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Monasteries in Spain
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Monasteries in Spain
Monasteries in Spain have a rich artistic and cultural tradition, and serve as testament to Spain's religious history and political-military history, from the Visigothic Period to the Middle Ages. The monasteries played an important role in the recruitment conducted by Christian aristocracy during and after the progress of the Reconquista, with the consequent decline in the Muslim south of the peninsula.
Their presence in the peninsula dates from the early centuries of Christianity, when the original hermit life gave rise to the formation of religious communities and the construction of small monasteries by Hispanics in the sixth and seventh centuries. Many of these buildings reflect the traditional style of Mozarabic.
The second phase was developed with the arrival of the Benedictines of Cluny, during the Reconquista and several new orders developed at this time: Cistercian, military orders, Premonstratensian, Carthusians, Jeromes, Augustinians, Camaldolese and beggars.
Monastic communities of various sizes sprang up from Catalonia to Galicia; some of these structures remain while others were abandoned or destroyed. Most of the monasteries in Spain are distributed in the northern half in line with the historical discourse of the zone in the Middle Ages. Monasteries are much less numerous in the south, Andalusia and the Canary Islands.
The establishment of monasteries during the Middle Ages was paramount from a social and cultural standpoint, benefiting the arts and agriculture.
The Camino de Santiago proved an important factor in locations of these monastic orders, as often an important objective was to support the pilgrims traveling along this route.
The first reference to a monastery in Spain was in a letter from St. Augustine to the abbot of the Monastery of Cabrera, written in 398. In 410, the monk Baquiario first used the term monastery in a text written in Hispania. He, as a monk, and Egeria, and the nun Etheria, perhaps more properly a consecrated virgin, were the first such members of religious houses whose names are known.
The first monasteries arose in the fourth century and were humble buildings erected in the shadow of shrines dedicated to or graves of beloved local martyrs. Many of these monastic people were troglodytes, or cave dwellers, as hermits or recluses who served as models for later monastic culture preferred to live in caves equipped to be shelters or shrines. Such is the origin of the monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla, which preserves as a shrine the cave where Aemilianus, also known as Millán, lived. The caves served as dwellings for disciples of this saint. The practice of living apart from the world was transformed by monks belonging to monasteries; although they lived in communities, the individuals within the community maintained their ascetic practice, living in a remote location, often in the desert.
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Monasteries in Spain
Monasteries in Spain have a rich artistic and cultural tradition, and serve as testament to Spain's religious history and political-military history, from the Visigothic Period to the Middle Ages. The monasteries played an important role in the recruitment conducted by Christian aristocracy during and after the progress of the Reconquista, with the consequent decline in the Muslim south of the peninsula.
Their presence in the peninsula dates from the early centuries of Christianity, when the original hermit life gave rise to the formation of religious communities and the construction of small monasteries by Hispanics in the sixth and seventh centuries. Many of these buildings reflect the traditional style of Mozarabic.
The second phase was developed with the arrival of the Benedictines of Cluny, during the Reconquista and several new orders developed at this time: Cistercian, military orders, Premonstratensian, Carthusians, Jeromes, Augustinians, Camaldolese and beggars.
Monastic communities of various sizes sprang up from Catalonia to Galicia; some of these structures remain while others were abandoned or destroyed. Most of the monasteries in Spain are distributed in the northern half in line with the historical discourse of the zone in the Middle Ages. Monasteries are much less numerous in the south, Andalusia and the Canary Islands.
The establishment of monasteries during the Middle Ages was paramount from a social and cultural standpoint, benefiting the arts and agriculture.
The Camino de Santiago proved an important factor in locations of these monastic orders, as often an important objective was to support the pilgrims traveling along this route.
The first reference to a monastery in Spain was in a letter from St. Augustine to the abbot of the Monastery of Cabrera, written in 398. In 410, the monk Baquiario first used the term monastery in a text written in Hispania. He, as a monk, and Egeria, and the nun Etheria, perhaps more properly a consecrated virgin, were the first such members of religious houses whose names are known.
The first monasteries arose in the fourth century and were humble buildings erected in the shadow of shrines dedicated to or graves of beloved local martyrs. Many of these monastic people were troglodytes, or cave dwellers, as hermits or recluses who served as models for later monastic culture preferred to live in caves equipped to be shelters or shrines. Such is the origin of the monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla, which preserves as a shrine the cave where Aemilianus, also known as Millán, lived. The caves served as dwellings for disciples of this saint. The practice of living apart from the world was transformed by monks belonging to monasteries; although they lived in communities, the individuals within the community maintained their ascetic practice, living in a remote location, often in the desert.