A Wall and a Shield: Alfonso VIII and the Military Orders

This chapter assesses how the military orders had an important place in Alfonso VIII's Castile as defenders and settlers of the frontier with Islam, as well as contingents in major campaigns and rapid response forces in smaller engagements. They also acted as caretakers of the sick and liberators of captives; occasional keepers of the peace between quarreling Christians; and as intercessors before the heavenly court. Their mission—and the structure of life that was meant to fulfill it—came from the hierarchical Church, but Alfonso VIII's mediating role between the hierarchy and the orders meant that royal prerogative was normally decisive for how that mission was carried out. Alfonso VIII's patterns of giving show a clear preference for Calatrava and Santiago over their “universal” counterparts, the Hospital and the Temple. The king saw the Iberian orders as a wall and a shield of Christendom, a view that the orders themselves shared, but within the framework of their particular type of religious life.