Coordinates: 39°51′28″N 4°1′54″W / 39.85778°N 4.03167°W / 39.85778; -4.03167

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==History==
==History==
⚫
The monastery of San Juan de los Reyes, considered as the most representative building of Toledan Isabelline Gothic, was built by the Catholic Monarchs under the direct patronage of the Queen, for that, this monastery was initially named "San Juan de la Reyna"<ref name="Manchado (15)">[[#Manchado|<sub><big>↓</big></sub>]] Manchado, [https://books.google.pt/books?id=qADOoHct1MwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Isabel+I+de+Castilla+y+la+sombra+de+la+ilegitimidad.+Propaganda+y+representaci%C3%B3n+en+el+conflicto+sucesorio+%281474%E2%80%931482%29&source=bl&ots=sxnzroys_j&sig=aM79jFNVQ3dl8c47tP2FGbR#v=onepage&q&f=false ''Isabel I de Castilla y la sombra de la ilegitimidad: propaganda y representación en el conflicto sucesorio (1474-1482)''], 2006, p.283.</ref> and was conceived to be the mausoleum<ref name="Serrano (16)">[[#Serrano|<sub><big>↓</big></sub>]] Serrano, [http://www.realacademiatoledo.es/files/toletum/0009/toletum09_maciadiscurso.pdf ''San Juan de los Reyes y la batalla de Toro''], revista Toletum, 1979(9) p.55-70. Real Academia de Bellas Artes y Ciencias Históricas de Toledo, Toledo. [[International Standard Serial Number|ISSN]]: [http://bddoc.csic.es:8080/detalles.html;isessionid=A31394B29A781B0B063B6993FDA9FAEE?id=30676&bd=HISTORI&tabla=docu 0210-6310]</ref> of the Catholic Monarchs. They would change their plans later, choosing Granada as their burial place, after its reconquest in 1492.<ref name="Serrano (16)"/> Was raised to commemorate also the victory of Toro (1476) and the birth of Prince Don Juan (1478), as well as to create a collegiate church of canons that served as a royal pantheon, according to Friar Pedro de Salazar,<ref>{{cite book | author = FRAY PEDRO DE SALAZAR | title = Chronicle and History of the foundation and progress in the province of Castile of the Order of the Blessed Father Saint Francis| date = 1612 }}</ref> chronicler of the Franciscan order.


The creation of a modern state by the Catholic Monarchs resulted in the foundation of chapels, hospitals, etc., as well as the completion of previous works such as the cathedrals of Burgos and Toledo. That is why they combine the forms of Flamboyant Gothic brought by architects like Enrique Egas or Juan de Colonia with elements of the Arabic architecture of southern Spain.
⚫
This monastery was initially named "San Juan de la Reyna"<ref name="Manchado (15)">[[#Manchado|<sub><big>↓</big></sub>]] Manchado, [https://books.google.pt/books?id=qADOoHct1MwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Isabel+I+de+Castilla+y+la+sombra+de+la+ilegitimidad.+Propaganda+y+representaci%C3%B3n+en+el+conflicto+sucesorio+%281474%E2%80%931482%29&source=bl&ots=sxnzroys_j&sig=aM79jFNVQ3dl8c47tP2FGbR#v=onepage&q&f=false ''Isabel I de Castilla y la sombra de la ilegitimidad: propaganda y representación en el conflicto sucesorio (1474-1482)''], 2006, p.283.</ref> and was conceived to be the mausoleum<ref name="Serrano (16)">[[#Serrano|<sub><big>↓</big></sub>]] Serrano, [http://www.realacademiatoledo.es/files/toletum/0009/toletum09_maciadiscurso.pdf ''San Juan de los Reyes y la batalla de Toro''], revista Toletum, 1979(9) p.55-70. Real Academia de Bellas Artes y Ciencias Históricas de Toledo, Toledo. [[International Standard Serial Number|ISSN]]: [http://bddoc.csic.es:8080/detalles.html;isessionid=A31394B29A781B0B063B6993FDA9FAEE?id=30676&bd=HISTORI&tabla=docu 0210-6310]</ref> of the Catholic Monarchs. They would change their plans later, choosing Granada as their burial place, after its reconquest in 1492.<ref name="Serrano (16)"/>


Therefore, in San Juan de los Reyes the glory of the monarchs who had united the different Christian kingdoms and were fighting to conquer the last Muslim place of the Peninsula, the Kingdom of Granada, is shown. Likewise, the guard and custody of the monastery was entrusted to the Franciscans of the Observance. The choice of this order in favor of others is due to the fact that the Franciscans of the observance wanted to return to a lifestyle more pure and far from all the excesses and luxuries that had occurred in the Middle Ages, idea that also shared the Catholic Monarchs. With this policy they were given the definitive support to the Conventual Franciscans, the other branch of the Franciscans. Through this political tactic, Isabel and Ferdinand pretended to control the aristocratic clergy and the cabildos.<ref>{{cite book | author = Verónica GIJÓN JIMÉNEZ | title = The Convent of San Juan de los Reyes in the stories of Journey The Early Modern Age | publisher = University of Castilla La Mancha | date = 2013}}</ref>
The monastery's construction began in 1477 following plans drawn by architect [[Juan Guas]], and was completed in 1504. It was dedicated to [[Saint John the Evangelist]] for use by [[Franciscan]] friars. In 1809 the monastery was badly damaged by [[Napoleon]]'s troops during their occupation of Toledo, and abandoned in 1835. Restoration began in 1883 but was not completed until 1967. The monastery was restored to the Franciscan order in 1954.

For this functional diversity, the Monastery must be understood from a typological perspective, as "political-religious acropolis", according to the cataloging of the specialist [[Fernando Chueca Goitia]]. In this way it is included in an architectural tradition that begins with the Diocletian's Palace in Spalato and culminates in the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.<ref>CHUECA GOITIA, F. <nowiki> '' The Royal Sites around Madrid '' </nowiki> ''Royal Sites XXV Anniversary''. Madrid, 1989. P.47.</ref>

In 1926 it was declared Historical-Artistic Monument of national interest.

It is now known that the architect of San Juan de los Reyes was Juan Guas. Nevertheless, its name is not mentioned until 1853, after the finding of an inscription located in the chapel of the church Iglesia de San Justo y Pastor of Toledo. Until then, it will be considered anonymous authorship and this is shown by the writings of authors such as Antonio Ponz or Magán, who will not mention the author of this work.<ref>{{cite book |author = Daniel Ortiz Alonso | title = San Juan de los Reyes de Toledo: history, construction and restoration of a medieval monument | date = 2015 | editorial = La Ergástula | location = Madrid | pages = 31–56}}</ref>

Various studies carried out by José María Azcárate Ristori in the years 1956 and 1958 show that since 1494 Juan Guas was in charge of the works, and its name is linked to the master Egas Cueman, being the two masters between 1479 and 1485.<ref>{{cite book |author = José María Azcárate Ristori | title = The Toledan architecture of the 15th century | date = 1958 | location = Madrid}}</ref><ref>{{cite publication|author=José María Azcárate Ristori | title = The Toledan work of Juan Guas | publication =Archivo Español del Arte| date = 1956 | number = 29 | page = 9-41}}</ref>


[[File:San Juan de los Reyes, Toledo (Jenaro Pérez Villaamil).jpg|thumb|left|''San Juan de los Reyes'' by [[Jenaro Pérez Villaamil]] inflates the scale for pictorial effect.]]
[[File:San Juan de los Reyes, Toledo (Jenaro Pérez Villaamil).jpg|thumb|left|''San Juan de los Reyes'' by [[Jenaro Pérez Villaamil]] inflates the scale for pictorial effect.]]
Line 73: Line 82:


Its cloister has a small garden. The ground floor's ceiling is formed of German cross vaults set with figures of saints interspersed with animal and plant motifs, all created by the Toledo sculptor Cecilio Béjar in the 20th century. Its upper cloisters, first completed in 1526 and restored in the 19th century, contain [[Mudéjar]] ornamentation, including a ceiling of [[larch]] wood, painted with the motifs and coats of arms of the [[Catholic Monarchs]], and the motto ''[[Tanto monta, monta tanto, Isabel como Fernando|Tanto monta, monta tanto]]''. The monastery building is traditionally said to have been commissioned by Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand II to commemorate their victory over the Portuguese-Castilian forces of [[Afonso V of Portugal|Afonso V]] and [[John II of Portugal|Prince John]] at the [[Battle of Toro]] in 1476.<ref name="Proske1951">{{cite book|author=Beatrice Gilman Proske|title=Castilian Sculpture: Gothic to Renaissance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iUINAQAAIAAJ|year=1951|publisher=Hispanic Society of America|page=138}}</ref> To symbolize the victory of the Christians in the years-long Granada campaign, its [[granite]] exterior facade is festooned, as per the Queen's order of 1494, with the manacles and shackles worn by Christian prisoners from Granada held by the Moors and released during the Reconquista.<ref name="Boyd2002">{{cite book|author=Alastair Boyd|title=The Companion Guide to Madrid and Central Spain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WR2psdzlljYC&pg=PA294|year=2002|publisher=Companion Guides|isbn=978-1-900639-37-8|pages=294–}}</ref>
Its cloister has a small garden. The ground floor's ceiling is formed of German cross vaults set with figures of saints interspersed with animal and plant motifs, all created by the Toledo sculptor Cecilio Béjar in the 20th century. Its upper cloisters, first completed in 1526 and restored in the 19th century, contain [[Mudéjar]] ornamentation, including a ceiling of [[larch]] wood, painted with the motifs and coats of arms of the [[Catholic Monarchs]], and the motto ''[[Tanto monta, monta tanto, Isabel como Fernando|Tanto monta, monta tanto]]''. The monastery building is traditionally said to have been commissioned by Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand II to commemorate their victory over the Portuguese-Castilian forces of [[Afonso V of Portugal|Afonso V]] and [[John II of Portugal|Prince John]] at the [[Battle of Toro]] in 1476.<ref name="Proske1951">{{cite book|author=Beatrice Gilman Proske|title=Castilian Sculpture: Gothic to Renaissance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iUINAQAAIAAJ|year=1951|publisher=Hispanic Society of America|page=138}}</ref> To symbolize the victory of the Christians in the years-long Granada campaign, its [[granite]] exterior facade is festooned, as per the Queen's order of 1494, with the manacles and shackles worn by Christian prisoners from Granada held by the Moors and released during the Reconquista.<ref name="Boyd2002">{{cite book|author=Alastair Boyd|title=The Companion Guide to Madrid and Central Spain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WR2psdzlljYC&pg=PA294|year=2002|publisher=Companion Guides|isbn=978-1-900639-37-8|pages=294–}}</ref>

== The Church ==
The temple, which was completed in 1495, fully corresponds to the Isabelline type, a single nave with chapels-niches between the buttresses and with choir raised to the feet.
It was built in several stages for which the initial project was modified several times. At first the central nave was crowned by an austere vault whose last pillar, that corresponds to the cruiser, strengthened the point of support of the dumbbell forming a thick buttress. But in 1484 the original project was remodeled by the hand of Guas who transformed the head in a funerary chapel covered by a dome, designed for the burial of the Catholic Monarchs. This was not accomplished and is why the header space gives a feeling of emptiness. The solution came in a second phase, already dead Jun Guas, in which the project was simplified.
The profuse ornamentation of the temple shows the symbols of the Catholic Monarchs, as well as the [[San John eagle]] and heraldic decoration. The inner perimeter of the church is crossed by a strip with a commemorative text, which can be considered an adaptation of the Arab epigraphy to the Christian architecture. The sculptor [[Egas Cueman]] collaborated decisively in the decoration of the set.

The altarpiece of the church was realized by [[Francisco de Comontes]] for the [[Museum of Santa Cruz|Hospital de Santa Cruz]], from there that shows the arms of the cardinal Mendoza, founder of the Hospital.
In the altarpiece we find the following scenes:
* ''Jesus on the road to Calvary'',
* ''The Descent'',
* ''Santa Elena with the miracles of the Cross''.

== The cloister ==
The cloister, built after the death of Guas, is formed by ribbed vaults without a central nave and a connial mixtilineal arch in the gallery on the second floor. In the arches of Entibo appear as decoration figures in the angles, and the tympanums of the doors is represented the Verónica. But the most prominent from the iconographic point of view is the wall of the cloister decorated with vegetable borders as an alfiz, leaving space for paintings and sculptures. Another of the cloister's doors shows a more open tributary arc related already to models of Enrique Egas of later time.

The construction of the cloister as well as that of the church was completed in 1476 while the rest of the convent took a few more years to complete. Nevertheless, the architect Juan Guas had to modify his initial project by orders of Isabel the Catholic which was disappointed with the result and wanted that the building reflected the magnificence of its vote. It would be around 1484 when we would find a second constructive phase that would affect both the cloister (which Guas would never see finished) and the transformation of the transept and part of the head of the church. It is important to keep in mind that although in the end this was not the case, Isabel the Catholic wanted San Juan de los Reyes to be her place of burial and for that reason he was especially demanding with Juan Guas. In the same way it is undoubted that once it was seen that this was not going to be so and the monastery remained only as residence of the Franciscan order, added to the fact of the death of Juan Guas, the constructive plans of the whole had to change once more.
After the death of Juan de Guas and in the time of Charles V, grandson of the Catholic Monarchs, there is documentation that by 1517 a second cloister had been completed. In the already were involved the masters Enrique and Antón Egas. It is understood that in order for the cloister to be completed at that time, its construction must have begun very soon and it indicates that even once Isabel the Catholic died the works in San Juan continued their course thanks to the patronazgo of both husband Ferdinand and his daughter Joanna , Although it is true that the new constructive impulse is considered to start with the involvement of Carlos V in the project.<ref>{{cite book | author = Daniel ORTIZ PRADAS | title = San Juan de los Reyes de Toledo : History, construction and restoration of a medieval monument | date = 2015 | publisher = La Ergastula|isbn=978-84-16242-08-5}}</ref>

It is also important to note the reforms that were made in 1496 after the death of Juan Guas, by Enrique and Antón Egas, who made the required reform that had to be done to the windows. The sacristy was also made by them around 1500. In a real cédula of June 2, 1494, it is said that Juan Guas is in charge of the church, chapel, cloister and overclass. It also indicates that its works had to finish them in a period of four years and also appear the corresponding payments. Before Juan Guas died, the kings entrusted to Simón de Colonia the appraisal of what was done in the cloister, including the reform not yet carried out by the Egas brothers. That is to say, that the appraisal was done while Juan Guas lived thinking that he would finish the work.<ref>{{web cite | author =Teresa Pérez Higuera | title = Around the construction process of San Juan de los Reyes in Toledo |url=http://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/ANHA/article/view/ANHA9797110011A/31546 | editorial = Annales de Historia del Arte, nº7 | language = Spanish | date = 1997 | dateaccess = 11 of October 2016}}</ref>

== The royal room ==
The Catholic Monarchs within their customs would take one that would then be repeated successively until Philip II, the itinerant court opted for convents as royal residence, and Toledo was one of these cities, for it Queen Isabel devised as a spiritual retreat.

The confiscation and French invasion destroyed a large part of the religious-palace complex, with only the church and the cloister being preserved from the first construction, but the documents tell us that this room existed and we know where it would be located.
For example, a document certifying a cedula issued by the Queen from Alcalá de Henares, where 630,000 maravedís are freed for the monastery, where it also specifies that a part is for the "Retirement that is to be erected on the said sacristy."<ref>{{cite book|author=ARRIBAS ARRANZ|title=News about San Juan de los Reyes | date = 1963 | pages = 51–62}}</ref>

But another document from the General Archive of Simancas, give information on the situation and dimensions of the royal chamber. In this document it is said to "make a broker next to the royal retirement of her highness on the sacristy",<ref>{{cite book|author=ARRIBAS ARRANZ|title=News about San Juan de los Reyes|date=1963|pages=51–62}}</ref> and we do not know where it would be.

According to the plan of the building it can be deduced that the dimensions of the royal chamber would be the same as those of the sacristy 23,5 x 7, to the north it was bordered by the stairwell that communicated with the upper and lower cloister. Of the interior nothing is known, but surely it would be conditioned by the austerity that would be imposed during the spiritual retreats of the kings, in the case of mourning, and would consist only of a room and small rooms covered with a coffered ceiling similar to the one of the second floor of the courtyard.

Although the existence of Alcázar and royal palaces in the same city makes it more feasible that in truth the royal apartments of this church were used only on funeral occasion, as in Madrid were the rooms of San Gerónimo el Real for retreat and recollection during royal funerals.

The Queen did not finish her work and proceeded to a subsequent abandonment until Charles V, who in 1517, the guardian of the monastery wrote him informing him of the situation, and the king ordered Cardinal Cisneros to take care of assessing the damages to proceed in its restoration.<ref>{{cite book | author = ARRIBAS ARRANZ| title = News about San Juan de los Reyes | date = 1963 | pages = 63–67}}</ref> The definitive documentary evidence of the the existence of this royal room is the plane drawn in 1594 by Nicolás Vergara, where it is read "above the sacristía Royal room".


==Notes==
==Notes==
*This contains information taken from the homonymous article in the Spanish Wikipedia.
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


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*[[Hernando del Pulgar|{{visible anchor|Pulgar}}, Hernando del]] (1780) [http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra/cronica-de-los-senores-reyes-catolicos-don-fernando-y-dona-isabel-de-castilla-y-de-aragon--2/ ''Crónica de los Señores Reyes Católicos Don Fernando y Doña Isabel de Castilla y de Aragón''], (Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes), Valencia: edited by Benito Monfort.
*[[Hernando del Pulgar|{{visible anchor|Pulgar}}, Hernando del]] (1780) [http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra/cronica-de-los-senores-reyes-catolicos-don-fernando-y-dona-isabel-de-castilla-y-de-aragon--2/ ''Crónica de los Señores Reyes Católicos Don Fernando y Doña Isabel de Castilla y de Aragón''], (Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes), Valencia: edited by Benito Monfort.
*[[Garcia de Resende|{{visible anchor|Resende}}, Garcia de]] - [[:wikisource:pt:Vida e Feitos D' El-Rey Dom João Segundo/XIII|''Vida e feitos d’El Rei D.João II'']] electronic version, wikisource.
*[[Garcia de Resende|{{visible anchor|Resende}}, Garcia de]] - [[:wikisource:pt:Vida e Feitos D' El-Rey Dom João Segundo/XIII|''Vida e feitos d’El Rei D.João II'']] electronic version, wikisource.

==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.sanjuandelosreyes.org/ Website of the Monastery San Juan de los Reyes]
* [http://www.sanjuandelosreyes.org/ Website of the Monastery San Juan de los Reyes]


{{Tourism in Toledo}}
{{Tourism in Toledo}}

[[Category:Churches in Toledo, Spain|Juan de Los Reyes]]
[[Category:Churches in Toledo, Spain|Juan de Los Reyes]]
[[Category:Franciscan monasteries in Spain|Juan de los Reyes]]
[[Category:Franciscan monasteries in Spain|Juan de los Reyes]]

Revision as of 21:17, 24 February 2017

Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes
Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes
Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes is located in Castilla-La Mancha
Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes
Location within Castilla-La Mancha
Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes is located in Spain
Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes
Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes (Spain)
Monastery information
Other namesSan Juan de la Reyna
Dedicated toSaint John the Evangelist
People
Founder(s)King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile
Architecture
ArchitectJuan Guas
StyleIsabelline Gothic
Groundbreaking1477
Completion date1504
Site
LocationCoat of arms of Toledo Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain
Coordinates39°51′28″N 4°1′54″W / 39.85778°N 4.03167°W / 39.85778; -4.03167
Detail of Mudéjar ceiling in the cloister.

The Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes (English: Monastery of Saint John of the Kings) is an Isabelline style monastery in Toledo, in Castile-La Mancha, Spain, built by the Catholic Monarchs (1477–1504).

A monument to celebrate

This monastery was founded by King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile to commemorate both the birth of their son, Prince John, and their victory at the Battle of Toro (1476) over the army of Afonso V of Portugal.

Prince John of Portugal also celebrated[1] his victory over the Castilian army of the Catholic monarchs with a solemn procession on each anniversary of the battle.[2][3] This apparent contradiction was a consequence of the indecisive[4][5] military outcome of the battle: the troops under Afonso V broke[6][7] while the forces led by Prince John of Portugal defeated[8][9] the Castilian right wing and remained in possession of the battlefield.[10][11]

Undoubtedly, the battle represented a decisive political victory for the Catholic Monarchs,[12][13] assuring them the throne and paving the way for the future united kingdoms of Spain. As summarized by the Spanish academic historian Rafael Casas:

"...San Juan de los Reyes resulted from the royal will to build a monastery to commemorate the victory in a battle with an uncertain outcome but decisive, the one fought in Toro in 1476, which consolidated the union of the two most important Peninsular Kingdoms."[14]

Toledo was chosen as the site for building the monastery due to its central geographic location and because it had been the capital of the ancient Visigoth kingdom, symbolically reconstituted by Isabella and Ferdinand with the restoration of the lost unity of Spain, through the union of Castile with Aragon.[14]

History

The monastery of San Juan de los Reyes, considered as the most representative building of Toledan Isabelline Gothic, was built by the Catholic Monarchs under the direct patronage of the Queen, for that, this monastery was initially named "San Juan de la Reyna"[15] and was conceived to be the mausoleum[16] of the Catholic Monarchs. They would change their plans later, choosing Granada as their burial place, after its reconquest in 1492.[16] Was raised to commemorate also the victory of Toro (1476) and the birth of Prince Don Juan (1478), as well as to create a collegiate church of canons that served as a royal pantheon, according to Friar Pedro de Salazar,[17] chronicler of the Franciscan order.

The creation of a modern state by the Catholic Monarchs resulted in the foundation of chapels, hospitals, etc., as well as the completion of previous works such as the cathedrals of Burgos and Toledo. That is why they combine the forms of Flamboyant Gothic brought by architects like Enrique Egas or Juan de Colonia with elements of the Arabic architecture of southern Spain.

Therefore, in San Juan de los Reyes the glory of the monarchs who had united the different Christian kingdoms and were fighting to conquer the last Muslim place of the Peninsula, the Kingdom of Granada, is shown. Likewise, the guard and custody of the monastery was entrusted to the Franciscans of the Observance. The choice of this order in favor of others is due to the fact that the Franciscans of the observance wanted to return to a lifestyle more pure and far from all the excesses and luxuries that had occurred in the Middle Ages, idea that also shared the Catholic Monarchs. With this policy they were given the definitive support to the Conventual Franciscans, the other branch of the Franciscans. Through this political tactic, Isabel and Ferdinand pretended to control the aristocratic clergy and the cabildos.[18]

For this functional diversity, the Monastery must be understood from a typological perspective, as "political-religious acropolis", according to the cataloging of the specialist Fernando Chueca Goitia. In this way it is included in an architectural tradition that begins with the Diocletian's Palace in Spalato and culminates in the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.[19]

In 1926 it was declared Historical-Artistic Monument of national interest.

It is now known that the architect of San Juan de los Reyes was Juan Guas. Nevertheless, its name is not mentioned until 1853, after the finding of an inscription located in the chapel of the church Iglesia de San Justo y Pastor of Toledo. Until then, it will be considered anonymous authorship and this is shown by the writings of authors such as Antonio Ponz or Magán, who will not mention the author of this work.[20]

Various studies carried out by José María Azcárate Ristori in the years 1956 and 1958 show that since 1494 Juan Guas was in charge of the works, and its name is linked to the master Egas Cueman, being the two masters between 1479 and 1485.[21][22]

San Juan de los Reyes by Jenaro Pérez Villaamil inflates the scale for pictorial effect.

Description

Main chapel of the church.
Reliefs with the coats of the Catholic Monarchs inside the church.
Appearance of the cloister.

The monastery is an example of Gothic style with Spanish and Flemish influences. Its church is in the form of a Latin cross, with short arms, an elongated nave (approximately 50 metres in length, and 30 metres high), and side chapels situated between the domed arches – three chapels on either side of the nave, and two more under the choir. The church is notable for its decoration of the coats of arms of the Catholic Monarchs held by eagles. Its chancel is decorated with an altar (mid-16th century) from the former Santa Cruz Hospital by sculptor Felipe Bigarny and painter Francisco de Comontes, depicting scenes from the Passion and the Resurrection, as well as two scenes of the Santa Cruz legend.

Its cloister has a small garden. The ground floor's ceiling is formed of German cross vaults set with figures of saints interspersed with animal and plant motifs, all created by the Toledo sculptor Cecilio Béjar in the 20th century. Its upper cloisters, first completed in 1526 and restored in the 19th century, contain Mudéjar ornamentation, including a ceiling of larch wood, painted with the motifs and coats of arms of the Catholic Monarchs, and the motto Tanto monta, monta tanto. The monastery building is traditionally said to have been commissioned by Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand II to commemorate their victory over the Portuguese-Castilian forces of Afonso V and Prince John at the Battle of Toro in 1476.[23] To symbolize the victory of the Christians in the years-long Granada campaign, its granite exterior facade is festooned, as per the Queen's order of 1494, with the manacles and shackles worn by Christian prisoners from Granada held by the Moors and released during the Reconquista.[24]

The Church

The temple, which was completed in 1495, fully corresponds to the Isabelline type, a single nave with chapels-niches between the buttresses and with choir raised to the feet. It was built in several stages for which the initial project was modified several times. At first the central nave was crowned by an austere vault whose last pillar, that corresponds to the cruiser, strengthened the point of support of the dumbbell forming a thick buttress. But in 1484 the original project was remodeled by the hand of Guas who transformed the head in a funerary chapel covered by a dome, designed for the burial of the Catholic Monarchs. This was not accomplished and is why the header space gives a feeling of emptiness. The solution came in a second phase, already dead Jun Guas, in which the project was simplified. The profuse ornamentation of the temple shows the symbols of the Catholic Monarchs, as well as the San John eagle and heraldic decoration. The inner perimeter of the church is crossed by a strip with a commemorative text, which can be considered an adaptation of the Arab epigraphy to the Christian architecture. The sculptor Egas Cueman collaborated decisively in the decoration of the set.

The altarpiece of the church was realized by Francisco de Comontes for the Hospital de Santa Cruz, from there that shows the arms of the cardinal Mendoza, founder of the Hospital. In the altarpiece we find the following scenes:

  • Jesus on the road to Calvary,
  • The Descent,
  • Santa Elena with the miracles of the Cross.

The cloister

The cloister, built after the death of Guas, is formed by ribbed vaults without a central nave and a connial mixtilineal arch in the gallery on the second floor. In the arches of Entibo appear as decoration figures in the angles, and the tympanums of the doors is represented the Verónica. But the most prominent from the iconographic point of view is the wall of the cloister decorated with vegetable borders as an alfiz, leaving space for paintings and sculptures. Another of the cloister's doors shows a more open tributary arc related already to models of Enrique Egas of later time.

The construction of the cloister as well as that of the church was completed in 1476 while the rest of the convent took a few more years to complete. Nevertheless, the architect Juan Guas had to modify his initial project by orders of Isabel the Catholic which was disappointed with the result and wanted that the building reflected the magnificence of its vote. It would be around 1484 when we would find a second constructive phase that would affect both the cloister (which Guas would never see finished) and the transformation of the transept and part of the head of the church. It is important to keep in mind that although in the end this was not the case, Isabel the Catholic wanted San Juan de los Reyes to be her place of burial and for that reason he was especially demanding with Juan Guas. In the same way it is undoubted that once it was seen that this was not going to be so and the monastery remained only as residence of the Franciscan order, added to the fact of the death of Juan Guas, the constructive plans of the whole had to change once more.

After the death of Juan de Guas and in the time of Charles V, grandson of the Catholic Monarchs, there is documentation that by 1517 a second cloister had been completed. In the already were involved the masters Enrique and Antón Egas. It is understood that in order for the cloister to be completed at that time, its construction must have begun very soon and it indicates that even once Isabel the Catholic died the works in San Juan continued their course thanks to the patronazgo of both husband Ferdinand and his daughter Joanna , Although it is true that the new constructive impulse is considered to start with the involvement of Carlos V in the project.[25]

It is also important to note the reforms that were made in 1496 after the death of Juan Guas, by Enrique and Antón Egas, who made the required reform that had to be done to the windows. The sacristy was also made by them around 1500. In a real cédula of June 2, 1494, it is said that Juan Guas is in charge of the church, chapel, cloister and overclass. It also indicates that its works had to finish them in a period of four years and also appear the corresponding payments. Before Juan Guas died, the kings entrusted to Simón de Colonia the appraisal of what was done in the cloister, including the reform not yet carried out by the Egas brothers. That is to say, that the appraisal was done while Juan Guas lived thinking that he would finish the work.[26]

The royal room

The Catholic Monarchs within their customs would take one that would then be repeated successively until Philip II, the itinerant court opted for convents as royal residence, and Toledo was one of these cities, for it Queen Isabel devised as a spiritual retreat.

The confiscation and French invasion destroyed a large part of the religious-palace complex, with only the church and the cloister being preserved from the first construction, but the documents tell us that this room existed and we know where it would be located. For example, a document certifying a cedula issued by the Queen from Alcalá de Henares, where 630,000 maravedís are freed for the monastery, where it also specifies that a part is for the "Retirement that is to be erected on the said sacristy."[27]

But another document from the General Archive of Simancas, give information on the situation and dimensions of the royal chamber. In this document it is said to "make a broker next to the royal retirement of her highness on the sacristy",[28] and we do not know where it would be.

According to the plan of the building it can be deduced that the dimensions of the royal chamber would be the same as those of the sacristy 23,5 x 7, to the north it was bordered by the stairwell that communicated with the upper and lower cloister. Of the interior nothing is known, but surely it would be conditioned by the austerity that would be imposed during the spiritual retreats of the kings, in the case of mourning, and would consist only of a room and small rooms covered with a coffered ceiling similar to the one of the second floor of the courtyard.

Although the existence of Alcázar and royal palaces in the same city makes it more feasible that in truth the royal apartments of this church were used only on funeral occasion, as in Madrid were the rooms of San Gerónimo el Real for retreat and recollection during royal funerals.

The Queen did not finish her work and proceeded to a subsequent abandonment until Charles V, who in 1517, the guardian of the monastery wrote him informing him of the situation, and the king ordered Cardinal Cisneros to take care of assessing the damages to proceed in its restoration.[29] The definitive documentary evidence of the the existence of this royal room is the plane drawn in 1594 by Nicolás Vergara, where it is read "above the sacristía Royal room".

Notes

  • This contains information taken from the homonymous article in the Spanish Wikipedia.
  1. ^ ↓ Spanish historian Ana Carrasco Manchado: "...The battle [of Toro] was fierce and uncertain, and because of that both sides attributed themselves the victory. Prince John, the son of Alfonso of Portugal, sent letters to the Portuguese cities declaring victory. And Ferdinand of Aragon did the same. Both wanted to take advantage of the victory's propaganda." In Isabel I de Castilla y la sombra de la ilegitimidad: propaganda y representación en el conflicto sucesorio (1474-1482), 2006, p.195, 196.
  2. ^ ↓ Spanish historian Cesáreo Fernández Duro: "...For those who ignore the background of these circumstances it will certainly seem strange that while the Catholic Monarchs raised a temple in Toledo in honour of the victory that God grant them on that occasion, the same fact [the Battle of Toro] was festively celebrated with solemn processions on its anniversary in Portugal” in La batalla de Toro (1476). Datos y documentos para su monografía histórica, in Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia, tome 38, Madrid, 1901,p. 250.
  3. ^ ↓ Manchado, Isabel I de Castilla y la sombra de la ilegitimidad: propaganda y representación en el conflicto sucesorio (1474-1482), 2006, p.199 (foot note nr.141)
  4. ^ ↓ Spanish academic António M. Serrano: " From all of this it is deductible that the battle [of Toro] was inconclusive, but Isabella and Ferdinand made it fly with wings of victory. (...) Actually, since this battle transformed in victory; since March 1, 1476, Isabella and Ferdinand started to rule in the Spain's throne. (...) The inconclusive wings of the battle became the secure and powerful wings of San Juan's eagle [the commemorative temple of the Battle of Toro] ." In San Juan de los Reyes y la batalla de Toro, revista Toletum, 1979 (9), segunda época, pp. 55-70. Real Academia de Bellas Artes y Ciencias Históricas de Toledo, Toledo. ISSN: 0210-6310
  5. ^ ↓ historian Justo L. González: " Both armies faced each other at the camps of Toro resulting in an indecisive battle. But while the Portuguese King reorganized his troops, Ferdinand sent news to all the cities of Castile and to several foreign kingdoms informing them about a huge victory where the Portuguese were crushed. Faced with these news, the party of “la Beltraneja" [Juana] was dissolved and the Portuguese were forced to return to their kingdom." in Historia del Cristianismo, Editorial Unilit, Miami, 1994, Tome 2, Parte II (La era de los conquistadores), p.68.
  6. ^ ↓ Pulgar, Crónica de los Señores Reyes Católicos Don Fernando y Doña Isabel de Castilla y de Aragón, chapter XLV.
  7. ^ ↓ Garcia de Resende- Vida e feitos d’El Rei D.João II, chapter XIII.
  8. ^ ↓ chronicler Hernando del Pulgar (Castilian): "...promptly, those 6 Castilian captains, which we already told were at the right side of the royal battle, and were invested by the prince of Portugal and the bishop of Évora, turned their backs and put themselves on the run." in Crónica de los Señores Reyes Católicos Don Fernando y Doña Isabel de Castilla y de Aragón, chapter XLV.
  9. ^ ↓ chronicler Garcia de Resende (Portuguese): "... And being the battles of both sides ordered that way and prepared to attack by nearly sunshine, the King ordered the prince to attack the enemy with his and God's blessing, which he obeyed (…). (…) and after the sound of the trumpets and screaming all for S. George invested so bravely the enemy battles, and in spite of their enormous size, they could not stand the hard fight and were rapidly beaten and put on the run with great losses." In Vida e feitos d’El Rei D.João II, chapter XIII.
  10. ^ ↓ chronicler Juan de Mariana (Castilian): "...the enemy led by prince D. John of Portugal, who without suffering defeat, stood on a hill with his forces in good order until very late (...). Thus, both forces [Castilian and Portuguese] remained face to face for some hours; and the Portuguese kept their position during more time (...)" in Historia General de España, tome V, book XXIV, chapter X, p. 299,300.
  11. ^ ↓ chronicler Rui de Pina (Portuguese): "And being the two enemy battles face to face, the Castilian battle was deeply agitated and showing clear signs of defeat if attacked as it was without King and dubious of the outcome.(...) And without discipline and with great disorder they went to Zamora. So being the Prince alone on the field without suffering defeat but inflicting it on the adversary he became heir and master of his own victory" in Chronica de El- rei D.Affonso V... 3rd book, chapter CXCI.
  12. ^ ↓ A. Ballesteros Beretta: "His moment is the inconclusive Battle of Toro.(...) both sides attributed themselves the victory (...). The letters written by the King [Ferdinand] to the main cities ... are a model of skill. (...) what a powerful description of the battle! The nebulous transforms into light, the doubtful acquires the profile of a certain triumph. The politic [Ferdinand] achieved the fruits of a discussed victory.” In Fernando el Católico, el mejor rey de España, Ejército revue, nr 16, p. 56, May 1941.
  13. ^ ↓ Vicente Álvarez Palenzuela- La guerra civil Castellana y el enfrentamiento con Portugal (1475-1479): "That is the battle of Toro. The Portuguese army had not been exactly defeated, however, the sensation was that D. Juana`s cause had completely sunk. It made sense that for the Castilians Toro was considered as the divine retribution, the compensation desired by God to compensate the terrible disaster of Aljubarrota, still alive in the Castilian memory".
  14. ^ a b ↓ Rafael Dominguez Casas in San Juan de los reyes: espacio funerário y aposento régio in Boletín del Seminário de Estúdios de Arte y Arqueologia, number 56, p.364, 1990.
  15. ^ ↓ Manchado, Isabel I de Castilla y la sombra de la ilegitimidad: propaganda y representación en el conflicto sucesorio (1474-1482), 2006, p.283.
  16. ^ a b ↓ Serrano, San Juan de los Reyes y la batalla de Toro, revista Toletum, 1979(9) p.55-70. Real Academia de Bellas Artes y Ciencias Históricas de Toledo, Toledo. ISSN: 0210-6310
  17. ^ FRAY PEDRO DE SALAZAR (1612). Chronicle and History of the foundation and progress in the province of Castile of the Order of the Blessed Father Saint Francis.
  18. ^ Verónica GIJÓN JIMÉNEZ (2013). The Convent of San Juan de los Reyes in the stories of Journey The Early Modern Age. University of Castilla La Mancha.
  19. ^ CHUECA GOITIA, F. '' The Royal Sites around Madrid '' Royal Sites XXV Anniversary. Madrid, 1989. P.47.
  20. ^ Daniel Ortiz Alonso (2015). San Juan de los Reyes de Toledo: history, construction and restoration of a medieval monument. Madrid. pp. 31–56. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |editorial= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  21. ^ José María Azcárate Ristori (1958). The Toledan architecture of the 15th century. Madrid.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  22. ^ José María Azcárate Ristori (1956). The Toledan work of Juan Guas. p. 9-41. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |publication= ignored (help)
  23. ^ Beatrice Gilman Proske (1951). Castilian Sculpture: Gothic to Renaissance. Hispanic Society of America. p. 138.
  24. ^ Alastair Boyd (2002). The Companion Guide to Madrid and Central Spain. Companion Guides. pp. 294–. ISBN 978-1-900639-37-8.
  25. ^ Daniel ORTIZ PRADAS (2015). San Juan de los Reyes de Toledo : History, construction and restoration of a medieval monument. La Ergastula. ISBN 978-84-16242-08-5.
  26. ^ Teresa Pérez Higuera (1997). "Around the construction process of San Juan de los Reyes in Toledo" (in Spanish). {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateaccess= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |editorial= ignored (help)
  27. ^ ARRIBAS ARRANZ (1963). News about San Juan de los Reyes. pp. 51–62.
  28. ^ ARRIBAS ARRANZ (1963). News about San Juan de los Reyes. pp. 51–62.
  29. ^ ARRIBAS ARRANZ (1963). News about San Juan de los Reyes. pp. 63–67.

References

Articles

Books

Chronicles

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