Los caballeros de las Órdenes Militares castellanas

The history of the three Castilian Military Orders—Alcantara, Calatrava, Santiago—which played such an important part in the medieval Reconquista and whose grand masterships were incorporated into the Crown of Castile under Charles V, has attracted less attention than might have been expected, given the importance of the social status they conveyed or confirmed in early modern Spain. At the same time, the century or so embraced by the reigns of the last Spanish Habsburg, Carlos II (1665–1700), and the first Bourbon, Philip V (1700–46), a period which Henry Kamen once termed a ‘dark ages’ in Spanish history, remains relatively obscure. The present work is thus doubly welcome in exploring both a neglected institution, or institutions, and a neglected epoch in Spain’s early modern past. Domingo Giménez Carrillo divides his study into two parts. The first broadly examines the process whereby the grant of an habito culminated (or did not) in the formal entry into one of the Orders. Such grants were just one of many different types of mercedes, or rewards, at the disposal of the monarch (as grand master) in a political system in which service was rewarded and loyalty promoted by such favours. But habitos were peculiar in that the king’s decision to allow a request for an habito was by no means the end of the matter. Instead, the recipient had to meet the criteria of membership of the Order. This necessitated an investigation—launched by the Council of Orders, whose records are the foundation of the present study—into the candidate’s ancestry and status. Very few individuals were actually deemed ineligible, although the process offered scope for fraud on the one hand and blackmail on the other, but the length and cost of the investigation help explain why some of those granted an habito by the king never in fact entered one of the Orders. Indeed, the number of habitos granted by the monarch was never matched by the number actually taken up in his reign. Related to this was the fact that an habito granted in one reign might, for various reasons, not be assumed until the next reign. Another feature of the grant of an habito was the fact that, while it was generally a reward for the services of an individual and/or his family, it might not be intended for the individual concerned. Thus the king often granted habitos to whoever married the petitioner’s daughter, such that it constituted part of a dowry. The king also granted habitos to needy religious houses which would sell them to raise money. In these situations, the initial grant might be thought of as a sort of blank cheque, but one still needing endorsement. It was also possible to transfer a merced already awarded. Needless to say, at times the king (and those passing on their merced) would appear to be selling habitos, although this could not be openly acknowledged

Art · Humanities · Historical Studies in Latin America · Historical Studies on Spain · Latin American history and culture