Order of Santiago
The Order of Santiago (/ˌsɒntiˈɑːɡoʊ/; Spanish: Orden de Santiago [sanˈtjaɣo]) is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the patron saint of Spain, Santiago (St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgrims on the Way of St. James, to defend Christendom and to remove the Muslim Moors from the Iberian Peninsula with the Reconquista.[1] Entrance was not restricted to nobility of Spain exclusively, and some members have been Catholic Europeans from other parts of Europe. The Order's insignia is particularly recognisable and abundant in Western art.[2]
This article is about the Spanish Order of knighthood. For the Portuguese Order, see Order of St. James of the Sword.
Order of Santiago
Orden de Santiago
With the culmination of the Reconquista and the death of the Grand Master Alonso de Cárdenas, the Catholic Monarchs incorporated the Order into the Spanish Crown, and the Pope Adrian VI forever united the office of Grand Master of Santiago to the Crown in 1523.
The First Republic suppressed the Order in 1873, but it was re-established in the Restoration as a nobiliary institute of honorable character. The Order was again suppressed after the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1931. With the fall of the Republic and the re-establishment of the Monarchy, the Order of Santiago was definitely restored with the kingship of Juan Carlos I with the character of a nobiliary, honorable, and religious order; and remains as such.
The Order of Santiago is one of the four Spanish military orders, together with those of Calatrava, Alcántara, and Montesa.
In popular culture[edit]
In the grand strategy game
series Crusader Kings II and Crusader Kings III made by Paradox Interactive, the Order of Santiago can be created, as a militarized order akin to the Knights Templar.
Knights of Santiago are a unique crusading military units that can be raised by the Spanish faction in the game Medieval II: Total War, made by Creative Assembly.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Order of Saint James of Compostela". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
