is that dozens of til in 1516 he was succeeded by Joao de Castilho, and aisles. The columns separating them are ex- projects transformed and impoverished what was who made important changes. The church, even traordinarily slender, reaching the limit of thinness once a magnificent pórtico with some twenty-eight from outside, reflects these two different hands, as and height structurally required for the support of arches, conceived as an open pórtico, the famous the body of the church, the oldest part of the com- vaults which are practically the same height. I "alpendre" which appears in all the monastery plex, shows that prodigious "Manueline" style would even go so far as to say that the church documents, over which was built the dormitory which is associated with King Manuel in the same seems to be covered by a single, immense vault, facing the sea, on to which the cells of the Hi­ way as the "Isabelline style" is associated with Is- some twenty-five metres in height, which only oc- ero nymites gave. Everything was altered and the abella the Catholic, with a clear family and formal casionally touches the ground through delicate genuine Manueline elements disappeared, to be relationship, going beyond the merely artistic to sticks. The general Gothicness of the ribs is joined replaced, regrettably in this case, by supposedly become a political image of the two crowns who by the decoration which in Spain would be called "neo-Manueline" versions. were keen to maintain solid alliances and not just Plateresque, Renaissance, making up a truly deli­ From the typological and monastic point of view, their influence overseas. On this point it is worth cate whole, with a surprising spatial transparency. the presence of this cell building away from its nat­ remembering that King Manuel married first the el- The cloister follows the same lines of originali- ural location, which is the cloister, is also an excep- dest daughter of Isabella the Catholic, also called ty and beauty, a faithful image of the new "Manue­ tion, but it was absolutely impossible to distribute Isabella, who was already the widow of the heir of line" style. Over a square floor plan with cham- the one hundred cells around the cloister. Since ear- King Alfonso's crown, the son of John II of Portu­ fered corners, two levéis were raised at different liest times, the dormitory at Belém has had its critics, gal. After Isabella's death he married a second moments, as to the initial project by Boytasc was such as Father Sigüenza, who in the second part of time, to María, the second daughter of the Catholic added the intervention of Castilho, who in 1517 his Historia de la Orden wrote, "There is not more Monarchs, and all of this at the same time as the appears as the master of the first cloister —that is, than one order of them [cells] and not more than a undertaking of the Hieronymite monastery of the ground floor—, on to which the chapter few Windows: and because the building is so low, Belém, which hides beneath its stones this com- house, sacristy and refectory open, later adding a the result is poor, and the side facing the sea plain- plex world of matrimonial alliances. second storey, also vaulted, which led to the royal looking and lacking in majesty and view, which is The fact is that by the side of this graceful body chambers, as the monks' cells are displaced in the from not knowing how to build". Sigüenza said this of the church, with two excellent porches, one at dormitory mentioned above. in the days when the Hieronymites of Portugal and the western end and one at the side, overflowing The work of the cloister was finished by Diego Spain, as the monarchy's monastic order, were go­ with imagination and poetry in their ornamental Torralva, appointed master of Belém in about 1540, ing through a transitory period of unity under repertory, Castilho's sanctuary is a sombre and who left a work which is a successful mixture of Philip I. He was writing in El Escorial, whose harsh reply with striking volumes. Both porches are Gothic elements matured under the Portuguese sun monastery was conceived as a closed volumetric excellent, even though the southern one has been with elements imported from Italy via Castile and unit very different from the open character of the much altered by nineteenth-century neo-Manueline probably France, in an unusual formula of great plans for Belém, so that we should not be surprised additions, but the one at the western end of the beauty. We must not forget that here, in Belém, the by his criticism, which extends to the church he church has a certain priority. It was made in 1517 masters of the works were Portuguese, of course, finds fragüe by the side of the massive character by Nicolau Chanterene, with all the delicacy of late but also Castilians, Biscayans, French and Flemish, of Herrera's work. In spite of everything, the Gothic, full of fantasy and imagination, in which giving rise to this eclectic and attractive image which monastery of Belém is still one of the most beautiful the figures of the king and queen stand out. A very has gone down in the history of art as "Manueline". works of European monastic architecture, and its in­ significant account by the chronicler Damián Góis With the work well advanced, the monks in res- clusión in these pages through the Hieronymites is describes how "the king ordered his image to be idence and mass being officiated since at least intended to re-establish the interior links that con- put one one side [of the porch], kneeling, and 1534, King John II moved the mortal remains of his nected the architecture of a particular religious or­ raised up, in showy clothes [sic], and on the other parents to the church in fulfilment of their wishes. der over and above borders and political events.

386 PHOTOGRAPHS

Page XI. Plan of a monastery from the Carolingian 26-27.The building work carried out in the 18th The arch is surprising on account of its horse- period. Abbey of (Switzerland). century conceals the monastery's Romanesque shoe shape, and our attention is drawn by the Cod. Sang. 1092. origins. The opaque image of the church with pillars with helical decoration flanking it. its Neoclassical tower, the sacristy and reli- quary, the body of the chapel of Santo Domin­ 34. In the north wall of the cloister, before an SAN JUAN DE LA PEÑA go over the former chapter house and other opening filled in with elements from the oíd adjoining structures (left) contrast with the Romanesque church, is the burial slab on li­ 14. The large cliff that gives the monastery its porosity of the Romanesque cloister (right) im- ons which indicates the place where Saint Do- ñame offers its bulk as a covering for the clois­ mediately behind them. minic of Silos was originally buried. ter. In the background the Chapel of Santos Voto y Félix, the first hermits who, along with 28 (left). Amongst the reliefs inside the cloister can 35. The new church designed by Ventura Ro­ Juan de Atares, inhabited this área. be seen the Disciples ofEmmaus, by the so- dríguez between 1750 and 1751 was built over called "first master" of Silos, who worked at the the earlier Romanesque church. This marked 17. The Chapel of San Victorián (1426-1433), also end of the llth century. The treatment of the the introduction to Silos of the sober Neoclas- known as the abbots' pantheon, provides an heads stands out, with their careful beards and sicism exhibited in its sturdy pillare and vaults. admirable view over the landscape opposite penetrating gaze. the monastery. 36-37. The bitter winters of the valley of Tabladillo, 28 (right). We owe the relief of the Ascensión, of whose ñame appears in documents from Silos 18-19- The triple chevet of the upper church is open, which the top is shown here, to the first, anony- as early as the lOth century, almost 1,000 me- revealing the blind arches which decórate the mous master of Silos. The head of Christ, picked tres above sea level, make snow a common walls. The three apses are covered with a quar- out with a cruciform nimbus, emerges above visitor to Silos. ter-sphere vault, unlike the rest of the church, the wavy clouds which seem to extend from the which shelters partly under the living rock. angels. SAN ESTEBAN DE RIBAS DE SIL (ORENSE) 20-21. The collection of 12th-century and early 13th- 29. In the lower gallery of the west side of the century single, double and quadruple capitals in cloister is the capital of the Lions Entangled in 38. In the late Middle Ages, the length of the banks the Romanesque cloister offers a rich iconogra- Plañís, attributed to the first master of Silos. of the River Sil, from Amandi to Los Peares, was phy. Isolated animáis, like the horse and saddle Carved in two planes, the motifs are distrib- a Thebaid of monasteries known as "Rivoira" (left), or scenes like that of Cain slaying Abel uted axially around a wavy line. or "Ribera Sacrata" (Otero Pedrayo). (right), fit naturally on to the capitals. 30-31. The presence of large reliefs in the inner 40. The enlargement in the l6th century of the 22-23. In the shelter of the cliff, the monastery corners of the cloister, like "stations", is a high- original nucleus of the monastery disguises the complex consists of, from right to left, the ly original feature. We owe the restrained and medieval character of the church, to which Chapel of Santos Voto y Félix, the Romanesque ordered relief scenes of the Descent and the was later added a new crown. This facade cloister, the body of the lower and upper Burial of Christ (left) to the first master of Silos, forms an attractive courtyard with that of the churches, one above the other, and the área while the Annunciation and the Tree ofjesse monastery, which dates from about 1700. of the oíd and new monastery. (right) are slightly later. 41. Behind the hospice stands the large gatehouse 32. The first chapter house opened off the west cloister, on which the Biscayan master Diego SANTO DOMINGO DE SILOS gallery of the cloister but was reformed in the de Isla worked between 1577 and 1599. Its 15th and 18th centuries when the chapel of San­ three storeys and the different styles of the gal- 24. A battlemented and airreted medieval wall pro- to Domingo was built over it. The entrance and leries give the cloister a remarkable character. tects the monastery with all its buildings, in- the two twin openings flanking it still survive. cluding a large área of enclosed orchards and 42. From the Romanesque period until the Baroque, vegetable gardens. This entrance on the north- 33- The Puerta de las Vírgenes communicated the successive enlargements left their stylistic im- east side frames the chapel of Santo Domingo. former Romanesque church with the cloister. print on the monastery, as in the case of the

387 upper galleries of the processional cloister, 57. Leaving the main precinct, we cross another was abbot. It is worked in alabaster and fortu­ added at the beginning of the lóth century. surrounding the previous one, with the Puerta na tely preserved in situ. Dorada (15th c). It gets its ñame from the gild- 43. The series of cloisters at Ribas de Sil offer an ing applied to the bronze panels of its leaves 70. Romanesque entrance to the church at its imaginative sample of compositional and build- when Philip II visited the monastery in 1564. western end, open to the atrium or "galilee", ing styles of unquestionable charm, such as after returning the rich tympanum to its place those of the lesser cloister, built in the last third 59. In the cloister opposite the refectory is the beneath the archivolts. of the lóth century. canopy housing the lavabo or fountain with 31 spouts, known as "Luna", where the monks 71. The nave of the church seen from the pres- 44-45. The monastery's oldest cloister is the proces­ wash and purify themselves before sitting down bytery, with pointed barrel vault on ribbed sional cloister, of unquestionable Romanesque to their sparse meáis. arches. In the I4th and 15th centuries the royal descent. It is made up of a series of three semi­ graves of James I and Peter IV, amongst others, circular arches on double columns, interspersed 6l. West gallery of the cloister with the graves on were placed in the transept on broad surbased with sturdy pilasters to make the construction the wall of several families who favoured the arches. more solid. monastery in the 13th and I4th centuries (Ri- belles, Anglesola, Boixadors, Timor, Cervera, 72-73."A peaceful and happy spot, because in all 46. The passage to the interior garden of the pro­ Montpalau and Montpahó). In the background, the countryside around the trees keep the cessional cloister from the galleries goes un- the lay brothers' visiting room. green of their leaves all the year round, their der the central arch of one of a series of three luxuriance is an agreeable object to the eye" arches with which the four sides of the clois­ 62-63. Vaults of the oíd lay brothers' dormitory, (Finestres, 1753). ter are organised. converted as a store room in the lóth century by Abbot Guimerá. 47. The exterior elevations of the processional SANTA MARÍA DE HUERTA (SORIA) cloister, also known as the cloister of Los 64. Burial stones of the abbots of Poblet in the Obispos, after the bishops who entered monas- floor of the chapter house. The effigies are 74. Overlooking the valley of the River Jalón is tic life on giving up the mitre and who are looking towards the seat of the abbot presiding the Cistercian monastery of Santa María, with buried here, reveal the Romanesque work the chapter. The oldest, that of Abbot Alferich, the enclosed grounds and the village origi- and the Gothic over-cloister added in about dates from 1311. nally formed by people in the service of the 1506. monastery. 65. Next to the fathers' refectory is the monu­ 48. The enlargement and construction of new mental 13th-century kitchen. The monks in 77. The chevet of the church, in which can be cloisters also called for a new staircase which charge of it had their rooms in this part of the noted the absence of any type of decoration, was built in the Baroque period. Its builders monastery. giving rise to a rugged, naked architecture showed off their profound understanding of which answers only to constructional require- the stereotomy of stone. 66 (left). Interior of the chapter house, with the ments. Gothic vaulting, of very simple construction 49. The large number of Benedictine monks the and extreme ornamental sobriety. The capitals 78. Main entrance to the monastery complex. To monastery carne to house, the increased guest ring the octagonal prism of the shaft, forming the lower part, built in the lóth century and accommodation and the fact that it housed the the springing point for the eight ribs that help crowned by a pediment, was added in 1785 College of Art and Philosophy called for larger to form the vault. the Baroque top. The relief of the vase of community facilities, such as the new monastic white lilies is a reference to the Virgin Mary, to kitchens. 66 (right). The vaults of the oíd grain stores are whom the monastery is dedicated. even more restrained and elemental. In the course of time they have been converted as a 79. Facade of the church with a Cistercian en­ SANTA MARÍA DE POBLET (TARRAGONA) library, a function they retain today. The cen- trance with the characteristic outline and archi- trally supported double bay in turn supports volt decoration. Above is the large rose-win- 50. The nucleus of the monastery was protected in the modern-day monks' dormitory. dow which illuminates the nave, almost the I4th century with a wall which stands out entirely rebuilt during the restoration of 1964. for the Puerta Real between the two powerful 67. The fathers' refectory is a large hall with a prism-shaped towers, which are followed by the pointed barrel vault on projecting arches. It 80. Exterior elevation of the so-called Gothic clois­ Torre del Prior. The crossing of Abbot Guimerá measures slightly more than 34 metres in length ter, of which only the ground floor is in this (lóth c.) completes the scene. by 8 metres in width. In the centre is a dish for style. In the first half of the lóth century anoth­ serving the tables, which are presided by the er storey was added in the Plateresque style, 54. Between the fortified wall and the apses of the abbot's table at the top. with unusual surbased arches and an excellent church is the monks' cemetery, with a series collection of medallions. of graves belonging to the Catalán nobility 68-69. The church sanctuary is presided by an al- (Cervera, Moneada, Queralt and Anglesola, tarpiece commissioned from the Sculptor 81. The cloister has always been linked to a funer- amongst others) set into the wall. Damián Forment in 1527, when Pedro Caixal ary function, with frequent burials in its walls.

388 This is the case here with that of Pedro Man­ monastery (c. 1200), where Cistercian decora- 1300 and following French Gothic models was rique, on the left, and that of the Count and tive sobriety is manifest. placed on the tympanum of the arcosolia. Countess of Molina, next to the entrance to the church. 94. The chapel of Santiago, near Las Claustrillas, 104-105. The chapel of La Asunción was originally was once a room in the palace of Alfonso VIII, part of the palace of Alfonso VIII. It contains 82. Keystone of the third vault of the refectory, in dominated by forms of Al-Andalus origin, such a mixture of early Almohad decoration (in the which the three ribs forming the sexpartite as the horseshoe arch with decorated surround, background) and Romanesque elements vaults cross. or the ceiling and plaster work in its interior. added when it was used as a chapel.

83- In the gallery running along the north wall of 95. The grave of the infante Fernando de la Cer­ 106 (top left). The front of the "ladies"' choir is dec­ the church, with the grave of the Molina family da, eldest son of King Alfonso X the Wise, is orated with large l6th-century panels, from the at the end, the arches overlooking the garden located in the Cospel aisle, or aisle of Santa time of Charles V, with representations of Ro­ were closed off as protection from the bitter Catalina, beneath an arcosolia and crowned mán emperors. winter cold. This deprives all the lower corri- by an elegant gable with the arms of Castile dors of light inside. and León. 106 (top right, and bottom). Details of the Moor- ish plaster work decorating the pointed barrel 84-85. The Gothic cloister, better know as the 96. Main doorway of the church in the south vault of the cloister of San Fernando, by the cloister of Los Caballeros, acts as a large atrium transept, with elegant leaf decoration on the Andalusian craftsmen who worked in Las for the monumental refectory overlooking it. tympanum accompanying the shield of Castile. Huelgas between 1230 and 1260.

86. Remains of mural painting (13th c?) in the 97. In the atrium of the church are two Gothic 107 (top). Grave of Alfonso de la Cerda, who died chapel of La Magdalena, in the chevet of the graves with decorated fronts. One is particular- in 1333, in the Gospel or Santa Catalina aisle. church, discovered during the last restora- ly interesting, with a fanciful architectural com- In the midst of a pattern of loops are lions tion work. At the bottom can be seen the position on the lid, with columns against and castles against a background strewn with meeting of Christ resuscitated with Mary Mag- which are set figures of angels and apostles. fleurs-de-lis, as he was also the grandson of dalene. the king of France. 98. The large cloister of San Fernando, with the 87. The top of the refectory roofed with sexpartite entrance to the chapter house where bases and 107 (bottom). In the nuns' choir. near the graves of vaults which spring from suspended colonettes. capitals were left unworked, emphasizing the the founders, are buried other female mem- On the right, the pulpit for readings, reached austere look of the architecture. bers of the royal family such as Berenguela, by a staircase hollowed out in the wall. the mother of Saint Ferdinand III, and 99. Access from the church to the cloister of San Berenguela, daughter of the saint king. This 88. View of the interior of the church from the Fernando is through a door very much like scene from the Epiphany comes from her south transept, showing the rugged construc- that of the atrium, in the north transept. The grave. tion and the abstinence of decoration, which profuse decoration extends to the vault, em­ is reduced to elemental Unes of imposts. phasizing the corners of the cloister. CARTHUSIAN MONASTERY OF MIRAFLORES. 89. In the l6th century the choir was moved from 100. View of the church from the "ladies"' choir to- BURGOS the central nave to its present position on a wards the western end of the building. In the vault at the feet of the church, while the organ centre, the graves of the founders, Alfonso 108. Saint Bruno with the crucifix in his hand, the was placed in the same área. On the right, the VIII of Castile and Eleonor of England, both work of the Portuguese Sculptor established consolé above the oíd choir stalls. deceased in 1214. in Spain, Manuel Pereira, a wood carving from about 1635 made for Cardinal Zapata. 101. The aisles of the church are covered with LAS HUELGAS DE BURGOS delicate quadripartite vaults of French influ- 112. General view of the high altarpiece of the ence, except for the transept, where an oc- church, the work of the Sculptor of Flemish 90. Entrance arch opened in the oíd wall starting topartite vault was built, and the chevet, origin, Gil de Siloe, done between 1496 and from the body of the church, on the right, where an old-fashioned sexpartite vault was 1499. The composition seems to be inspired leaving the bell tower visible in the back- built. in the Germán "" based on circles. ground. Today it separates the inner and outer courtyards. 102. The nuns' choir is closed off by a screen form­ 114. Figure of the Apostle Saint James, represented ing a reliquary-baldachin-altarpiece (l6th c), as a pilgrim, and Queen Isabella the Catholic 92. High chapel and transept of the church, on the in the centre of which a door allows a view of kneeling at a prie-dieu, from the high altar­ left, and the chapel of San Juan or Los Clérigos, the Eucharistic celebration taking place in the piece, whose rich polychrome decoration is on the right, seen from the gardens. presbytery. the work of Diego de la Cruz.

93- The Romanesque cloister known as Las Claus- 103- Over the grave of the infante Fernando de la 115- General view of the single-naved church, trillas forms part of the oldest nucleus of the Cerda, a Crucifixión in stone dating from about from the back of the fathers' choir, in the cen-

389 tre of which can be seen the lectern for the monumental baldachin at the crossing of the 136. Part of the floor of the Tabernacle with floral songbooks. In the background, before the al- two main axes of the cloister also houses a motifs worked in marble of different colours. tarpiece, the free-standing royal tomb. fountain. On the sides, a sundial and moon- dial. 137. One of the altarpieces forming part of the rich 116. The seating in the fathers' choir is an excel- perimeter of the chapel of El Sagrario, where lent piece of cabinetwork by Martín Sánchez 128 (left). The elemental architecture of the small the Solomonic columns, the pedestals and the of Valladolid, who finished it in 1489. The courtyard speaks for the simple original char- rich floral inventiveness show it belongs to backs and canopies have highly refined trac- acter of this construction, which could well the 18th century. ery characteristic of late Gothic. have belonged to the "palaces called El Paular cióse to Rascafría and in the place of 138. Interior of the church from the área set aside 117. Gil de Siloe carved the star-shaped free-stand­ Lozoya...", as can be read in a privilege by for guests, separated from the rest by a rail- ing grave of the Castilian ruler John II and his John II. ing by the Carthusian Francisco de Salaman­ second wife, Isabella of Portugal, in alabaster. ca (1492). The work was contracted in 1485 and was fin­ 128 (right). Gallery with barrel vault which divides ished by 1493- the church courtyard and separates the monas- 139- High altarpiece in polychrome alabaster, in a tic área from the early constructions of El Gothic-Flemish style (15th c), with scenes 118. The naturalistic style of Germano-Flemish Paular. from the Life of Christ and the image of the descent that characterises the art of Gil de titular of the Charterhouse: Santa María de El Siloe can be seen in these scenes from the 129- Passage with highly original covering in Paular. The two side doors lead to the original altarpiece depicting the Last Supper (top) brickwork and stone, with trough outline. sanctuary. and the Epiphany (bottom). 130. Interior of one of the galleries of the great 140-141. The Charterhouse is in the valley of the 119. Next to the royal tomb is that of the infante cloister, on to which the doors of the cells River Lozoya, which feeds its ponds and Alfonso, son of Henry II. The infante appears open, with the revolving hatch through which reservoirs for watering and makmg paper, in in orant position beneath a large ogee arch the monks' food is passed. the heart of the Guadarrama range, at a opened in the north wall of the church, with height of more than 1,100 metres. a striking architectural and decorative effect. 131. Ogee outline of the vaults of the great cloister, Completed in 1493- whose stone ribs spring from corbels form- ing part of a general impost now lost. The CARTHUSIAN MONASTERY OF GRANADA 120-121. The vaults over the first sections of the brickwork was originally rendered. church —i.e. those covering the presbytery 142. The main entrance to the monastery is via a and the royal graves— are richly decorated 132. Entrance to the church from the covered atri- Plateresque doorway which is attributed to the with festoons along the ribs. The principal um. The work dates from the second hall of architect Juan García de Pradas at the begin- keystone stands out, with the polychrome the 15th century and the style is Isabelline ning of the l6th century. In the background, shield of the Crown of Castile. with Flemish influence, both in the sculptures the entrance to the church. and in the scene of the Pietá painted on the 122. Corridor of the main cloister on to which the tympanum. 145. The lesser cloister off which the communal cells open. The sober restraint of the architec- buildings open is located on the south side ture can be seen, without the decoration 133- Refectory presided by a Gothic Crucifixión of the church, with which it communicates which characterises the church. which must have been placed here in the via the door in the background, which was 17th century when the background landscape only used by the monks or fathers. A Renais- 123. Although the Carthusians usually eat alone in was painted. Simple Gothic architecture not sance work, it was completed in the 17th their cells, on Sundays they eat in the refecto- without its pulpit for the reader, worked in century. ry and on this day "to the vegetables or puls­ plaster by Abderraman of Segovia. es is added cheese or some similar allowance, 146. Amongst the buildings opening on to the and before supper, fruit or salad, if there is 134. Tabernacle (left), a masterpiece of 18th-cen- lesser cloister is the monks' chapter house, any" (Consuetudines Cartusiae, chap. 33). tury Spanish Baroque art, which as the covered with a vault in the Gothic tradition Sanctum Sanctorum is located beyond the but with deviations characteristic of the l6th sanctuary of the church. Detail from the century. SANTA MARÍA DE EL PAULAR (MADRID) Tabernacle (right) with the figure of Saint Peter, carved by the Sevillan Sculptor Pedro 147. The groin vaults of the church carry a profuse 124. South side of the church from the original Duque Cornejo. stucco decoration begun in 1662 and in line cloister, completed in 1400, very probably re- with the predominant Baroque spirit of the lated to the original palace buildings of the 135. The Tabernacle seen from the chapel of El Granadine Charterhouse. Trastámara family in El Paular. Sagrario, where the Carthusians worship the Eucharist in total seclusion, under the gaze of 148. The top of the church is decorated with sightiy 127. Great cloister built between 1484 and 1486 Saint Baino and other saints of the order rep- stucco frames containing pictures with scenes by the architect Juan Guas. In the centre, the resented in sculptures. from the Life of the Virgin by the Granadine

390 Bocanegra. These altérnate with niches con- Gothic sanctuary from the beginning of the large dome over the high altar of the church, taining images also done in plaster. 13th century (right), seen from the presbytery. balanced by flying buttresses.

149. The "De Profundis" room in the lesser cloister 164. The west doorway of the church shows clearly 180. Interior of the church seen from the western is presided by an imitation altarpiece in the Romanesque lines, with semi-circular arches end, beneath the vault of the raised choir. The El Escorial style, but made between 1612 and and archivolts (left), and a doorway to the late l6th-century screen separates the public 1627 by the Carthusian and painter Juan cloister, early Gothic to judge from the form of área of the church from the prívate área of the Sánchez Cotán, who also painted the canvas the arches, though continuing the Romanesque pantheon and chapel of the Zúñiga family. of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. splaying that marks the columns. 181. High chapel and star-shaped dome on to 150. Altar-baldachin in the presbytery of the 165. The mixture of Romanesque and Gothic con- which the nave and aisles of the church open. church, designed by Hurtado Izquierdo struction is a common denominator through- Begun in 1522, it was not finished until 1572, (1710), and the Assumption carved by José out the monastery. Pedro Rasines having intervened in the work. de Mora. The open architecture is conceived to allow a view of the adjoining sanctuary, a 166. Fragmentary remains of the graves that sub- 182. Santa María de la Vid, Gothic image in wood very characteristic effect of Baroque trans- sist in Aguilar after decades of plundering and from about 1300, part of the high altarpiece. parency. neglect. The image was repainted and set in the mir- rored niche in the 18th century. 151. The stucco of the presbytery, consisting of 167. The chapter house is one of the monastery niches, strings of fruit and little angels, has a buildings that has come down to us best pre- 183- Detail of the facade of the monastery church. special chromatic treatment. There is in- served. It has six vaulted sections supported evitably a reference to Saint Bruno, with the on two free-standing pillars (13th a). habit of the Order, and at his feet can be read SAN JUAN DE LOS REYES. TOLEDO "Patriarca". 168. Water channelling inside the monastery. 184. Overall view of the monastery from the left 169- "One should care for life in such a way that life bank of the Tagus. In the foreground, the SANTA MARÍA LA REAL. AGUILAR DE CAMPOO remains after death" (Unamuno, Andanzas y Baño de la Cava and behind it the defensive (PALENCIA) visiones españolas, 1921). wall leading down to the river, the walls of the Jewish quarter and the city's defences. 152. An original solution in the facade-bell gable of the Premonstratensian church. NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LA VID (BURGOS) 187. North doorway of the church.

156-157. Two views of the monastery dominated 170. South side of the church at nightfall. 188. The church of San Juan de los Reyes, in the by the same rocky cliff. On the left, the wing heart of Toledo's Jewish quarter, seen from with the store room (12th c.) and the new 172-173. Monastery courtyard formed by the bell the Puente de San Martín. upper storey for the cells (17th c). On the tower-facade of the church and the front of right, the 18th-century enlargement with the the monastery área (17th c), with the door­ 190. The knights who, in their permanent defen­ new cells. way by the master masón Díaz de Palacios. sive attitude, bring to life the east end of the church. 158-159. General view of the lower cloister (left) 174-175. Interior of the l6th-century lower clois­ and the refectory gallery. Ribbed Gothic ter, with an original system of closure using 192. Cloister designed by Juan Guas, with tracery on vaults grew above the Romanesque design of Baroque lattice-work, "with a view to the the bottom floor by Simón de Colonia, com- the cloister. convenience and shelter of the matins and pleted by Arturo Mélida in the 19th century. the residents of the convent...". 160. The collection of Romanesque capitals from 193- Corridor of the processional cloister covered the cloister was once outstanding. Moved to 177. The Romanesque entrance and bays of the with fancifully designed ribbed vaults. the Museo Arqueológico Nacional in Madrid chapter house are the earliest testimony to in the 19th century, very few have been pre- the first stage of the monastery building 194. Octagonal dome over the transept crossing served in situ. (12th c). in the church, with a star-shaped vault very characteristic of the 15th century. The lights, 161. General view of the cloister where the upper 178. The oíd Romanesque cloister gave way to a today practically closed, would have given a storey, added in the 18th century, is carefully new Gothic work, as the l6th-century ribbed spectacular illumination to this part of the aligned with the axes and composition of the vaults show. In the foreground, on the left, church. medieval part. the access to the Escalera Real. 195. Interior of the church seen from the western 162-163- The nave and aisles of the church with Ro­ 179- Overall view of the l6th-century cloister, to end. Two galleries for the musicians, like ele- manesque pillars and quadripartite vaults (left) which a further, Neoclassical storey was added vated pulpits, indicate the greater importance and enlargement of the transept and new in the 18th century. In the background, the of the transept área.

391 196 (left). Richly decorated gallery in the transept, 209- Interior elevation of the church with the church, is the Gothic door to the Chapel of Los with the "Y" and the "F" of Isabella and Ferdi- chapéis between the buttresses. Reyes (15th c). The tympanum bears the coats nand picked out, in reference to the found- of arms of the rulers of Aragón, Sicily and ing monarchs of the monastery. 210. Detail of the grave of Elisenda de Monteada, Jerusalem. founder of the monastery, on the side of the 196 (right). Detail from the original decora tion con- church where she is dressed in royal clothes 225. Former conventual refectory. The construc- ceived by Guas, in which Mozarabic friezes and insignia, while in her corresponding claus­ tion, Gothic in appearance, was begun in characteristic of the Mudejar world appear tral burial she is wearing the habit of the order. 1560. Since 1966 it has been used as the throne alongside Gothic elements. room of the Captaincy General. 211. Polychrome keystone of the vault over the 197. The raised choir at the western end of the presbytery of the church with the Coronation 226. Vaults in the chapter house on slender pillare church characterises the Spanish conventual of the Virgin. and stone ribs. The brickwork was originally churches of the time of the Catholic Mon­ rendered (I4th c). archs. On the left, a raised gallery for the organ, 212 (left). In one of the chapéis in the church is now lost. this I4th-century burial of a lady who appears 227. The vaults of the chapel of Los Reyes, with on the lid and of a man and another woman their bold, clean stereotomy, are a landmark 198 (left). The lower cloister has a rich and original located on the side, possible members of the in the history of building with stone (15th o). sculptural accompaniment with figures of aristocratic Illa y Canet family. They are associated with master masons like saints, most of which were restored or re- Baldomar, Compte and Navarro. placed by the architect and Sculptor Arturo 212 (right). Gothic fresco (I4th c.) with the Crucifix­ Mélida in the 19th century. ión accompanied by the Three Marys and sev- 228. Altarpiece in the chapel of Los Reyes, dedi- eral saints, at present in the Sala de la Reina. cated to Our Lady of Hope. Reliéis by Juan 198 (right). Alabaster item over one of the doors Muñoz and paintings attributed to Juan de of the monastery, showing the royal family 213. The Virgin of the Chapter, a 15th-century poly­ Sariñena complete this l6th-century work. dressed in the Franciscan habit praying at chrome terracotta image presiding the chap­ the feet of Christ, accompanied by Saint ter house. The background of the sculpture 229. The chapel of Los Reyes, begun in 1439 by Francis. imitates a tapestry held by angels, also paint­ Alfonso III of Valencia and V of Aragón and ed in the 15th century. conceived as a royal funerary chapel, eventu- 199. Detail of the wooden ceiling in the upper ally became the funerary chapel of the Mar- cloister, in a Mudejar style but done "ex novo" 214. Mural paintings by Ferrer Bassa in the chapel quises of Cénete, whose coffin was carved by Arturo Mélida in about 1888. of San Miguel in the cloister, dating from 1343. by the Italians Orsolino and Carlone (1563).

215. Chapel of San Miguel. Scene of Saint Peter cut- 230. On the east side of the cloister is the chapter SANTA MARÍA DE PEDRALBES. BARCELONA ting off Malchus's ear, in a style very cióse to house, followed by the chapéis of La Virgen Gothic. de la Escala, San Pedro y San Pablo and San­ 200. Bell tower of the monastery and exterior but- tos Vicente y Jaime. In the background, the tresses of the church begun in 1327. passage to the "De Profundis" room. SANTO DOMINGO. VALENCIA 202-203- Cloister on the north side of the church, 231. Lighting in the chapter house was ensured with the two I4th-century galleries and a third 216. Processional cloister —or cloister of El Silen­ both by the large Windows in the front and by wing added in the following century. cio— in the Dominican convent of Santo the generous openings on to the courtyard, in Tomás. Ávila. the entrance of which the mullion has been 205. The cloister arches are supported on fine, eliminated, leaving the key of its daríng tracery tensed nummulitic columns, carved in series 219. The exuberant cloister garden seen from the hanging. in the workshops of Girona. interior. 232-233. General view of the convent of Santo 206. Interior of one of the wide corridors on the 220. Gothic cloister begun in about 1300, to which Domingo, with the Renaissance doorway, ground floor of the cloister. in the 18th century was added an upper floor Baroque tower and the new Captaincy General in a classicist architectural style. building. Since 1835 the medieval foundation 207 (left). In the north-east wing of the cloister is a has served the same purpose as the last of series of tombs like that of Elionor de Pinos 223. The east gallery of the great cloister was the these. Monteada (I4th c.) with a raised stone coffin only one ever completed with I4th- and 15th decorated with the shield of the nobility against century mullions and traceries. In the back­ a painted background, in an elegant architec- ground the passage from the sacristy to the SANTO TOMÁS. ÁVILA tural composition. former conventual church. 234. Atrium of the convent, formed by the facade 208. Interior of the refectory with pointed barrel 224. In the small arcaded atrium at the entrance to of the church and the gatehouse and novici- vault on projecting arches (I4th c). the convent, which once led to the demolished ate block.

392 238. Cloister of Los Reyes corresponding to the SAN ESTEBAN. SALAMANCA completed in about 1Ó34 by the master ma- área occupied by the palace of the Catholic sons Juan Moreno and Alfonso Sardina. Monarchs. In the background, the chancel 250. Main facade of the conventual church de­ of the church, with which the palace com- signed byjuan de Álava (1524). The large 264. Transept and presbytery of the church with municates. arch covers the Plateresque doorway which is the three altarpieces commissioned from José arranged as an altarpiece, with lañes and Churriguera by the prior Fray Gonzalo Mateos 239- Processional cloister —El Silencio—, with wings containing figures of saints and reliéis. in 1692. cheerful, open architecture, in which pillars and arches are adorned with the small balls so 254-255. The convent of San Esteban, with the 265. Body of the dome over the church transept in frequently repeated in the time of the , the gatehouse porch byjuan de Ribero which Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón intervened. Monarchs. (1590) and the library added above it in 1683. Gothic forms give way to Renaissance motifs and mouldings. 240. General view of the processional cloister 256. Cloister of Los Reyes or Las Processiones, de­ with the lavabo in one of the corners. On the signed by the Dominican Fray Martín de San­ 266. View of the church from the entrance to the right, crowning the walls of the church, the tiago and completed in 1544. Years later, the church beneath the choir. This arrangement bell gable which in many monasteries and overcloister was added, communicating the in monastic and conventual churches, begun convents takes the place of the bell tower. cells with the choir of the church. in the 15th century, was maintained through- out the lóth century and served as a prece- 241. Detail of one of the galleries of the proces­ 257. The "De Profundis" room (1492), also called dent to the monastery of El Escorial and its fa­ sional cloister with the insistent decoration of Sala de Colón, is one of the oldest parts of the mous fíat vault. balls or Lsabelline pearls. In the centre of each convent. It belongs to the medieval construc- of these corridors the small pillars supporting tions demolished to raise the new building in 267. Other less well known buildings in the con­ the arches turn in a helical movement. the lóth century. vent, such as the oíd cloister of Los Aljibes, named after the cistems under the floor to col- 242. Staircase of the processional cloister leading 258. Córner of the cloister of Los Reyes with the lect the rainwater, belong to the oldest parts of up to the choir of the church. doorway of San Pedro de Verona, the first San Esteban, prior to the lóth-century work. Dominican martyr, who appears at the top of 243. Part of the choir with one of the two royal the Renaissance door, added in the 17th cen­ seats, discreetly separated from the rest of the tury by Francisco de la Oya. EL PARRAL. SEGOVIA conventual seating and made expressly for Is- abella and Ferdinand. 259. Staircase completed in 1556 and named after 268. The monastery complex from the new gar- Domingo de Soto (lóth c), as the cost of the dens and pond. 244. The severe looking processional cloister — work was covered by the sale of writings by known as the cloister of El Silencio—, with its this famous Dominican theologist who was 270. Upper galleries of the cloister of La Enfer­ ribbed vaulting. In the background the pas- Charles V's confessor. mería, with ogee arches, one of which looks sage to the staircase leading to the raised out over the farmland. choir in the church. 260. Vault of the lower galleries of the cloister of Los Reyes, very characteristic of the first half 273. East end of the church with the sturdy but- 245. Interior of the church designed by Martín de of the lóth century in its outline, geometry tresses which take the thrust of the ribbed Solórzano. In the background the altar and and the mass of ribs and keystones. vaults inside. high altarpiece by Pedro Berruguete raised on a vault to increase its visibility from the 261. Nave of the church. The vaults, directed by 274. Cloister of La Portería, with simple Gothic ar­ choir. Juan de Álava and Fray Martín de Santiago, chitecture, allowing a view beneath its arches incorpórate secondary ribs and ties giving of the belfry and the bell gable built by Juan 246. Corbel in one of the corners of the cloister of continuity to the general vaulting as opposed Campero in 1529 in a Renaissance style. El Silencio, with the characteristic decoration to the traditional system of independent sec- of balls and the emblem of the Catholic Mon­ tions. 275. Interior of the corridors of the upper floor of archs. the yoke and arrows. the main cloister. 2ó2. Over the head of the raised choir, Antonio 247. Part of the conventual seating, with a variety Palomino painted the monumental fresco 276-277. Top of the tower of the church, where the of delicate ornamentation on the back and Triumph of the , signed and eye of the bell gable allows a view of the dis- magnificent canopies, attributed to the mas- dated in 1705. Its Baroque composition has tant Cathedral of Segovia. ter Martín Sánchez (1492). antecedents in Rubens. 278. Interior of the refectory from the prior's table, 248-249. Grave of the infante Juan, son of the 263. Interior of the sacristy paid for by the Do­ covered with a filigree painted ceiling in three Catholic Monarchs, the work of the Florentine minican Pedro de Herrera, Bishop of the Ca- sections. On the left, the pulpit for the read- Domenico Fancelli, who carved it in marble naries and Tuy, but also conceived as his own ings, in wood, richly decorated with Gothic and brought it from Genoa (1512). burial place. In a post-El Escorial style, it was forms.

393 279 (top). The main cloister, also known as the giving rise to a new palace in the south of the GUADALUPE (CÁCERES) cloister of Los Difuntos, has a series of arches monastery. in its north wing which correspond to the 302. On the north side of the Plaza Mayor, be­ chapel of San Miguel, the Callejón de la Pro­ 289- Of the monastery's two cloisters —the 15th- tween the towers of Santa Ana and El Reloj, cesión which opens off the church here, and century or "oíd" cloister and the lóth-century is the double door of the entrance to the the chapéis of Arados and San Miguel. cloister—, the latter offers a Plateresque as- chapel of Santa Ana, which acts as a covered pect. Paid for by the Count of Oropesa, it was atrium for the church. On the left, the impos- 279 (bottom). Detail of the arches in the sacristy, completed around 1554. ing tower of the chapter house and library from around 1500, which shelter the drawers (15th c). and cabinets for the holy vessels and linen, 290. The main and only floor of the palace stands in a typically Spanish solution. partly on a low arched vestibule with stone 305. Cloister of La Enfermería or La Botica —the columns and vaults whose brickwork has site of the infirmary and pharmacy. Begun in 280 (left). The door communicating the sacristy now been left visible. 1500, it is also known as the Gothic cloister with the ante-sacristy, over whose entrance because of the traceries on the arches of the an interesting polychrome image of Saint 291. Upper gallery of the Plateresque cloister with second of the three storeys. Jerome from the end of the 15th century was the doors of the cells. Order, austerity and si- placed. lence. 306. Central baldachin of the Mudejar cloister, built in brick with glazed ceramic decoration in a 280 (right). Vaults of the church. The two in the 292. Charles V's bedroom next to the presbytery Gothic-Mudejar style. Inside is the fountain background correspond to the raised choir of the church so as to be able to see the altar of Fray Juan de Sevilla (1405). which is accompanied by two projecting gal- and the Eucharistic celebrations from his bed. leries, one of which would have been for the 307. In one of the corners of the Mudejar cloister is organ. 293- Palace audience hall, also used as a dining the lavatorium, or large conventual wash- room. basin, opposite the entrance to the refectory 281. Entrance to the chapel of La Asunción, from the in the western gallery. end of the 15th century, and blind ogee arch 294. Prívate quarters of Charles V, with the articu- with burial stones in slate of Beatriz Álvarez lated chair conceived by Doctor Mathysio so 308-309. The tops of the Mudejar canopy, transept and Gonzalo del Rio, who died in 1480. as to relieve his pain. and dome of the church, and of the towers of San Gregorio and Las Campanas. 282. Large triptych in the sanctuary of the church, 295. "Oíd" or Gothic cloister, on the north wall of formed by the high altarpiece (1528-1553) the church. 310. The Plateresque architecture of the l6th cen­ and the monumental tombs in alabaster of the tury left a fine example in the mouth of the Marquises de Villena, Juan López Pacheco 296. Vaults in the church built in a Gothic style staircase of the Mudejar cloister, whose arch­ and María de Portocarrero, carved at about but in the l6th century, between 1508 and es appear in the foreground. the same time. 1525. 311. Opening between the rose Windows in the wall 283- South transept of the church with the passage 297. High altarpiece of the church, built in the time of the transept, one of which is the one that can leading to the sacristy. The doorway is one of Philip II to a design by Juan de Herrera be seen from outside the church and the other of the most extraordinary examples of the art (1584). The painting is a copy by Antonio de the one that can be seen from inside. of Juan Guas, who worked on the monastery Segura (1580) of Titian's Lastjudgement. around 1475. 312. Sacristy (1636-1645) with richly decorated 298. Pulpit in the refectory for the correspond- vault with lunettes. On the walls is the fa- 284-285. "He found —to establish the monastery— ing readings during the monks' meáis. Plas- mous series of Hieronymite episodes painted an admirable place for the purpose, on the ter work with Gothic and Mudejar themes by Zurbarán (1638-1639). In the background, bank of the river the locáis cali Eresma, slight- (15th c). a chapel with Torrigiani's Saint Jerome. ly raised on the side of a hill, sheltered by it and by some cliffs from the cold north 299. Refectory on the north side of the Plateresque 313. View of the south transept from inside the winds..." (P. Sigüenza). cloister, with a fountain in its interior and the church, with the screen by the Dominicans pulpit for the readings on the wall on the Fray Francisco de Salamanca and Fray Juan left. de Ávila (1512). YUSTE 300. Doorway in the western facade of the 314. Chapel of Santa Catalina commissioned by 286. Cióse to Cuacos de Yuste (Cáceres) on one of monastery, with a shield of the Oropesa fam- Beatriz of Portugal for the burial of her par- the slopes of the last foothills of the Torman- ily and diamond graffito work. ents the infantes Dionís of Portugal and Juana tos range, stands the Hieronymite monastery. of Castile. When the Reliquary —the door in 301. Facade of the church with a simple Plateresque the background— and the Camarín were 288. Emperor Charles V's retirement to Yuste doorway, with niches prepared to take images built, it necessarily became the vestibule for called for the construction of new quarters, which have not survived to our day. both of them.

394 315. Interior of the Camarín de la Virgen (1687- stantial changes during the 19th and 20th cen- the huge vaulted refectory, now bare, without 1695) by the master Francisco Rodríguez. The turies. the tables and benches it once had, before paintings with scenes from the Life of the Vir­ the ceramic socles of the 18th century. gin are by Lucas Jordán (1696) and the sculp- 323. The church presents two very different as- tures representing the Strong Women of the pects. While the nave and aisles respond to 332. Upper part of the cloister with its mullions Bible are by an unknown artist. the Manueline style, the sanctuary and transept and arches, much restored in the 19th and are strikingly dry. The change of master ma­ 20th centuries. The dome on the church tow- 316. Interior of the church, with nave and two són, from Boytac to Castilho, explains the er is also a modern addition. aisles, in a definite Gothic style, showing the difference. springing point of the dome on projecting 333. Narrow, vaulted and very steep staircase be­ vaults which increase the light in the región 325. At the western end of the church, under the tween walls, in the east wing of the cloister, of the crossing. vault joining the monks' choir and the dormi­ leading up to the upper galleries, between tory, is the doorway by Nicolau Chánteme the sacristy and the chapter house. 317. Vaults over the nave, a result of the reform (1517), showing King Manuel and Queen and enlargement made between 1389 and María, the daughter of the Catholic Monarchs. 334. View of the interior of the church, with its 1403, when the Hieronymite Order took over nave and two aisles of equal height, whose the monastery under its first prior Fray Fer­ 326. Detail of the cloister, whose decoration forms vaults spring from extremely slender pillars nando Yáñez. a full repertory of the ornamental character which contribute to the transparency and uni- and motifs of the Manueline style ty of the space. In the background, the raised 318-319- "Four days the pilgrims spent in choir over the entrance. Guadalupe, during which they began to see 327. The great cloister, a jewel of European monas- the splendours of that holy monastery" tic architecture, was built at two moments. 335. Meeting point between the nave and aisles (Cervantes, Los Trabajos de Persiles y Segis­ While the ground floor is by Boytac and Castil­ and the transept, forming a group of vaults mundo). ho, the upper floor was added by Diego Tor- unique in the history of architecture because ralva after 1540. of the mínimum number of supports in rela- tion with the surface covered and the height SANTA MARÍA DE BELÉM. LISBON (PORTUGAL) 328-329. Amongst the particularities of the cloister of 25 metres they reach. is the solution of the corners leading out to 320. Dormitory building of the monastery with the garden, under an exterior arch crossing 336. Chapel beneath the choir with the grave of cells facing the sea. the chamfer, instead of the usual way out un­ Vasco de Gama, by the Sculptor Costa Mora, der the central arches of each gallery. erected according to the will of the historian 322. The long front of the dormitory wing, with Simón José da Luz Soriano, in a Manueline its low pórtico formed by 28 arches and 330-331. On the west side of the cloister, cióse to style (1894). known as El Alpendre, has undergone sub- the fountain or lavatorium, is the entrance to

395

FOTOGRAFÍAS

Marc Llimargas págs. 61, 62-63, 71, 108, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120-121, 210

Xurxo Lobato pág. 14

Pedro Navascués Palacio págs. 122, 123

LUNWERG EDITORES

Director general JUAN CARLOS LUNA Director de arte ANDRÉS GAMBOA Directora técnica MFRCEDES CARREGAL Diseño FRANCISCO COLACIOS Maquetación CARLOS GAMBOA Coordinación MARÍA JOSÉ MOYANO Traducción ANDREW LANGDON-DAVIES

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