Lora and the Order of Malta - Turismo Lora del Río

The Order settles in Spain at the beginning of the 12^th century, arriving in Andalusia with the campaigns of Fernando III. He concentrated most of his patrimony in lands of Córdoba and Seville and in the Guadalquivir’s middle course.

Lora’s donation to the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem was the result of the reconquering work of Fernando III. In a privileged shot of 1241, Lora’s villas and castles, Setefilla and Almenara Castle were given away. In 1249, the “sanjuanistas” received the Malapiel’s and Alcolea’s forts as a donation. They also obtained a diploma eight years later, in which both the previous fortresses and the forts of Peñaflor and Algarín were added. Setefilla’ bailiwick began to be built with these donations.

When the Order began the repopulation did too around 1259, and a Council was established in Lora; a series of privileges of the population and a Charter were granted, according to “Carta-Puebla”. The letter of confirmation was given in 1264. The Council maintained the authority in the territory until the end of the 13th century, when the Eastern part of the bailiwick came out of the jurisdiction of the Order. This was the case for Peñaflor, Almenara and Malapiel. Lora maintained its leadership over the rest of the manor until the separation of Alcolea in 1504.

The bailiwick of Lora and Setefilla ceased to depend on the Prior in 1531. The first bailiff of Lora was Frey Pedro Núñez de Herrera, with a site in Córdoba. It is documented that in 1587 the annual income of Lora’s bailiwick amounted to 9,400 gold ducats, indicating the importance it had.

It was King Carlos IV, in 1802, who proclaimed himself Master of the Order in Spain. The disappearance of the government and of the Order’s heritage itself happened throughout the nineteenth century, during the dismantlement process. The last bailiff of Lora was the Infant D. Francisco de Paula Antonio of Bourbon, brother of Fernando

VII. Likewise, in 1873 Pope Pius IX suppressed the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem in Spain, and since then the churches of Lora became dependent on the diocese of Seville.

Teresa Castellano Cuesta, author of the summary text. It is for the catalog of the exhibition “Lora and the Order of Malta. Centuries of history in common”)”