The Order of Mountjoy ( es, Orden de Monte Gaudio, also known as the Order of Trufac) was a
military order Military order may refer to:
Orders
* Military order (religious society), confraternity of knights originally established as religious societies during the medieval Crusades for protection of Christianity and the Catholic Church
Military organi ...
during the
crusade
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...
s.
The order of Montjoie is mentioned in the 13th century as having been founded for the purpose of protecting Christian pilgrims in
Iberian Peninsula. Established c. 1180, it was merged with the
Order of Calatrava in 1221.
The order was founded by Galician count
Rodrigo Álvarez in the
kingdom of Aragon
The Kingdom of Aragon ( an, Reino d'Aragón, ca, Regne d'Aragó, la, Regnum Aragoniae, es, Reino de Aragón) was a medieval and early modern kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, ...
, specifically in the castle of
Alfambra
Alfambra is a municipality located in the province of Teruel, Aragon, Spain. , the municipality has a population of 676 inhabitants.
This locality is famous for the Battle of Alfambra fought in 1938 during the Spanish Civil War
Historical Ori ...
in 1174, and then established in the
Holy Land
The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...
at the time of the
Third Crusade.
["a society of gentlemen, who devoted themselves to the protection of Monte Gioia, or Mont Joie ..According to some writers, the badge was a red cross, like that of the Knights Templars; others, that it was a red star of five points placed on a white mantle; but ''Palliott'' is positive that it was a white cross of five rays, and that their mantle was red."
William Berry, ''Encyclopædia Heraldica: Or, Complete Dictionary of Heraldry'' (1828).]
Rodrigo was from the order of Santiago, and had already established the order in
Castile and
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
before establishing it in the
kingdom of Jerusalem in the tower of
Ascalon. The headquarters of the order in
Jerusalem was situated on
Montjoie, the hill where the
original crusaders had first seen Jerusalem, hence its name ("mountain of joy", ''mons gaudii'' in
Latin, ''Mont de joie'' in
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, contracted in ''Montjoie'').
The rule of the order was adapted from the
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
rule, and was entirely a
Spanish order. The emblem of the order was a red and white cross.
A number of knights from the order fought at the
Battle of Hattin
The Battle of Hattin took place on 4 July 1187, between the Crusader states of the Levant and the forces of the Ayyubid sultan Saladin. It is also known as the Battle of the Horns of Hattin, due to the shape of the nearby extinct volcano of t ...
in 1187, but none of them survived.
Discontentment with the leadership of the master
Fralmo in 1196 led to the establishment of a new
Order of Monfragüe
The Order of Monfragüe ( es, Orden de Monfragüe) was a Spanish military order founded at the castle of Monfragüe near Plasencia on the Tagus in 1196. The order was founded by the knights of the Order of Mountjoy who dissented from a merger with ...
in Castile while the Aragonese element of the order was merged with Templars. In 1221
Ferdinand III of Castile joined the order of Monfragüe to the
Order of Calatrava.
The
Order of Montesa
The Order of Montesa ( va, Ordre de Montesa, Aragonese and es, Orden de Montesa) is a Christian military order, territorially limited to the old Crown of Aragon. It was named after the castle of Montesa, its headquarters.
Templar background
T ...
, established 1317, was inspired partly by the suggestion to re-establish Montjoie after the suppression of the Templars.
Bibliography
*Blázquez, A. (1917). "Bosquejo histórico de la Orden de Monte Gaudio". ''Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia'', 71:138–72.
*Canal Sánchez-Pagín, José María (1983). "El conde don Rodrigo Álvarez de Sarria, fundador de la orden militar de Monte Gaudio". ''Compostellanum'', 28:373–97.
*Delaville Le Roulx, J. (1893). "L'Ordre de Monjoye". ''Revue de l'Orient Latin'', 1:42–57.
*Forey, Alan J. (1971). "The Order of Mountjoy". ''
Speculum'', 46(2):250–66.
*O'Callaghan, Joseph F. (1969). "Hermandades between the Military Orders of Calatrava and Santiago during the Castilian Reconquest, 1158–1252". ''
Speculum'', 44(4):609–18.
Notes and references
{{Authority control
Montjoie, Order of
Montjoie, Order of
Military orders (monastic society)
tr:Montjoieli Annemizin Şövalyeleri