Order of Calatrava

The Order of Calatrava was a Spanish military religious order founded in 1158 to defend the frontier town of Calatrava in Castile after the Knights Templar had relinquished it as indefensible against Almohad forces. It was established by the Cistercian abbot Raymond of Fitero together with the knight Diego Velazquez, and the order adopted the Cistercian rule, becoming the first Spanish military order modelled on the international crusading orders. Calatrava knights played a major role in the Reconquista, including a prominent part in the decisive Christian victory at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, and the order eventually built a new fortified headquarters at Calatrava la Nueva after losing its original seat to Almohad forces for several decades. The order accumulated extensive landholdings and wealth across Castile and La Mancha over the following centuries, and its mastership was permanently incorporated into the Spanish Crown in 1489 by the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, ending its independent military role while its honorific and ceremonial identity survives to the present day.