Reinas e infantas en la implementación de los freires hospitalarios en León y CastillaElvira Alfonso como " fósil conductor " del poder femenino entre Jerusalén y Santiago de Compostela ( siglos XI y XII )

Résumé

The following paper aims to highlight the role played by infantaElvira Alfonso, one of the illegitimate daughters of Spanish king Alfonso theVIth, in the early settlement of the Hospitallers in the kingdoms of León andCastile (beginning of the XIIth century). This work also intends to pursuethe connection between the royal support of The Hospital and the promo-tion of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Elvira Alfonso is believedto have participated in the First Crusade and travelled to Jerusalem. There-fore, she would hold a privileged position to guide her royal family memberstowards the materialization of those politics. From this possible in.uenceof Elvira, it is perceptible how the women of the Leonese royal family – fo-cusing on Queen Urraca I - attracted The Hospital to the northern IberianPeninsula. Further, the male monarchs that followed would continue anddeepen this agenda.