The Order of the Jar (Spanish : Orden de la Jarra, German : Kannenorden) was a chivalric order founded by Ferdinand of Antequera in 1403. After Ferdinand became King of Aragon in 1412, it became a royal order and lasted until 1516. [1]
The Order of the Jar (Spanish : Orden de la Jarra, German : Kannenorden) was a chivalric order founded by Ferdinand of Antequera in 1403. After Ferdinand became King of Aragon in 1412, it became a royal order and lasted until 1516. [1]
The Order is known by many names:
The legend of the origins of the Order of the Jar may date back to its actual founding in 1403. Ferdinand, in order not to be seen as treading on the authority of his brother, King Henry III of Castile, may have sought to ground his order in an older (and foreign) foundation. [6] Thus, according to legend, the Order of the Jar was one of the oldest military orders in Europe, having been founded in the Kingdom of Navarre in the 11th century. [7]
There are several versions of the Navarrese legend. According to one, the order was founded by Sancho III the Great in 1023. In another, it was Sancho IV (reigned 1054–1076). In the most elaborate version, it was García III on 25 March 1043. [6] He was hunting with his falcon, which was chasing a pigeon. Both birds stood at the entrance to a cave in Nájera, inside of which there was an image of the Virgin Mary next to a jar of lilies, symbol of the Annunciation. García decided to build a monastery near the cave, which became Santa María la Real of Nájera, and at the same time create the Orden de la Terraza, the latter being an archaic word for jar. [5]
The 19th-century historian Vicente de la Fuente believed the order could be traced back to Sancho VII's reform of an Order of the Lilies (Orden de los Lirios) in 1223. [6]
On 15 August 1403, while celebrating the Feast of the Annunciation in Medina del Campo, Ferdinand conferred the collar of a new order of chivalry on his sons Alfonso, John, Henry, Sancho and Peter. [1]
... to the infante Don Alonso that after of his father was king of Aragon..., secondly he gave it to the infante Don John, who was king of Navarre for his wife Doña Blanca, and also King of Aragon after the death of his brother Don Alonso, and thirdly he gave it to the infante Don Henry, Grand Master of the Order of Santiago, fourthly to the infante Don Sancho, who was Master of the Order of Calatrava, and Don Peter... fifth, and in honouring to his children with the motto enlightened of the Virgin, he was giving his order to his many favorite knights
The device of the order was a chain bearing a jar of lilies, symbolizing the purity of the Virgin, which was already a common symbol of the Annunciation; an effigy of Virgin and Christ child; and a griffin, which should probably be read as symbol of war against the infidel. Members also wore a white stole. [3] The statutes of the order appear to have been given on the occasion of its founding. They survive in a manuscript in the Escorial and have been published as Reglas y Divisa de la Orden Militar de la Jarra. [1] Their explanation of the symbolism of the device is:
... to the honour and reverence of the Virgin St Mary, and in recognition of the pleasure which she received when the angel saluted her, I have taken as a device a collar of the Jar of the Salutation, from which collar descends a griffin suspended, in signification that even as the griffin is strong among all the animals, so all those of this Device must be strong and firm in the love of God and of the Virgin St Mary. [1]
After Ferdinand took over the Crown of Aragon, the Order of the Jar became in effect the royal order of his kingdoms, including Aragon, Sicily and after 1443 Naples. It is unclear if the order was ever formally attached to these realms in law. It probably remained the personal property of the royal house. It remained vestigial in comparison to other royal orders, but played a prominent role in court ceremony. The eyewitness Álvar García de Santa María records its central place at the coronation of Ferdinand in Zaragoza in 1414. [1]
After the siege of Balaguer (1413), Ferdinand I of Aragon honoured about eighty of the knights who had shown greater courage in battle with the shield of the order. [8]
In 1413, Ferdinand empowered King Sigismund of Germany to confer membership in the order on Basilio Colalba, marquis of Ancona, who also entered into Sigismund's Society of the Dragon. In 1415, Ferdinand conferred membership on Sigismund himself during the latter's visit to Perpignan. He also conferred membership on the ambassadors of King Ladislaus of Naples and on Godofredo, illegitimate son of King Charles III of Navarre. [1]
Ferdinand's son, Alfonso V of Aragon, introduced the order to the Kingdom of Naples after he conquered it in 1443. There it replaced the defunct Order of the Knot and Order of the Ship, but Alfonso's successor in Naples, Ferdinand I, founded his own order after 1458. Alfonso V conferred the order on Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy after the latter arranged for his election to the Order of the Golden Fleece. The order was introduced to Navarre by Alfonso's son John II after 1458. [1]
Sancho Ramírez was King of Aragon from 1063 until 1094 and King of Pamplona from 1076 under the name of Sancho V. He was the eldest son of Ramiro I and Ermesinda of Bigorre. His father was the first king of Aragon and an illegitimate son of Sancho III of Pamplona. He inherited the Aragonese crown from his father in 1063. Sancho Ramírez was chosen king of Pamplona by Navarrese noblemen after Sancho IV was murdered by his siblings.
Henry II, called Henry of Trastámara or the Fratricidal, was the first King of Castile and León from the House of Trastámara. He became king in 1369 by defeating his half-brother Peter the Cruel, after numerous rebellions and battles. As king he was involved in the Fernandine Wars and the Hundred Years' War.
The Kingdom of Aragon was a medieval and early modern kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain. It should not be confused with the larger Crown of Aragon, which also included other territories—the Principality of Catalonia, the Kingdom of Valencia, the Kingdom of Majorca, and other possessions that are now part of France, Italy, and Greece—that were also under the rule of the King of Aragon, but were administered separately from the Kingdom of Aragon.
The Kingdom of Navarre, originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a Basque kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, with its northernmost areas originally reaching the Atlantic Ocean, between present-day Spain and France.
Ferdinand I named Ferdinand of Antequera and also the Just was king of Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia and (nominal) Corsica and king of Sicily, duke (nominal) of Athens and Neopatria, and count of Barcelona, Roussillon and Cerdanya (1412–1416). He was also regent of Castile (1406–1416). He was the first Castillian ruler of the Crown of Aragó and his dinasty came to unify the iberian peninsula under Castillian rule.
Sancho III, called the Desired, was King of Castile and Toledo for one year, from 1157 to 1158. He was the son of Alfonso VII of León and Castile and his wife Berengaria of Barcelona, and was succeeded by his son Alfonso VIII. His nickname was due to his position as the first child of his parents, born after eight years of childless marriage.
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The Battle of Atapuerca was fought on 1 September 1054 at the site of Piedrahita in the valley of Atapuerca between two brothers, King García Sánchez III of Navarre and King Ferdinand I of Castile.
Sancho Garcés IV, nicknamed Sancho of Peñalén was King of Pamplona from 1054 until his death. He was the eldest son of García Sánchez III and his wife, Stephanie, and was crowned king of Pamplona after his father was killed during the Battle of Atapuerca.
The War of the Three Sanchos was a brief military conflict between three Spanish kingdoms in 1065–1067. The kingdoms were all ruled by Jiménez kings who were first cousins: Sancho II of Castile, Sancho IV of Navarre, and Sancho Ramírez of Aragon, all grandsons of Sancho the Great. The primary source for the war is the thirteenth-century Primera crónica general.
Santa María la Real is a monastery in the small town of Nájera in the La Rioja community, Spain. Originally a royal foundation, it was ceded by Alfonso VI to the Cluniac order. It was an important pilgrimage stop on the Camino de Santiago. It is particularly well known for the woodwork in the choir of the church.
The House of Trastámara was a royal dynasty which first ruled in the Crown of Castile and then expanded to the Crown of Aragon from the Late Middle Ages to the early modern period.
Violant or Violante of Aragon, also known as Yolanda of Aragon, was Queen consort of Castile and León from 1252 to 1284 as the wife of King Alfonso X of Castile.
García Ordóñez, called de Nájera or de Cabra and Crispus or el Crespo de Grañón in the epic literature, was a Castilian magnate who ruled the Rioja, with his seat at Nájera, from 1080 until his death. He is famous in literature as the rival of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, the Cid, whose high position at court he took over after the Cid's exile in 1080. He was one of the most important military leaders and territorial governors under Alfonso VI, and was entrusted with military tutorship of the king's heir, Sancho Alfónsez, with whom he died on the field of battle at Uclés.
The Infantes of Aragon is an appellation commonly used by Spanish historians to refer to a group of 15th-century infantes (princes) of the House of Trastámara, specifically the sons of King Ferdinand I of Aragon and his wife Eleanor of Alburquerque:
Diego López III de Haro. Was the eldest son of Lope Díaz II de Haro and of Urraca Alfonso de León, the illegitimate daughter of King Alfonso IX of León. Diego succeeded his father as the Lord of Biscay between the years 1236 and 1254.
María Díaz I de Haro "the Good" (1270–1342) was a Spanish noblewoman of the House of Haro. She was the daughter of Lope Díaz III de Haro who was assassinated by order of the king at Alfaro, La Rioja. She is best known for being the Lady of Biscay and for her lifelong battle against her uncle, Diego López V de Haro, for the title of the lordship of Biscay.
Juan Núñez I de Lara y León, also known as "el Gordo" or "the Fat", was a Spanish noble. He was the head of the House of Lara, Lord of Lerma, Amaya, Dueñas, Palenzuela, Tordehumos, Torrelobatón, and la Mota. He was further known as Señor de Albarracín through his first marriage with Teresa Álvarez de Azagra.
Sancho of Aragon was an Aragonese infante and the grand master of the Order of Alcántara from 1409.
The kingdom of Najera was a kingdom located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula between the years 923 and 1076, it covered the territories of the valley of the Ebro River, from the current Miranda de Ebro to Tudela. It was the precursor of the Kingdom of Navarra and cradle of the kingdoms of Castile and Aragón. From the year 925 onwards, the monarch of the kingdom of Nájera was the same as that of Pamplona and was renamed "kingdom of Nájera-Pamplona", which would be the predecessor of the kingdom of Navarra. The capital of the kingdom of Nájera was the city of Nájera, currently located in the autonomous community of La Rioja, Spain.
