Order of Calatrava

Order of Calatrava, in full Military Order of Calatrava, Spanish Orden Militar de Calatrava,  major military and religious order in Spain. The order was originated in 1158 when King Sancho III of Castile ceded the fortress of Calatrava to Raymond, abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Fitero, with instructions to defend it against the Moors. The order of knights and monks who defended the fort was formally recognized by the pope in 1164, and it became closely affiliated with the Cistercian abbey of Morimond in 1187.
