Monks and knights in medieval Galicia.The example of the Benedictines of Toxos Outos in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries

Abstract

The aim of this article is to investigate the relationship between the Benedictine monks of San Justo and Pastor de Toxos Outos and the local military aristocracy of the archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela between the twelfth and the thirteenth centuries. By a comparative study with other monastic realities in Galicia, this work will show the existence of a strong competition between monastic Orders in Galicia and how the Benedictines monks of Toxos Outos were able to cope with the loss of royal and high aristocratic support by shifting their attention to the knightly class. The study of these aspects will also illustrate how monastic sources may be used to study the lower aristocratic groups, their composition, ambitions and development in the north western Iberian Peninsula in the high Middle Ages.