Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/358

214 ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. I'AiiT Castile was that of Alcantara, which also received ^ its confirmation from Pope Alexander the Third, in 1177. It was long held in nominal subordina- tion to the knights of Calatrava, from which it was relieved by Julius the Second, and eventually rose to an importance little inferior to that of its rival. ^^ The internal economy of these three fraterni- ties was regulated by the same general principles. The direction of affairs was intrusted to a council, consisting of the grand master and a number of the commanders (comendadores)^ among whom the ex- tensive territories of the order were distributed. This council, conjointly with the grand master, or the latter exclusively, as in the fraternity of Cala- trava, supplied the vacancies. The master himself was elected by a general chapter of these military functionaries alone, or combined with the conven- tual clergy, as in the order of Calatrava, which seems to have recognised the supremacy of the military over the spiritual division of the commu- nity, more unreservedly than that of St. James. These institutions appear to have completely an- swered the objects of their creation. In the earlier history of the Peninsula, we find the Christian chivalry always ready to bear the brunt of battle against the Moors. Set apart for this peculiar duty, their services in the sanctuary only tended to prepare them for their sterner duties in the field of battle, where the zeal of the Christian soldier may 39 Rades y Andrada, Las Tres while mantle, embroidered with a Ordenes, part. 3, fol. 1-6. — green cross. The knights of Alcantara wore a