Maestres versus caballeros. La disidencia frente al poder en la orden de Calatrava  (siglos XII-XV)

The military order of Calatrava was one of the most important institutions of the kingdom of Castile during the Middle Ages. Thanks to the support of the monarchy it acquired a notable power. This power was military, political, economic, social and religious. The leader of the order was the master. The power of the master was of monarchic character. From the early times, the exercise of power of the masters provoked dissents on the part of the knights of Calatrava. In this work, we analyze these dissents. Firstly, the three cases that caused the schisms: the inadequate action of the master, the division among the fratres and the interventionism of the monarchy. Secondly, we analyze the factors that helped the development of the schisms: the support of the Aragonese monarchy and the Castilian civil wars. Finally, we deal with the consequences of the schisms: the weakening of the maestrazgo and of the order, and the increase of the control of the monarchy over the institution. To investigate all the previous matters we have used archivistic sources combined with chronicles