The expansion of female religious communities in Extremadura from the 13th century to 1545

Abstract

This paper gives an overview of the expansion of female religious communities in Extremadura from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the Council of Trent. It analyses the different implantation models, the chronology of the foundations, the nature of the founders, the orders or the models of religiosity chosen and their spatial distribution, according to the type of jurisdiction, all of it within a context of urban effervescence. The emergence of female religious communities in Extremadura had its own characteristics due, among other causes, to its border situation with the Islamic world and to the political-jurisdictional variety in of this Christianized territory (military orders, manor and royal jurisdictions). In addition to that, political, economic, social and religious factors had great influence in a territory where the Observant movement, promoted by San Pedro de Alcántara, flourished and had a great impact.