El inexistente monasterio de Yerga y el origen del monasterio de Fitero [The nonexistent monastery of Yerga and the origin of monastery of Fitero]

Abstract

The origins of the first cistercian monastery in the Iberian Peninsula have been obscured  the manipulation of its archives, due to the difficulties that this monastery has gone through, from its first settlement in Niencebas, its transfer to Castellón-Fitero, to its definitive settlement in the second monastery of Fitero. These difficulties includ the adventure of the foundation of the Military Order of Calatrava, the territorial wars between the kingdoms of Castile, Pamplona and Aragon, and between the bishoprics of Calahorra and Tarazona, in their common border, that is, their Fitero. This led to the creation of mythical origins, linked to a monastery located on Mount Yerga, which never existed.