The monastic system as builder of European medium-sized cities: genesis, exchanges, transformations and heritage

The monastic system as builder of European medium-sized cities Genesis, exchanges, transformations and heritage F. Javier Ostos Prieto Directors: María Teresa Pérez Cano | José Manuel Aladro Prieto | Christa Reicher Doctoral Programme in Architecture | University of Seville | RWTH Aachen University Cover: Monastic system of the cities of Aachen (top right) and Écija (bottom left) in the 18th century. Own elaboration. Back cover: On the left the symbol of the sun, from Écija. On the right the symbol of Charlemagne, from Aachen. Doctoral Thesis PhD candidate: Francisco Javier Ostos Prieto Directors/Advisors: María Teresa Pérez Cano, José Manuel Aladro Prieto and Christa Reicher Faculties: Higher Technical School of Architecture of Seville and Faculty of Architecture RWTH Aachen Universities: University of Seville and RWTH Aachen University (c) of texts: author (c) of images: author 15. September 2023 The monastic system as builder of European medium-sized cities Genesis, exchanges, transformations and heritage Thesis approved by the Faculty of Architecture at the Rheinisch-Westfälischen Technischen Hochschule Aachen to obt a in the academic title of Doctor of Engineering Sciences and by the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Sevilla to obt a in the academic title of Doctor. submitted by Francisco Javier Ostos Prieto from Écija, Seville Advisors: Dr. María Teresa Pérez Cano | Dr. José Manuel Aladro Prieto | Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Christa Reicher Date of the oral examination: 13.02.2024 This thesis is available online on the Central University Library website. Previous note: The doctoral thesis is carried out under an Agreement of Joint Thesis Supervision between Seville Uni- versity and RWTH Aachen University. English has been used as the main language for the writing of the dissertation. Furthermore, according to the Agreement of Joint Thesis Supervision, an abstract, summary and conclusions are provided in English, German and Spanish. University of Seville Higher Technical School of Architecture Doctoral Program in Architecture Award the following degree: Doctor en Arquitectura (Dr.) Thesis advisors Dr. María Teresa Pérez Cano Department of Urban and Regional Planning Dr. José Manuel Aladro Prieto Department of History, Theory and Architectural Composition. RWTH Aachen University Faculty of Architecture Doctoral Program in Architecture Award the following degree: Doktor der Ingenieurwissenschaften (Dr.-Ing.) Thesis advisor Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Christa Reicher Chair of Urban Design and Institute for Urban Design and European Urbanism. Doctoral student Francisco Javier Ostos Prieto Thesis title The monastic system as builder of European medium-sized cities. Genesis, exchanges, transformations and heritage 2023 agreement of joint thesis supervision between seville university and rwth aachen university “Do not trouble your hearts overmuch with thought of the road tonight. Maybe the paths that you each shall tread are already laid before your feet, though you do not see them” (Tolkien, 1954, p.359) A mi madre A mi padre A mi hermano A toda mi familia A mis directores en Sevilla Al grupo de investigación HUM700 Al departamento de Urbanística y Ordenación del Territorio Al departamento de Historia, Teoría y Composición Arquitectónicas Al programa de Doctorado en Arquitectura de la US An meine Direktorin in Aachen An den Lehrstuhl für Städtebau An das Promotionsprogramm an der Fakultät für Architektur RWTH Al Archivo Municipal de Écija Al Archivo de la Parroquia de Santa María y Santa Bárbara A la Asociación Amigos de Écija A la Biblioteca Municipal de Écija An das Stadtarchiv Aachen An das Bischöfliches Diözesanarchiv Aachen An das LVR-Amt für Denkmalpflege im Rheinland An die Universitätsbibliothek RWTH To the cities Aachen Arcos de la Frontera Brenes Campinas Écija General Roca Río Negro Gummersbach Jerez de la Frontera La Paz Leskovac Málaga Neuerburg Roma Sevilla Úbeda Wuppertal acknowledgements The European medium-sized cities have formed one of the largest scenes of monastic typology production. Monasteries and convents have been key elements in determining the future of urban growth and development. The regions of Andalusia and North Rhine-Westphalia are two territorial locations where one medium-sized city stands out in each of them. These are Écija and Aachen. An analysis and comparison of each city is carried out following a methodology which allows for the identification of the monastic system of the medieval and modern city. The research covers the first appearance of monasteries in the two cities, the exchanges between city and monastery, the urban transformations produced by these buildings and their current consideration as heritage through its protection and conservation. Keywords: Aachen, Écija, Europe, heritage, medium-sized cities, monastic urban system, urban transformation. Las ciudades medias europeas han formado uno de los mayores escenarios en la producción de la tipología monástica. Los conventos han sido piezas clave configurando los futuros cre- cimientos y desarrollos urbanos. Las regiones de Andalucía y Renania del Norte-Westfalia son dos territorios donde destacan principalmente una ciudad media en cada uno. Estas son Écija y Aquisgrán. En ellas, se realiza un estudio y comparativa siguiendo una metodología propia que permite la identificación del sistema monástico de la ciudad medieval y moderna. La investigación abarca desde la primera aparición de los monasterios en las dos ciudades, los intercambios entre ciudad y convento, las transformaciones urbanas producidas por estos edificios y su consideración actual como patrimonio a través de su protección y conservación. Palabras clave: Aachen, Écija, Europa, patrimonio, ciudades medias, sistema urbano conventual, transformación urbana. Die europäischen mittelgroßen Städte bilden einen der größten Schauplätze der klösterlichen Errichtung. Klöster waren Schlüsselelemente bei der Gestaltung des zukünftigen städtischen Wachstums und ihrer Entwicklung. Die Regionen Andalusien und Nordrhein-Westfalen sind zwei Gebiete, in denen jeweils eine mittelgroße Stadt hervorsticht. Es handelt sich um Ecija und Aachen. In jeder dieser Städte wird eine vergleichende Studie durchgeführt, die sich auf eine Methodik stützt, welche es ermöglicht, das Klostersystem der mittelalterlichen und modernen Stadt zu identifizieren. Die Untersuchung befasst sich mit dem Auftreten der Klöster in beiden Städten, dem Austausch zwischen Stadt und Kloster, den städtischen Veränderungen, die durch diese Gebäude hervorgerufen wurden, und ihrer heutigen Berücksichtigung als Kulturerbe durch ihren Schutz und ihre Erhaltung. Stichworte: Aachen, Écija, Europa, Kulturerbe, mittelgroße Städte, klösterliches Städtesystem, städtischer Wandel. abstract resumen kurzfassung Summary Zusammenfassung (german) Resumen extendido (spanish) 19 25 31 37 65 137 1| introduction 2| a multi scalar european phenomenon 3| the construction of the monastic city of écija indeX 237 4| the construction of the monastic city of aachen 349 405 423 441 459 5| spanish - german monastic realities 6| conclusions 6| abschlüsse (german) 6| conclusiones (spanish) 7| appendices 1.1 - Previous 1.2 - Research questions 1.3 - Objectives 1.4 - Methodology and case study selection 1.5 - State of art Summary Zusammenfassung (german) Resumen extendido (spanish) 2.1 - Origin of christian monasticism 2.2 - Urban development in Europe 2.3 - Monastic orders in Europe 2.4 - Spanish peninsular framework 2.4.1 - Historical an political contextualisation 2.4.2 - Church territorial system 2.4.3 - Monasticism in Andalusian context 2.4.3.1 - Historical-territorial development 2.4.3.2 - The monastic city in Andalusia 2.5 - German territory framework 2.5.1 - Historical and political contextualisation 2.5.2 - Church territorial system 2.5.3 - Monasticism in North Rhine-Westphalia context 2.5.3.1 - Historical-territorial development 2.5.3.2 - The monastic city in North Rhine-Westphalia 3.1 - Support and urban development 3.2 - Monastic foundations 3.2.1 - Orders and establishment 3.2.1.1 - Male 3.2.1.2 - Female 3.2.2 - Situation of the monastic building in the city 3.2.3 - Impact on other urban foundations 39 42 44 47 57 67 71 78 86 87 91 94 97 102 109 109 113 118 120 127 139 145 146 157 158 159 164 65 137 1| introduction 2| a multi scalar european phenomenon 3| the construction of the monastic city of écija indeX 19 25 31 37 4.1 - Support and urban development 4.2 - Monastic foundations 4.2.1 - Orders and establishment until 18th century 4.2.1.1 - Male 4.2.1.2 - Female 4.2.2 - Situation of the monastic building in the city 4.2.3 - Impact on other urban foundations 4.3 - City and monastery 4.3.1 - The church, a key part of the monastic building 4.3.2 - The cloister, articulator of the monastic spaces 4.3.3 - Monasteries and convents, urban facilities 4.3.4 - Toponymy 4.4 - Urban transformations of the monastic pieces 4.4.1 - Urban changes in the 19th century, secularisation and Kulturkampf 4.4.2 - Orders and foundations in the 19th century 4.4.3 - Persistence and fragments of the monastery 4.4.4 - The renewal of urban spaces 4.4.5 - Disappearance and loss of the monastic building 239 248 249 261 262 263 268 271 271 274 278 281 283 284 291 298 303 309 166 166 170 172 176 178 181 181 189 195 198 203 203 208 216 216 222 225 230 237 4| the construction of the monastic city of aachen 3.3 - City and monastery 3.3.1 - The church, a key part of the monastic building 3.3.2 - The cloister, articulator of the monastic spaces 3.3.3 - Monasteries and convents, urban facilities 3.3.4 - Toponymy 3.3.5 - The rite and the procession 3.4 - Urban transformations of the monastic pieces 3.4.1 - Urban renewal in the 19th century and secularisation 3.4.2 - Persistence and fragments of the monastery 3.4.3 - The renewal of urban spaces 3.4.4 - Disappearance and loss of the monastic building 3.5 - Urban landscape 3.5.1 - The monastic city in iconography 3.5.2 - Towers and bell-glabes 3.6 - The monastic heritage 3.6.1 - The city in the 20th and 21st centuries 3.6.2 - Continuity of the monastic institution 3.6.3 - Monasteries and convents without monastic presence 3.6.4 - Protection and conservation in urban planning 5.1 - Territorial and monastic comparison in Andalusia and North Rhine-Westphalia 5.2 - Founding strategy comparison in Aachen and Écija 5.3 - Monastic urban system comparison in Aachen and Écija 5.4 - Urban transformation comparison of monastic building in Aachen and Écija 5.5 - Urban landscape comparison in Aachen and Écija 5.6 - Current state of the monastic urban system in Aachen and Écija Glossary Annexes List of Figures References 6.1 - Synthesis of the case studies 6.2 - Discussion of the results 6.3 - Checking the starting point 6.4 - Research contribution and impact 6.5 - Future research lines 351 358 370 378 387 394 461 465 495 479 407 412 415 417 419 349 405 423 441 459 5| spanish - german monastic realities 6| conclusions 6| abschlüsse ( german ) 6| conclusiones ( spanish ) 7| appendices 4.5 - Urban landscape 4.5.1 - The monastic city in iconography 4.5.2 - Towers, church spires and bell-glabes 4.6 - The monastic heritage 4.6.1 - The city in the 20th and 21st centuries 4.6.2 - Continuity of the monastic institution 4.6.3 - Monasteries and convents without monastic presence 4.6.4 - Protection and conservation in urban planning 312 312 319 326 326 333 336 341 In Europe, medium-sized cities have formed one of the major scenes in the production of monastic typology. This urban model, along with the development of monasticism, has generated a common identity on the continent which persists to this day. The role of monasteries and convents plays a deciding factor in the construction of the medieval and modern city. These buildings were inserted into the urban fabric, changing and modifying it through three fundamental stages: implantation, confiscation and urban transformation. The first took place with the appearance of mendicant orders in the 13th century; they were the first to establish foundations within cities. The second began with the Napoleonic advance in the 19th century when nigh the entire monastic heritage was secularised, ultimately producing transformations in the urban fabric which coinci- ded with the new advances and modernisations in the 20th century city. Monastic typology is positioned as a key element in urban development, shaping a new panorama of political, social and urban life. The presence of these buildings all over the continent is more than remarkable with regard to monastic heritage, and their importance is highly evident. This leads to the main research question of how do the convents and monasteries influence urban development of a medium-sized city. Additional questions arise from said subject, generating the research objectives of the doctoral thesis. In order to answer these questions and fulfil said objectives, a methodology has been developed as the foundation of the work. Its creation is of high relevance due to the methodological nature of the work; it is the usage and application of this methodology that prevails. The metho- dology has been divided into three interconnected phases which are used to carry out the analysis of urban monastic systems in medium-sized cities: contextual, analytic al and comparative-propositional. Moreover, the unique graphic and cartographic production is of great importance to this process; a visual character is given throughout each analysis and result. In order to verify the methodology, two regions in which the medium-sized city model is widely present, and both have a strong monastic character, are taken as case studies on a Euro- pean level. These are Andalusia and North Rhine-Westphalia. In these regions, the cities of Écija and Aachen stand out from the rest in terms of their monastic production. The study of the selected regions and cities highlights the mul- ti-scale character of the mona stic phenomenon. It encompasses not only the city, but also the territory and the European scale. This has made it necessary to go beyond the study of th e monastic layer and deepen the understanding of the phenomenon in all its historical, political, social and urban complexity. First of all, the origin of monastic typology is analysed on a continental summary scale. Furthermore, given that they are a key to understanding the appearance of monasteries, the various events which mark the development of Christianity, with the inclusion of struggles and conflicts, are taken into consideration. In this context, European urban development, its demography, and the factors which generate cities throughout Middle and Modern Ages, are also enunciated. Secondly, the scale is changed with the focus firstly on the contexts of present-day territories of Spain and Germany, to continue on a smaller scale in the regions of Andalusia and North Rhine-Westphalia. This point is decisive as it allows a detailed understanding of territorial, urban and monastic developments in these two areas of Europe. For this purpose, a historical-political ana lysis of the ecclesiastical terr itory is followed by a study of the aforementioned monastic cities. The latter establishes parameters such as the total number of foundations or types of religious orders in the two geographies. Understanding a city’s monastic system requires an analysis of its implantation inside the urban fabric. The study of the monastic cities of Écija and Aachen is carried out individually, although both have a nigh identical structure as the same methodology is applied to their study. The time frame ran- ges from the beginning of the monastic foundations, i.e. the 10th century in Aachen and the 14th century in Écija, to their development in the present day. The study of socio-political events is linked to urban development and the establishment of the monasteries. It is important to take an urban perspective in which the monastic location, and its relationship with the structure of the city, are analysed. Each order in the cities has been identified, along with their dates of establishment and disappearance, both in their male and female branches. Addi- tionally, an in-depth analysis of their characteristics, following the establishment of each order, has been carried out. In the 18th century, 25 foundations were located in Aachen and 21 in Écija. The monastic foundations are analysed in depth accor- ding to their location and type of religious order, divided into male and female. The city position establishes different urban relationships, as well as important parameters which determine the position of the building. Another important characteristic of monasticism is its foundational expansion from one city to another. In this sense, the impact on other cities and foun- dations in the region is studied, along with their importance. The monastery is a complex architectural typology composed of two essential parts: the church and the cloister. Firstly, the building is characterised by the church. Its urban position and floor plans are analysed in detail by taking in the data of built and unbuilt surface area. The cloister is taken for the free space next to the orchards, characterising authentic urban voids with surfaces greater than 4,000 m2 in some cases. In addition to the architectural elements of the monastic building, its functionality and uses are outstanding. It is not only a religious facility, but forms the basis for a health and education facility, and a social system. The importance and relationship between the city and monastery are also reflected in the street map. Numerous streets and squares derive their names from monastic spaces. Considering that monasteries and convents are religious in essence, it is crucial to refer to the urban relationship through rite and procession. The political, social and urban influences of the 19th century determined the development of cities. The advances of the French Enlightenment, great confiscation processes, population growth, new urban ideals, the appearance of new facilities and the exponential development of urban cartography, completely changed the image of the 19th-century city. In this section, a new monastic phase appears in Aachen, which determines its growth. The monastic buildings, due to their being large in number and size, were affected the most by urban trans- formation. For the study of secularisation, the persistence and fragments of monastic buildings have been located. This allows us to know the type of transformation and the remains of monasticism. Furthermore, it is important to note that the absence and need for large public spaces such as squares or avenues generates the expropriation of monasteries that end up becoming urban spaces. This type of transformation into urban spaces is analysed in a different section. One of the final and most relevant aspects of urban transformations is the com- plete disappearance of monasteries. Identifying and locating former monasteries and convents is key to understanding the monastic city as a whole. The urban monastic landscape is studied from back to the his- torical iconography of the 16th century and up to the satellite images of the 21st century, which provides a visual basis of great relevance for understanding the city. The 16th-century iconography is the oldest visual source, offering a detailed view of the city, and is supported by a visualised analysis in the form of the identification of monastic buildings. These repr esentations are characterised by a complete view of the city from outside its walls. The monastic typology is distinguished by its towers, spires and bell gables. These architectural elements stand out from the settlement and form one part of both cities’ urban landscape; one can see to this day how the towers comprise one segment of urban enclaves. The 20th and 21st century presented a new stage in urban development. In the case of Écija, the population was focused on rural activity and it hardly grew until the middle of the 20th century. A large part of monasticism has managed to survive the events marked by the urban transformations and confiscations of the 19th century. Since then, there has been a growing awareness of the need to protect and conserve monastic buildings. From the 1930s onwards, there has been protection of monastic heritage in Écija, which spread onto its historic centre in 1966. The exponential growth of Aachen was marked by its industrialisation and mining activity, which was interrupted by the war and post-war years between 1940 and 1950. Namely, the Second World War led to the destruction of almost the entire city, especially its historic centre. Therefore, churches, convents and monasteries were destroyed or severely damaged. Due to their value and importance, they were rebuilt, allowing for their typology to be identified today. From the 1960s and 1970s onwards, an intensive process of monastic heritage protection has been carried out. However, it was not until 2011 that the urban centre was under protection. The comparison between the two s elected case studies is decisi ve for the understanding of urban monastic development as a Euro - pean phenomenon. From the territorial scale of Andalusia and North Rhine-Westphalia, similarities and differences between territorial monastic systems can be discussed. Thanks to the methodology used, once the cases of Aachen and Écija were developed, the mapping of the two produced was compared. The main difference is the divergence in size and population between the two cities in the 20th century. While Aachen has undergone industrialisation and evolution, Écija remains encap - sulated and maintains itself with little growth. Subsequently, the graphical and numerical results of the foundations in the two cities are compared and contrasted. The most relevant fact is that the amount of monastic buildings is quite similar, with the monastic surface areas of 0.82km2 and 1.01km2. The comparison is made in greater depth both in terms of the buildings’ floor plans and in terms of surface areas and usages complementary to the religious one. The fourth point shows urban transformations of monasteries in the two cities. Again, types of urban transformation, as well as the data on surface areas and densities, are compared. The urban landscape is compared from the 16th century to the present day. Finally, in the current state of Écija and Aachen, a total number of 15 monastic buildings in 2023 in the two cities has been counted. On the other hand, current usages differ greatly from one case to another, being more diverse in the German city. With regard to heritage protection, although all monasteries are protected, significant differences in the regulations have been detected. A division into only three heritage categories in North Rhine-Westphalia is in contrast with an extensive diversity of heritage figures in the Spanish and Andalusian laws. The conclusions are presented in five sections. The first section is contextual in nature, as well as representative of the cities taken as case studies, Écija and Aachen. It is followed by a discussion of the results obtained from the comparison between the two cities. One of the foremost conclusions is the similarity in monas - tic development between the two case studies. Despite their geographical location and historical context, both have a very similar trajectory and processes of foundation, transformation and confiscation. The third section closes the thesis by returning to the first introductory chapter. In this chapter, the research questions are answered, and it is verified whether the stated objectives have been achieved and whether the methodology used has proved to be adequate. The latter has demonstrated its suitability and potential regarding both case studies and its possible extension to other cities. The fourth point explores the contributions and impact of this research, both of which can be in relation to urbanistic and scientific fields. For both Écija and Aachen, they constitute a new basis that allows us to know and work on the city both from the past and in its future. The new urban plans can take many of the key points set out in the monastic study, which are decisive for the construction of the city, as a reference point. The final section points out possible future lines of research derived from the work presented in the doctoral thesis; it proposes an extension to other countries or regions wherein one could continue verifying the monastic implantation in Europe. Furthermore, an approach is proposed regarding the territorial and UNESCO World Heritage scales of monastic systems, wherein other components such as culture and tourism are highlighted. Finally, an advance of the suitability of urban monastic systems for territorial and urban planning is proposed, materialised in urban planning and proposals for sustainable urban development. In Europa waren die mittelgroßen Städte einer der wichtigsten Schauplätze für die Entwicklung der Klostertypologie. Dieses Stadtmodell hat zusammen mit der Entwicklung des Mönchtums eine gemeinsame Identität auf dem Kontinent geschaffen, die bis heute anhält. Die Rolle der Klöster ist ein entscheidender Faktor beim Aufbau der mittelalterlichen und modernen Stadt. Diese Gebäude fügten sich in das städtische Gefüge ein und veränderten es in drei grundlegenden Phasen: Einsetzung, Aufhebung und Umwandlung der Stadt. Die erste Phase fand mit dem Auftreten der Bettelorden im 13. Jahrhundert statt. Sie waren die ersten, die in den Städten gegründet wurden. Die zweite Phase beginnt mit dem napoleonischen Vormarsch im 19. Jahrhundert, als praktisch das gesamte Klostererbe säkularisiert wird. Schließlich führte dies zu Veränderungen im städtischen Gefüge, die mit den neuen For tschritten und Moder - nisierungen in der Stadt im 20. Jahrhundert einhergingen. Die Klostertypologie wird als Schlüsselelement der Stadtentwicklung positioniert, das ein neues Panorama des politischen, sozialen und städtischen Lebens prägt. Die Präsenz dieser Gebäude auf dem gesamten Kontinent ist durch das Klostererbe mehr als bemerkenswert und ihre Bedeutung ist offensichtlich. Daraus ergibt sich die Hauptfors- chungsfrage: Wie beeinflussen die Klöster die Entwicklung einer mittelgroßen Stadt? Darauf aufbauende Fragen bestimmen die Forschungsziele der Dissertation. Um die Fragen beantworten und die vorgeschlagenen Ziele erreichen zu können, wurde eine Methodik entwickelt, die die Hauptgrundlage für die Arbeit darstellt. Ihre Erstellung ist wegen der methodologischen Natur der Arbeit von großer Bedeutung, d. h. die Verwendung und Anwendung dieser Methodik steht im Vordergrund. Die Methodik, auf die die Analyse des städtischen Klostersystems einer mittelgroßen Stadt beruht, wurde in drei miteinander verknüpfte Phasen unterteilt: kontextuelle, analytische und ver - gleichend-propositionelle. Wichtige Rolle in diesem Prozess spielt auch die einzigartige grafische und kartografische Produktion; die der Analyse und den Ergebnissen visuellen Charakter ver- leiht. Um die Methodik zu überprüfen, werden zwei Regionen, in denen das Modell der mittelgroßen Stadt weit verbreitet ist und die beide einen starken klösterlichen Charakter haben, als Fallstudien auf europäischer Ebene herangezogen. Es handelt sich um Andalusien und Nordrhein-Westfalen. In diesen Regio- nen heben sich die Städte Écija und Aachen in Bezug auf ihre klösterliche Produktion von den anderen ab. Die Untersuchung der ausgewählten Regionen und Städte verdeutlicht den vielschichtigen Charakter des klösterlichen Phänomens. Es umfasst nicht nur die Stadt, sondern auch das Gebiet und die europäische Ebene. Dies machte es notwendig, über die Analyse der klösterlichen Schicht hinauszugehen, um zusammenfassung unser Verständnis des Phänomens in seiner ganzen historischen, politischen, sozialen und urbanen Komplexität zu vertiefen. Zunächst wird der Ursprung der Klostertypologie auf konti- nentaler Ebene analysiert. Danach werden die verschiedenen Ereignisse, die für das Verständnis des Auftretens der Klöster entscheidend sind und die die Entwicklung des Christentums kennzeichnen, sowie Kämpfe und Konflikte untersucht. In die- sem Zusammenhang werden auch die städtische Entwicklung in Europa, seine Demografie und die Faktoren, die die Entste- hung von Städten im Mittelalter und in der Neuzeit beeinflus- sen, dargelegt. Zweitens wird der Rahmen geändert, indem zunächst die heutigen Gebiete Spaniens und Deutschlands in den Blick genommen werden, um dann in kleinerem Rahmen in den Regionen Andalusien und Nordrhein-Westfalen fortzu- fahren. Dieser Punkt ist ausschlaggebend, da er ein detailliertes Verständnis der territorialen, städtischen und klösterlichen Entwicklungen in diesen beiden Gebieten Europas ermöglicht. Zu diesem Zweck folgt auf eine historisch-politische Analyse des kirchlichen Gebiets eine Untersuchung der Klosterstädte. Das zuletzt Erwähnte ermittelt Parameter wie die Gesamtzahl der Gründungen oder der Ordenstypen in den beiden Gebieten.Um das Klostersystem zu verstehen, ist eine Analyse seiner Einbe- ttung in das städtische Gefüge erforderlich. Die Klosterstädte Écija und Aachen werden einzeln untersucht, obwohl beide eine fast identische Struktur aufweisen, da für ihre Untersuchung dieselbe Methodik angewandt wird. Der zeitliche Rahmen stellt der Beginn der Klostergründungen dar, vom 10. Jahrhundert in Aachen und dem 14. Jahrhun- dert in Écija, bis zu ihrer Entwicklung in der Gegenwart. Die Untersuchung der sozio-politischen Ereignisse ist mit der Stad- tentwicklung und der Gründung der Klöster verbunden. Es ist wichtig, eine städtebauliche Perspektive einzunehmen, in der der klösterliche Standort und seine Beziehung zur Struktur der Stadt analysiert werden. Alle Orden in den Städten wurden identifiziert, ebenso wie die Daten ihrer Gründung und ihres Verschwindens, sowohl in ihren männlichen als auch in ihren weiblichen Zweigen. Darüber hinaus wurde eine eingehende Analyse der Merkmale aller Orden nach ihrer Gründung dur- chgeführt. Im 18. Jahrhundert befanden sich 25 Klöster in Aachen und 21 in Écija. Die Klostergründungen werden nach ihrer Lage in der Stadt und nach der Art des Ordens analysiert und in Männer- und Frauenorden unterteilt. Aus der Lage in der Stadt ergeben sich unterschiedliche städtebauliche Beziehun- gen sowie wichtige Parameter, die den Standort des Gebäudes bestimmen. Ein weiteres wichtiges Merkmal des Mönchtums ist seine gründungsbedingte Ausbreitung von einer Stadt zur anderen. In diesem Sinne werden die Auswirkungen auf andere Städte und Gründungen in der Region sowie deren Bedeutung untersucht. Das Kloster ist eine komplexe architektonische Typologie, die aus zwei wesentlichen Teilen besteht, der Kirche und dem Kreuzgang. Erstens wird das Gebäude durch die Kirche cha- rakterisiert. Seine städtebauliche Lage und seine Grundrisse werden anhand der Daten über die bebaute und unbebaute Fläche eingehend analysiert. Der Kreuzgang wird als freier Raum neben den Obstgärten betrachtet, der authentische städtische Leerräume mit Flächen von teilweise mehr als 4.000 m2 charakterisiert. Neben den architektonischen Elementen des Klostergebäudes sind auch seine Funktionalität und seine Nutzungsmöglichkeiten herausragend. Es ist nicht nur eine religiöse Einrichtung, sondern es bildet auch die Grundlage des Systems von Gesundheits-, Bildungs-, Sozial- und anderen Einrichtungen. Die Bedeutung und Beziehung zwischen der Stadt und dem Kloster spiegelt sich auch im Straßenverzeich- nis wider. Zahlreiche Straßen- und Platznamen leiten sich von klösterlichen Räumen ab. Da Klöster und Konvente einen reli- giösen Charakter haben, ist es unvermeidlich, auf die städtische Beziehung durch den Ritus und die Prozession hinzuweisen. Die politischen, sozialen und städtebaulichen Einflüsse des 19. Jahrhunderts bestimmten die Entwicklung der Stadt. Die Forts- chritte der französischen Aufklärung, die großen Enteignungs- prozesse, das Bevölkerungswachstum, neue städtische Ideale, das Auftauchen neuer Einrichtungen und die exponentielle Entwicklung der städtischen Kartographie veränderten das Bild der Stadt im 19. Jahrhundert völlig. In diesem Abschnitt taucht eine neue klösterliche Phase in Aachen auf, die das Wachstum der Stadt bestimmt. Die Klosterbauten waren aufgrund ihrer großen Zahl und Größe am stärksten von den städtischen Transformationsprozessen betroffen. Für die Untersuchung der Säkularisation wurden die Überreste und Fragmente der Klosterbauten lokalisiert. Auf diese Weise lassen sich die Art der Umwandlung und die Überreste des Mönchtums feststellen. Darüber hinaus ist es wichtig zu betonen, dass das Fehlen und der Bedarf an großen öffentlichen Räumen wie Plätzen oder Alleen zur Enteignung von Klöstern führt, die schließlich zu städtischen Räumen werden. Diese Art der Umwandlung in städtische Räume wurde bereits in einem anderen Abschnitt analysiert. Einer der letzten wichtigen Aspekte der städtischen Umwandlungen ist das völlige Verschwinden von Klöstern. Die Identifizierung und Verortung ehemaliger Klöster ist der Schlüs - sel zum Verständnis der klösterlichen Stadt in ihrer Gesamtheit. Die städtische Klosterlandschaft wird von der historischen Ikonographie des 16. Jahrhunderts bis zu den Satellitenbildern des 21. Jahrhunderts untersucht, was eine bedeutsame grafis- che Unterstützung für das Verständnis der Stadt darstellt. Die Bilder aus dem 16. Jahrhundert sind die ältesten grafischen Quellen, die einen detaillierten Überblick über die Stadt bieten. Hinzu kommt eine grafische Analyse zur Identifizierung der Klostergebäude. Diese Darstellungen zeichnen sich durch eine vollständige Ansicht der Stadt von außerhalb der Stadtmauern aus. Die Klostertypologie zeichnet sich durch ihre Türme, Türm- chen und Glockengiebel aus. Diese architektonischen Elemente heben sich von der Siedlung ab und sind Teil des Stadtbildes beider Städte. Auch heute noch sind die Türme in vielen stä- dtischen Enklaven Teil des Landschaftsbildes. Das 20. und 21. Jahrhundert stellten eine neue Phase der Stadtentwicklung dar. Im Fall von Écija konzentrierte sich die Bevölkerung auf ländliche Tätigkeiten, und die Bevölkerung wuchs bis Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts kaum. Ein großer Teil des Mönchtums hat geschafft, die von den städtischen Umwälzungen und Enteig- nungen des 19. Jahrhunderts zu überleben. Seitdem wächst das Bewusstsein für die Notwendigkeit, die Klostergebäude zu schützen und zu erhalten. Ab den 1930er Jahren begann man in Écija mit dem Schutz des klösterlichen Erbes und setzte ihn 1966 im historischen Zentrum fort. Die Stadt Aachen ist von einem exponentiellen Wachstum durch Industrialisierung und Bergbau geprägt, das durch die Kriegs- und Nachkriegsjahre zwischen 1940 und 1950 unterbrochen wurde. Vor allem der Zweite Weltkrieg führte zur Zerstörung fast der gesamten Stadt, insbesondere des historischen Zentrums. So wurden auch Kirchen und Klöster zerstört oder schwer beschädigt. Aufgrund ihres Wertes und ihrer Bedeutung wurden sie wiederaufgebaut, so dass diese Typologie auch heute noch erkennbar ist. Ab den 1960er und 1970er Jahren begann ein intensiver Prozess zum Schutz des Klostererbes. Das Stadtzentrum wurde jedoch erst 2011 unter Schutz gestellt. Der Vergleich zwischen den beiden ausgewählten Fallstudien ist für das Verständnis der städtischen Klosterentwicklung als europäisches Phänomen entscheidend. Ausgehend vom räumli - chen Maßstab Andalusiens und Nordrhein-Westfalens können Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede zwischen territorialen Klostersystemen diskutiert werden. Dank der angewandten Methodik wird nach der Entwicklung der Fallbeispiele von Aachen und Écija die erstellte Karten miteinander verglichen. Der Hauptunterschied besteht darin, dass die beiden Städte im 20. Jahrhundert in Bezug auf Größe und Bevölkerung unter- schiedlich waren. Während sich das industrialisierte Aachen weiterentwickelt, ist Écija eingekapselt und bleibt mit geringem Wachstum bestehen. Anschließend werden die grafischen und numerischen Ergebnisse der Gründungen in den beiden Städten miteinander verglichen. Die wichtigste Tatsache ist, dass die Anzahl der Klostergebäude mit einer Klosterfläche von 0,82 und 1,01 km2 recht ähnlich ist. Der Vergleich wird sowohl in Bezug auf die Grundrisse der Gebäude als auch in Bezug auf die Flächen und Nutzungen, die die religiöse Nutzung ergänzen, vertieft. Der vierte Punkt zeigt die städtebaulichen Veränderungen der Klöster in den beiden Städten. Auch hier werden Daten über Flächen und Dichten sowie über die Art der städtischen Umgestaltung verglichen. Wir ziehen einen Vergleich zwischen dem Stadtbild aus dem 16. Jahrhundert und der Gegenwart. Schließlich wurde für den heutigen Zustand von Écija und Aachen eine Gesamtzahl von 15 Klostergebäuden im Jahr 2023 in den beiden Städten ermittelt. Andererseits ist die derzeitige Nutzung sehr unterschiedlich, wobei sie in der deutschen Stadt vielfältiger ist. Was den Denkmalschutz angeht, so sind zwar alle Klöster geschützt, doch wurden erhebliche Unterschiede in den Vorschriften festgestellt. Die Einteilung in nur drei Denkmalkategorien in Nordrhein-Westfalen steht im Gegensatz zu einer großen Vielfalt von Denkmalen in den spanischen und andalusischen Gesetzen. Die Schlussfolgerungen sind in fünf Abschnitte gegliedert. Der erste Teil bezieht sich sowohl auf den Kontext als auch auf die als Fallstudien herangezogenen Städte Écija und Aachen. Eine der wichtigsten Schlussfolgerungen ist die Ähnlichkeit der klösterlichen Entwicklung in den beiden Fallstudien. Trotz ihrer geografischen Lage und ihres historischen Kontextes weisen beide einen sehr ähnlichen Verlauf und Prozesse der Gründung, Umwandlung und Beschlagnahme auf. Der dri- tte Abschnitt schließt die Arbeit ab, indem er auf das erste Einführungskapitel zurückkommt. In diesem Kapitel werden die Forschungsfragen beantwortet, es wird überprüft, ob die gesetzten Ziele erreicht wurden und ob sich die verwendete Methodik als angemessen erwiesen hat. In einem vierten Punkt werden die Beiträge und Auswirkungen dieser Forschung projiziert. Diese beziehen sich sowohl auf den städtebaulichen als auch auf den wissenschaftlichen Bereich. Sowohl für Écija als auch für Aachen stellen sie eine neue Wissensbasis dar, die es uns ermöglicht, die Stadt sowohl aus der Vergangenheit als auch aus der Zukunft zu kennen und zu erforschen. Die neuen städtebaulichen Planungen können sich an vielen der in der Klosterstudie dargelegten Eckpunkte orientieren, die für den Aufbau der Stadt entscheidend sind. Ein abschließender Abschnitt zeigt mögliche zukünftige Forschungslinien auf, die sich aus den in der Dissertation vorgestellten Arbeiten ergeben. Darin wird eine Ausweitung auf andere Länder oder Regionen vorgeschlagen, um die monastische Einpflanzung in Europa weiter zu bestätigen. Darüber hinaus wird ein Ansatz vorgeschlagen, der das Klostersystem auf territorialer Ebene und auf der Ebene des UNESCO-Weltkulturerbes betrachtet, wobei andere Komponenten wie Kultur und Tourismus hervor- gehoben werden. Schließlich wird die Eignung des städtischen Klostersystems für die Raum- und Stadtplanung hervorgeho- ben, die sich in der Stadtplanung und in Vorschlägen für eine nachhaltige Stadtentwicklung niederschlägt. En Europa, las ciudades medias han formado uno de los mayo- res escenarios en la producción de la tipología monástica. Este modelo urbano unido al desarrollo del monacato ha generado una identidad común en el continente que persiste hasta la actualidad. El papel desarrollado por los conventos es determi- nante para la construcción de la ciudad medieval y moderna. Estos edificios se insertan en la trama urbana, cambiándola y modificándola a través de tres etapas fundamentales: implan- tación, desamortización y transformación urbana. La primera tiene lugar en el inicio de las órdenes mendicantes en el siglo XIII, primeras en establecer fundación dentro de ciudades. La segunda comienza con el avance napoleónico en el siglo XIX, donde prácticamente la totalidad del patrimonio monástico es secularizado. Finalmente, esto produce transformaciones en la trama urbana coincidiendo con los nuevos avances y moder- nizaciones en la ciudad en el siglo XX. La tipología conventual se posiciona como pieza clave en el desarrollo urbano, confor- mando un nuevo panorama en la vida política, social y urbana. La presencia de estos edificios por todo el continente es más que notable a través del patrimonio monástico. Su importancia es evidente. Esto nos lleva a plantear la pregunta principal de la investigación sobre ¿cómo influyeron los conventos en el desarrollo urbano de las ciudades medias europeas? A partir de esta pregunta aparecen otras sucesivas generando los objetivos de la investigación. Para poder dar respuesta a las preguntas y alcanzar los objetivos propuestos, se ha elaborado una metodología como base principal para el trabajo. De hecho, su creación adquiere una elevada relevancia ya que el trabajo es eminentemente metodológico, es decir, el uso y aplicación de esta metodología es lo que prevalece. La metodología ha sido divida en tres fases interrelacionadas entre sí, fase contex- tual-documental, analítica y comparativo-propositiva. A través de estas se realiza el análisis del sistema monástico urbano de una ciudad media. En este proceso es de elevada importancia la producción gráfica y de cartografía inéditas realizadas. Se proporciona un carácter más visual a la investigación en todos los procesos de análisis y resultados. Para poder verificar la metodología, se toman como casos de estudio a nivel europeo dos regiones en las que el modelo de ciudad media se encuen- tre ampliamente presente y ambas posean un fuerte carácter monástico. Estas son Andalucía y Renania del Norte-Westfalia. En ellas, las ciudades de Écija y Aquisgrán destacan en su pro- ducción monástica frente al resto, eligiéndose estas dos para poder construir una comparativa a nivel europeo. El estudio de las regiones y ciudades seleccionadas pone de manifiesto el carácter multiescalar del fenómeno monástico, abarcando no solo la ciudad sino también el territorio y la escala europea. Carácter que ha exigido ir más allá del estudio resumen eXtendido de la capa monástica para profundizar en la comprensión del fenómeno en toda su complejidad histórica, política, social y urbana. En primer lugar, es analizado el origen de la tipología monástica desde la escala continental Además se comprenden los diferentes acontecimientos que marcan el desarrollo del cristianismo, así como luchas y conflictos, claves para compren- der la aparición de monasterios. En este contexto se enuncia también el desarrollo urbano en Europa, su demografía y los condicionantes que generan ciudad durante la Edad Media y Moderna. En segundo lugar, se cambia la escala poniéndose el foco primero en los contextos de los territorios actuales de España y Alemania, para continuar a una menor escala en las regiones de Andalucía y Renania del Norte-Westfalia. Este punto es determinante ya que permite comprender de manera por- menorizada los desarrollos territoriales, urbanos y monásticos en estas dos áreas de Europa. Para ello, un análisis histórico-po- lítico y del territorio eclesiástico, es seguido del estudio de las ciudades monásticas. Este último establece parámetros como número total de fundaciones o tipos de órdenes religiosas en las dos geografías. Comprender el sistema monástico en la ciudad requiere un análisis de su implantación en la trama urbana. El estudio de las ciudades monásticas de Écija y Aquisgrán se realiza individualmente, aunque las dos tienen una estructura prác- ticamente idéntica al ser aplicada la misma metodología para su estudio. Como marco temporal se toma el inicio de las fundaciones monásticas, siglo X en Aquisgrán y XIV en Écija, hasta su desarrollo en la actualidad. El estudio de los aconte- cimientos socio-políticos está unido al desarrollo urbanístico y la implantación conventual. Es importante una mirada urbana donde se analice el emplazamiento monástico y su relación con la estructura de la ciudad. Se han identificado todas las órdenes de las ciudades, sus fechas de implantación y desapa- rición, tanto en sus ramas masculinas y femeninas. Además, se ha realizado un análisis en profundidad de las características según la implantación de todas las órdenes. En el siglo XVIII, en Aquisgrán se han localizado 25 fundaciones y 21 en Écija. Se analiza en profundidad las fundaciones monásticas según su implantación en la ciudad y el tipo de orden religiosa, dividién- dose entre masculinas y femeninas. La situación en la ciudad establece diferentes relaciones urbanas, así como los parámetros importantes que determinan la posición del edificio. Otra de las características importantes del monacato es su expansión fundacional de unas ciudades a otras. En este sentido, es estu- diado el impacto en otras ciudades y fundaciones de la región, así como su importancia. El convento es una tipología arquitectónica compleja compuesta por dos partes esenciales, la iglesia y el claustro. En primer lugar, el edificio está caracterizado por el templo. Su posición urbana y plantas son analizadas detalladamente tomando los datos de superficie construida y no construida. El claustro es tomado como espacio libre junto a las huertas, caracterizando auténticos vacíos urbanos con superficies mayores a 4.000 m2 en algunos casos. Además de los elementos arquitectónicos propios del edificio monástico, su funcionalidad y usos son destacados. No es solo un equipamiento religioso, sino que constituye la base del sistema de equipamientos sanitarios, educativos, sociales, etc. La importancia y relación entre la ciudad y monasterio se traslada también al callejero. Numerosos nombres de calles y plazas derivan de los espacios monásticos. Al tener los conven- tos una esencia religiosa, es ineludible referenciar la relación urbana a través del rito y la procesión. Las influencias político-sociales y urbanas del siglo XIX deter- minaron el desarrollo de la ciudad. Los avances de la Ilustra- ción francesa, los grandes procesos desamortizadores, los crecimientos demográficos, los nuevos ideales urbanísticos, la aparición de nuevos equipamientos y el desarrollo exponencial de la cartografía urbana cambian por completo la imagen de la ciudad decimonónica. En este apartado, en Aquisgrán apa- rece una nueva fase monástica que determina el crecimiento de la ciudad. Las edificaciones monásticas, debido a su elevado número y sus grandes dimensiones de parcela fueron las más afectadas en los procesos de transformación urbana. Para el estudio de la secularización se han localizado las persistencias y fragmentos de los edificios monásticos. Esto permite conocer el tipo de transformación y los restos del monacato. Además, es importante señalar que la ausencia y necesidad de grandes espacios públicos como plazas o avenidas genera la expropia- ción de monasterios que acaban convirtiéndose en espacios urbanos. Este tipo de transformación a espacios urbanos se ha analizado en un punto diferente. Uno de los últimos aspectos más relevantes de las transformaciones urbanas es la desapa- rición total de conventos. La identificación y localización de antiguos conventos resulta clave para comprender la totalidad de la ciudad monástica. El paisaje monástico urbano es estudiado desde la iconografía histórica del siglo 16 hasta las imágenes satelitales del siglo 21. Este supone un soporte gráfico de gran relevancia para comprender la ciudad. Las del siglo 16 son las fuentes gráficas más antiguas, ofreciendo una visión detallada de la urbe. A ello se le suma un análisis gráfico de identificación de los edifi- cios monásticos. Dichas representaciones están caracterizadas por una visión completa de la ciudad desde el exterior de sus murallas. En ella se distingue la tipología monástica por sus torres, agujas y espadañas. Estos elementos arquitectónicos sobresalen del caserío urbano construyendo y protagonizando parte del paisaje urbano de ambas ciudades. En la actualidad aún puede verse cómo las torres aún constituyen parte del paisaje de muchos enclaves urbanos. Los siglos XX y XXI representan una nueva etapa para el desa- rrollo urbano. En el caso de Écija la población se centra en la actividad rural y su población apenas crece hasta mediados del siglo XX. Una gran parte del monacato ha logrado sobrevivir a los acontecimientos marcados por las transformaciones urba- nas y desamortizaciones del siglo XIX. A partir de entonces, la conciencia patrimonial para la protección y conservación de los edificios monásticos es cada vez mayor. A partir de los años 30 del siglo XX en Écija comienzan la protección del patrimonio monástico, continuada por su centro histórico en 1966. La ciudad de Aquisgrán está marcada por un crecimiento exponencial gracias a la industrialización y la actividad minera, interrumpido por los años de la guerra y posguerra entre 1940 y 1950. Concretamente, la Segunda Guerra Mundial ocasionó la destrucción de prácticamente toda la ciudad, especialmente su centro histórico. Así, iglesias, conventos y monasterios son destruidos o gravemente dañados. Debido a su valor e impor- tancia estos son reconstruidos, permitiendo que aún hoy pueda identificarse esta tipología. A partir de los 60 y 70 se inicia un intenso proceso de protección patrimonial monástica. Sin embargo, hasta el año 2011 no se produce la protección del centro urbano. Para la comprensión del desarrollo monástico urbano como un fenómeno europeo es determinante la comparativa entre los dos casos de estudio seleccionados. Desde la escala territorial de Andalucía y Renania del Norte-Westfalia, pueden comentarse similitudes y diferencias de los sistemas monásticos territoriales. Gracias a la metodología empleada, una vez desarrollados los casos de Aquisgrán y Écija, se compara la cartografía producida entre sí. La principal diferencia se pone de manifiesto en la divergencia que presentan las dos ciudades en el siglo XX en tamaño y población. Mientras que Aquisgrán se industrializa y evoluciona, Écija se encapsula y se mantiene con escasos cre- cimientos. Posteriormente se comparan los resultados gráficos y numéricos de las fundaciones en las dos ciudades. El dato más relevante es que el número de edificios conventuales es bastante similar, contabilizándose una superficie conventual de 0,82 y 1,01 km2. Se profundiza en la comparativa tanto en las plantas de los edificios, como en superficies y usos complemen- tarios al religioso. El cuarto punto muestra las transformaciones urbanas de los conventos en las dos ciudades. Nuevamente son comparados datos de superficies y densidades, así como tipos de transformación urbana. La comparativa del paisaje urbano se hace desde el siglo XVI hasta la actualidad. Finalmente, en el estado actual de Écija y Aquisgrán, se ha contabilizado un número total de edificios monásticos en 2023 de 15 en las dos ciudades. Por otro lado, los usos en la actualidad difieren mucho en un caso y otro, siendo más diverso en la ciudad ale- mana. Respecto a la protección patrimonial, aunque todos los conventos se encuentran protegidos, se ha detectado notables diferencias en la normativa. Una división en solo tres categorías patrimoniales en Renania del Norte-Westfalia contrasta con una extensa diversidad de figuras patrimoniales en las leyes española y andaluza. Las conclusiones han sido estructuradas en cinco apartados. En primer lugar, se comienza con el contexto, así como con las ciudades tomadas como casos de estudio, Écija y Aquisgrán. Posteriormente, se encuentra la discusión de los resultados, obtenidos a partir de la comparativa entre las dos ciudades. Una de las principales conclusiones es la semejanza del desa- rrollo monástico entre los dos casos de estudio. A pesar de su situación geográfica y contexto, ambas tienen una trayectoria y procesos de fundación, transformación y desamortización muy similares. En el tercer apartado se cierra la tesis retornando al primer capítulo de introducción. En este son respondidas las preguntas de la investigación planteadas, comprobados si los objetivos enunciados han sido alcanzados y si la metodología empleada ha resultado ser la adecuada. Esta última demuestra durante el desarrollo de la investigación su idoneidad y potencial tanto para estos casos de estudio, como su posible extensión a otras ciudades. Se plantea un cuarto punto donde se proyectan las contribuciones e impacto de esta investigación. Estas son relativas tanto al campo urbanístico como al ámbito científico. Tanto para Écija como Aquisgrán constituyen una nueva base de conocimiento que permite conocer y trabajar en la ciudad tanto desde el pasado como en su futuro. Los nuevos planes urbanísticos pueden tomar como referencia muchas de las claves enunciadas en el estudio monástico, determinantes para la construcción de la ciudad. Un último apartado señala posibles líneas futuras de investigación derivadas a partir del trabajo presentado en la tesis doctoral. En estas se plantea una extensión a otros países o regiones en las que continuar verificando la implantación monástica en Europa. Además, se plantea un acercamiento desde la escala territorial y de Patrimonio Mundial de la Unesco del sistema monástico en los que otras componentes como la cultural o la turística se ponen de manifiesto. Finalmente, se propone un avance en la idoneidad del sistema monástico urbano para la planificación territorial y urbana, materializado en planeamiento urbanístico y propuestas de desarrollo urbano sostenible. introduction 1 introduction | 39 1.1 previous Monastic foundations constitute one of the most important episodes of religious and urban life of Europe from the Middle Ages to the present day. The Church used monastic establish- ment on the continent as a tool for Christian evangelisation and to ensure greater control of power. It was also an exercise to establish its sovereignty in both political and cultural terms (Krüger, 2007). As a result of the Christian policy, a large num- ber of religious buildings were created, including cathedrals, churches, monasteries and convents. The two latter are the most interesting due to their typological characteristics, their large number in the city and their enormous influence on urban life. The religious orders that inhabit them can be divided into two groupings, according to their rural or urban nature. While the first refers to the isolated monasteries scattered throughout the territory, unconnected to the outside world, the second are those associated with the mendicant orders. The latter tried to solve the new problems of society by moving the monastery to the city. In fact, the map of Franciscan and Dominican founda- tions at the beginning of the 14th century is the urban map of Europe (Le Goff, 1982). These foundations began in the 13th century and one of their main characteristics was community life linked to the urban world. Between the 13th and 18th centuries there are different stages of expansion and foundation of the mendicant orders, exten- ding in some cases until the 19th and 20th centuries. However, the period of greatest monastic boom was the 18th century, when cities had an authentic system of monastic buildings. These were inserted into the urban fabric and provided a counterweight to civil architecture such as hospitals and town halls (Mitre Fernández, 2010). From the 19th century onwards, confiscations were a common denominator throughout the continent. These processes led to the loss of a large part of the monastic heritage. Many ecclesiastical buildings were expropria - ted and demolished, partially or totally, in order to generate urban changes such as the opening of squares, streets, new buildings, new uses, etc. Their disappearance was not at all, but is still perceptible in the modern city of the 21st century. In this new period, processes of protection and conservation of heritage, especially monastic heritage, took place. This marks the beginning of the protection of monastic architecture as cultural heritage. The doctoral thesis has not been begun from scratch, but there is a background of publications on the proposed research. Pre- vious work has been carried out on the subject of study, the monasticism and its urban relationship, its territorial component, as well as complementary studies. In this sense, two Master Theses have been essential to generate this research. The first one deals with the study of the monastic system in a city as a | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 40 G énesis , influencias , transformaciones y continuidades en ciudades medias L a estructura conventuaL en É cija F. Javier Ostos Prieto Tutores: Mª Teresa Pérez Cano, José Manuel Aladro Prieto Máster en Arquitectura y Patrimonio Histórico (MARPH17/18) L a estructura conventuaL en É cija . G énesis , influencias , transformaciones y continuidades en ciudades medias territorio , ciudad y protección urbanística la implantación conventual en el contexto andaluz F. Javier Ostos Prieto Tutores: Mª Teresa Pérez Cano; José Manuel Aladro Prieto Máster en Urbanismo, Planeamiento y Diseño Urbano (MUPDU 11) la implantación conventual en el contexto andaluz . territorio , c iudad y p rotección u rbanística . Figure 1. Cover page of the Mas- ter Thesis in the Master’s degree in heritage. Author, 2018. Figure 2. Cover page of the Mas- ter Thesis in the Master’s degree in urban planning. Author, 2020. case study, Écija 1 ( Figure 1 ) . The work is entitled La estructura conventual en Écija. Génesis, influencias, transformaciones y con- tinuidades en ciudades medias 2 (Ostos Prieto, 2018). This city is a relevant example and there had been no deep studies of its urban monastic system. The second Master Thesis delves into the multi scalar territorial component of monasticism. For this purpose, the region of Andalusia ( Figure 2 ) is taken as a case study, where the case study of Écija is located. In this territory, the research entitled La implantación conventual en el contexto andaluz. T erritorio, ciudad y protección urbanística 3 (Ostos Prieto, 2020) . It takes an approach to Andalusian monastic develop- ment, analysing different territorial, political and even social layers that work together with urban and territorial planning. On the other hand, contributions have been made to interna- tional congresses following this line of research. An example of this are some conferences given by Ostos Prieto entitled: From Asis to Europe. T erritorial-urban development of the Franciscan order (2023), Urban development of the European monastic city through the conventual system in Aachen (2022) or Monastic heritage protection through the urban planning use as a tool of tutelage and conser vation. Écija as a monastic city in Andalusia (2018). These constitute some outstanding research projects in which the study of monasticism from an urban perspective is manifested. Therefore, there are notable advances that gene- rate partial results of the doctoral thesis. Finally, it is worth mentioning the generation of scientific articles that have been decisive for the reading of the monastic layer of the city of Écija. For this reason, the article Manuel Spínola’ splan for the urban configuration of Écija in 1826 in the journal Architecture, City and Environment 4 (Ostos Prieto, Aladro Prieto & Pérez Cano, 2022) is relevant. This analyses the first urban plan of the city where all the monastic buildings can be seen. It has also generated interesting results for the understanding of the city development, with a better comprehension of its urban fabric and urban transformation processes. The role played by monasteries and convents is a determining factor in the construction of the medieval city and the modern European city. For this reason, the title of the doctoral thesis is The monastic system as builder of European medium-sized 1 This city is located in the south of Spain, between the cities of Seville and Cordoba. A detailed description of its location is given below. 2 Carried out in 2018 as Master Thesis of the Master’s Degree in Architecture and Historical Heritage of the University of Seville. Supervisors: María Teresa Pérez Cano & José Manuel Aladro Prieto. 3 Carried out in 2020 as Master Thesis of the Master in Urbanism, Planning and Urban Design of the University of Seville. Supervisors: María Teresa Pérez Cano & José Manuel Aladro Prieto. 4 Journal with SJR Q2 indexing index, 0.27. Data obtained from https://www.scimagojr. com/journalsearch.php?q=19900192151&tip=sid&clean=0 (15/05/2023). introduction | 41 cities . This brings together the object of study, which allows an understanding of the monastic system in the urban fabric. Meanwhile, the subtitle entitled Genesis, exchanges, trans- formations and heritage refers to the four main stages of the monastic process. The first, the foundation phase, takes place at the beginning of mendicant monasticism around the 13th and 14th centuries. From an initial urban establishment, the orders spread rapidly throughout Europe. Their movement from different geographical locations generated exchanges of thoughts, cultures and ideas that would impact both the development of cities and their inhabitants. Influences came from present-day regions such as Italy, France and Germany at a time when communications were not as fast and immediate as they are today. In this sense, there is a high importance and relevance to the flow and foundations between the place of origin of an order and other cities. The proposed research approaches monasticism through the urban system of the monasteries and convents in the cities themselves. This approach is not trivial, since in the 17th century the importance of a city was considered to be marked by its monastic buildings (Braunfels, 1974). Thinking about monas- ticism and Christianity can generate a direct relationship with issues linked to religion or faith. However, in this research such topics have not been considered, as the approach is based on the architectural and urban components caused by monasteries in the city. The cities of Écija in Spain and Aachen in Germany have been selected as case studies for the research 5 (Figure 3) . The scope of the thesis is presented from the perspective of the medium-sized city, which has generated an important system in the territory. The main focus is on the relationship between monastic buildings and the city. At present, the monastic structure from an urban point of view has not been enough studied. Few studies highlight the importance of the monastery in cities, while other more artistic and architectural points of view have been taken into account. Most of the studies that have been carried out deal with the monastery in a singular way, sometimes as a whole, dealing with questions related to its architectural style, its history or its movable assets. Therefore, the point of view proposed in this research sets out new areas of study such as the city and the territory. Monastic buildings in the city are analysed, as well as the relationships between them within the urban area. When constructing these buildings monastic cities, it is also important to consider the territorial dimension. Their characteristics in the territory will be relevant to understand the processes not only on the regional scene, but also on the European continental scale. 5 The selection of the case studies is explained in section 1.4. | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 42 Figure 3. Location of Andalusia and Écija and North Rhine-Wes- tphalia and Aachen in Europe in the 21st Century. Own ela- boration. Aachen Écija 1.2 research questions The proposed research requires the establishment of questions that establish the basis for the objectives and methodology to be used on the proposed topic. In order to do this, a general question that encompasses the doctoral thesis is used as a star- ting point, followed by others on a second level that address specific sections of the work. In fact, this question acquires great relevance as it is the first one which has generated the beginning of this research: How did the convents and monasteries influence the urban development of the European medium-sized city? From the first question formulated, others begin to appear that will gradually build up the structure of the work. These approach the research to the different scales of monasticism, focusing especially on the urban scale and the European territory. During the development of the doctoral thesis, the questions set out here will be answered progressively. In this sense, the specific questions are structured in four blocks. The first deals with the territorial scale, the second with metho- introduction | 43 dology, the third with urban monastic development, and the fourth with questions about monasticism today. The first group focuses mainly on the urban monastic develo- pment that began during the Middle Ages, especially in the Christian territory of Europe. Thus, Can monasticism be considered as a homogeneous European urban phenomenon? Does monastic heritage have a significant identity in the medium-sized European city today? Is it possible to say that there are monastic cities in Europe defined by the historical significance that the development of the monastic system achieved in them during the Middle and Modern Ages? The existence of monasteries in cities raises new questions, It is possible to develop a methodology for analysing the monastic system for the medium-sized European city? Do monasteries and convents in cities in different parts of Europe operate in the same way? Do they have the same characteristics in the urban context? Focusing on the urban scale, the third grouping sets out other questions. What is the impact of monastic buildings on the construction of the medium-sized city? What is the importance of the monastic urban landscape for the city? What has been the evolution and development of these buil- dings in the city since the 13th century to the present day? How did the monasteries begin their foundations in the city? Finally, in a last group, questions are asked about the contem- poraneity and current relevance of monasteries and convents. In the past monastic life was an important fact, but monastic buildings and the number of orders have decreased conside- rably. Apart from the religious one, What other uses do these buildings have in the city today? | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 44 1.3 objectives How valid is the religious condition that led to the construc- tion of the monastic system today? At the same time, the urban monastic heritage is still percep- tible in the cities, What is the heritage dimension of the remains of the inhe- rited monastic system for the society and the city of the 21st century? How is this heritage managed in the city? How is it protected and preserved? What are the possibilities for a new use? The elaboration of the doctoral thesis is supported by the definition of the objectives. These set the focus of the urban monastic system along the work. The research questions asked in point 1.2 are essential for the construction of the objecti- ves. These will try to mark the answers that will follow in the development of the thesis. Therefore, in the definition of objectives, two groups should be highlighted. Main objectives and specific objectives. The four main objectives of the thesis are generated from the main research question. These focus on general areas ranging from determining the significance of the monastic system to generating a methodology for analysis. Afterwards, the specific objectives are built on specific sections, which will be reached chapter by chapter. The main objectives are: Determining the importance and transcendence of the monastic system and its suppression in the definition of the urban struc- tures within the medium-sized city from 13th to 21st century. Studying what processes have been decisive in the generation of this system of monasteries and convents. Furthermore, it is important to see which situations and transformations have arisen as a result of their suppression on the urban scale. Obtaining the tools and bases for the urban analysis of the monastic city. Establishing which resources and elements are the most suitable for carrying out research into the urban monastic system. introduction | 45 Generating a methodology for the analysis of the urban convent system that can be extended to other cases of medium-sized cities and applicable to the study of new cases. Developing this methodology in two case studies and corroborating its effectiveness, as well as the possibility of transferring it to any example of a medium-sized city on the continent. Establishing relations and comparisons between medium-sized monastic cities on a European scale in order to understand the monastic phenomenon on an international scale. Analysing monastic development in two case studies in order to verify similarities or differences in their European context. The specific objectives are: Determining and establishing two case studies of European medium-sized cities that are similar to each other. A compa- rison between the two allows to establish whether monastic development is an isolated or a common phenomenon. Deepening the analysis of a case study of an Andalusian monastic city, once identified by the potential of its historical monastic structure. Deepening the analysis of a case study of a monastic town in North Rhine-Westphalia, once identified by the potential of its historical monastic structure. Developing a basis of the Iberian and Germanic monastic context, taking the regions of Andalusia and North Rhine-Wes- tphalia, respectively. Taking these areas and territories is based on the position of the selected case studies. It is important to have a territorial view of the city and not to take it only as an isolated element. Identifying and analysing urban developments generated from monastic implantation and urban evolutions. Understanding the urban context through the historical layers from the cons- truction of the city from the 13th century to the present day. Researching and analysing the implantation of the monastery in the urban system and its chronology. Identifying how the different orders establish foundation and establishment strate- gies in the urban fabric. Studying how these buildings are used within the urban system and the relevance of their situation in the city throughout its transformation processes. Determining the urban transformations and repercussions that may have been caused by the buildings of the monastic system in the contemporary city.confiscations, departure of orders, | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 46 Figure 4. Hieronymites monks. Monastery of San Isidoro del Campo, Santiponce (Spain). Author, 2021. political and social contexts are factors that define a before and after in the construction of the monastic city. Claiming the importance of the monastic system as a cultural heritage that defines the construction and identity of the city (Figure 4). Its recognition is undoubtedly decisive for un- derstanding the historical, current and future urban develop- ment of the medium-sized city. Comparing the heritage legislation in each case study with the urban planning. Detecting its impact on the urban fabric today in relation to the monastic system, analysing both cities in a comparative cross comparison, as they are case studies with different contexts. Analysing the levels of protection of monastic heritage through urban planning tools. Both the heritage law and urban plans protect monastic buildings. It is essential to observe the degree of protection, the current state of conservation and its impli- cations. introduction | 47 1.4 methodology and case study selection In this research, the methodological approaches, as well as defining the set of procedures and tools used throughout the research, have become one of the fundamental keys on which the results of this work are based. The research questions have generated several objectives that determine the importance of the elaboration of a methodology which builds the body of the thesis. In fact, this research is a mainly methodological study where, starting from the method, it is verified through the case studies. A case study may not be enough to verify the methodology. Thus, at least two cities on an international scale have to be taken for two purposes. The first is to test the suitability of the methodology as a study tool for the analysis of the monastic system in a medium-sized city in different contexts. Secondly, a comparison between two cities with similar characteristics to verify the methodology and establish new relationships between urban monastic systems on a con- tinental scale. Another important aspect of the methodology is the use of graphic material. Not only using images, planimetry or refe- rence photographs, but also creating plans and cartographies showing the research process. Graphical tools have been used as a method of identification, analysis and also representation of results. Three different moments in the work. In fact, these have an objectual, urban, territorial and even comparative component. This is a doctoral thesis with a strong graphic com- ponent, which is essential for the understanding of the field of study, the city. From the urban and architectural point of view, drawing is a fundamental tool that transmits the infor- mation expressed together with the text. Therefore, each of the methodological phases proposed requires its consequent graphic representation, which can be seen in the development of the work. At the same time, a large number of tables are also used as a graphic and textual support element for the study. As with the cartographic material, many of the tables have been decisive in establishing the results and conclusions of the doctoral thesis. In relation to monastic terminology and specific vocabulary for the work, a glossary of terms has been compiled. This includes words specific to the monastic field, but also to urban planning, history and architecture. In addition, due to the international work of the thesis in two countries with different languages, words in the original language, whose terms cannot be trans- lated or are hardly similar to an English word, have been inclu- ded. One of the most relevant issues in this glossary is the use of the terms ‘monastery’ and ‘convent’ in English, compared to the Spanish terminology of monasterio and convento , or the German terminology of Abtei and Kloster . Although they | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 48 may seem synonymous, they are not, since according to the Oxford English Dictionar y , ‘monastery’ are male 6 buildings and ‘convent’ are female 7 buildings . This contrasts with the Ger- man and Spanish terms which can be considered synonyms, referring to the position of the building, isolated in a rural or urban environment. The methodology is structured in three phases: Phase 1-Con- textual-documentary, Phase 2-Analytical and Phase 3-Compa- rative-Propositive. Although this is also the order of work, this does not mean that each phase is static. In fact, it is a process of constant revision from one phase to the next, following a feedback process. After a comparative-propositive framework has been established, there may be a need for a check or con- tinuity of research on the theoretical frame. Thus, between each of the phases, there is a constant revision and addition of new material. These are described below. Phase 1 mainly constitutes the construction of the research base. In this stage, the search for information, data and materials that build the basis of the study is carried out. In phase 2, the information from the previous part is taken, analysed, processed and wor- ked on to generate the future results in phase 3. In the latter, the findings are described, from which the conclusions of the research are obtained. This whole process is detailed below: Phase 1 | Contextual-documentary 1.1 Creation of a theoretical basis for a further study of the foundations of monasticism. Information, data and cartography have been sought to show the urban structure of monasticism in Europe on both a territorial and urban scale. Examples of cities where monastic buildings are studied have also been located. In this sense, the sources detailed in point 1.5 State of the Art are of particular relevance. 1.2 Selection of city case studies with similar urban characte- ristics which constitute examples of an international European character. A survey of the number of monastic buildings and size of populations to allow for further comparisons. By using one case in Spain and one in Germany, the work site has been divided between two universities. On the one hand, the University of Seville, and on the other hand, the University of Aachen. This selection is justified below. 6 Retrieved from: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/ monastery?q=monastery (31/05/2023) 7 Retrieved from: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/ convent?q=convent (31/05/2023) introduction | 49 http://www .juntadeandalucia.es/boja/boletines/2007/248/d/updf/d1.pdf Figure 5. Cover page of the heri- tage law in Andalusia (top) and North Rhine-Westphalia (down). 1.3 A research of documentary sources, bibliography, planimetry, etc. on the urban monastic system of the selected case studies. For this purpose, digital consultation through the network of documentary collections, archives, libraries, etc. is essential, as well as a personal visit. Because most of the documentation is not digitised and needs to be consulted in person. For Écija and Aachen, the following places, among others, have been visited: Archivo Municipal de Écija, Archivo de la Parroquia de Santa María y Santa Bárbara, Library of Écija, Library of the University of Seville, Library of RWTH Aachen University, Stadtarchiv Aachen, Bischöfliches Diözesanarchiv Aachen and LVR-Amt für Denkmalpflege im Rheinland, historisches Archiv. The Landesarchiv NRW, Portal de Archivos Españoles, Biblioteca Digital de la Real Academia de la Historia, Biblioteca Digital Hispánica, Bibliothèque Nationale de France-Gallica or British Museum Archiv have also been consulted digitally 8 . 1.4 Multiscale monastic framing of each case study. Both the territorial and urban scale must be considered, as they offer different visions. When they are used together, they provide the necessary keys to recognise the monastic importance of a city. For this purpose, it has been essential to search for aerial and satellite images. Some of the sources have been 9 : Foto- teca digital, Mapea-sigc, Portal Rediam, Geodatenportal Stadt Aachen, TIM-online, Geoportal NRW o Regioplaner. 1.5 Identification and study of the legislation and regulations in each context. As these are case studies with international European significance, the legal documents are different from each other. In the case of Écija, the national law Ley del Patri- monio Histórico Español 16/1985 and the regional law Ley del Patrimonio Histórico Andaluz 14/2007 are applied. In Aachen, the Gesetz zum Schutz und zur Pflege der Denkmäler im Lande Nordrhein-W estfalen (DSchG) of 11 March 1980 (Figure 5). Its study allows a deeper understanding of the heritage reality of each city, allowing later a possible comparison between the two models. 1.6 Identification of urban planning documents such as urban plans or special protection plans that have an impact on monastic heritage. In fact, in addition to the heritage laws, as 8 Retrieved from: Landesarchiv NRW (https://www.archive.nrw.de), Portal de Archivos Españoles (https://pares.culturaydeporte.gob.es), Biblioteca Digital de la Real Academia de la Historia (https://bibliotecadigital.rah.es), Biblioteca Digital Hispánica (https://www. bne.es), Bibliothèque Nationale de France-Gallica (https://gallica.bnf.fr) o British Museum Archiv (https://www.britishmuseum.org/) (31/05/2023). 9 Retrieved from: Fototeca digital (https://fototeca.cnig.es/fototeca/), Mapea-sigc (http://mapea-sigc.juntadeandalucia.es/), Portal Rediam (https://portalrediam.cica.es/ comparaWMS/index.html) Geodatenportal Stadt Aachen (https://geoportal.aachen.de/), TIM-online (https://www.tim-online.nrw.de/tim-online2/), Geoportal NRW (https://www. geoportal.nrw), Regioplaner (https://ww w.regioplaner.de/service/luftbilder) ( 31/05/2023). | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 50 Figure 6. Monastery of Burts - cheid in Aachen. By Josua le Grave, 1669. Stadtarchiv Aachen (StAAc H219 0014). well as being urban tools, the plans have a legal character. For the case studies it has been consulted the Plan de Ordenación del T erritorio de Andalucía (POTA) (2006), the Plan General de Ordenación Urbana (PGOU) of Écija (2009), the Plan Especial de Protección, Reforma Interior y Catálogo del Conjunto Histórico Artístico de Écij a (PEPRICCHA) (2014), the Masterplan Aachen2030 (2013), the previously mentioned computerised plans such as Geodatenportal Stadt Aachen or TIM-online, as well as the Satzung für die Erhaltung des Denkmalbereiches “Innenstadt” (2011) of Aachen. Phase 2 | Analytical 2.1 Development of the case studies analysis of Écija and Aachen according to different categories: foundational stage, territorial influence, urban transformations, present-day city and heritage recognition of the monastic system. These are thematic groupings that are combined with each other during the development of the thesis. 2.2 Work and analysis of the historical planimetry and locali- sed iconography to build up the historical layers of the cities taken as case studies, Écija and Aachen (Figure 6). In addition to the historical study, this documentation allows the structure of the monastic system to be confirmed and verified. In Écija, the first urban plan of 1826 by Manuel Spínola stands out, as well as the 1863-1867 plan by Courtars and the engineer’s plan of 1895. In Aachen, the first urban plan of the Stadtarchiv of 1740 also stands out, as well as the Rappardplan of 1860, the Tiefbauamtplan of 1910 or the Zerstörungsplan of 1946. Regarding iconography, in Écija the views of Hoefnagel in 1567, Wijngaerde in 1567 or Meisner in 1623, together with introduction | 51 Figure 7. Church of the Francis- can monastery in Aachen (top) and Écija (down). Author, 2023. those of Aachen, such as the two views of Hoefnagel in 1567, that of Meisner in 1623 or that of Merian in 1647, are worth mentioning. Identification of towers, bell-glabes and church spires as part of the urban monastic landscape. 2.3 Establishment of the foundational stage in the monastic city. In order to understand its development, it has been necessary to elaborate a chronological axis, together with the urban plans that show its situation in the city and a table with the data of the building names, year of foundation, religious order, gender and year of confiscation of all the monastic facilities that have existed in each case study. In addition, the functioning of this system is examined in depth, as well as the analysis of the built and unbuilt spaces of the monastic typology. 2.4 Study of the territorial influence of the monastic system, through distances in kilometres and the number of nearby cities with foundations from the city of origin. As it has a multi-scale component, it is necessary to verify other foundations from the city chosen as a case study to other cities. 2.5 Recognition of urban transformations and the monastic system in the 19th and 20th centuries. As in the other sections, graphic representation has been very important here, as it allows to see what these changes have been like. These include changes such as in the plot, buildings or blocks. In addition, relevant urban parameters for the monastic system such as plot surface, built surface, open space surface, occupation and use have to be taken into account. On the other hand, temporal data such as the date of foundation, date of confiscation, date of disappearance of the monastic building from the plot, as well as data on initial and current surface areas are added. 2.6 Evaluation of the current state of the monastic system analysed, as well as its transformation up to the present day. Tables are drawn up and data on the foundation process, such as dates or initial orders, are considered for comparison with current data. In addition, important aspects such as the current monastic fragments and their use in the city are analysed ( Figure 7 ). A detailed graphic representation of the ground plan of the monastic buildings is made, differentiating between the church, cloister and other built spaces. 2.7 Heritage evaluation of monasteries and convents in cities. These have to be considered as they determine part of the importance of protection and conservation. These, together with heritage laws and urban planning, dictate the present and future of the convents and monasteries. Recognition of monastic spaces for the population in each city, as well as their influence on it in a tangible and intangible heritage. This | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 52 Figure 8. Drone view of Aachen and Salvatorberg. Author, 2022. research has focused on material aspects such as the totality of the building, highlighting churches and cloisters. In relation to the immaterial, the monastic urban landscape in both cities has also been analysed, as well as other points such as topon- ymy, rite and procession, and the mention of the monastic gastronomic heritage. 2.8 Fieldwork in the selected cases. This work is reflected in visits to the cities of Écija and Aachen, as well as to their monasteries and convents. During the work, photographs were taken and data was collected in order to draw up the planimetry of the buildings. Drone flights have also been used in Aachen to obtain panoramic photographs of the city (Figure 8). In addition to the case studies, visits to other European cities are important for understanding the monastic phenomenon on the continent. Because the number of cities is large, the countries where they are located are listed: Spain, Germany, Portugal, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands (Figure 9), Luxembourg (Figure 10 ), Poland and Serbia. 2.9 Systematisation of the information collected in the pre- paration of tables and their subsequent graphic representa- tion through the use of GIS georeferencing tools. This tool is used, which manages layers and allows cross analysis of the information. New cartography and unpublished information is produced, with which most of the plans of the thesis have been elaborated. The main databases for obtaining new pla- nimetry include GADM, GISCO-Eurostat, Line@, Ideandalucia, Geoportal NRW, Openstreetmap and DIVA-GIS. introduction | 53 Figure 9. Interior of St. Benedic- tusberg Abbey in Vaals (Nether- lands). Author, 2021. Figure 10. View of the Benedic- tine monastery of Neumünster in Luxembourg. Author, 2021. Phase 3 | Comparative-Propositive 3.1 Identification of foundational strategies and characteristics of the monastic system in each city, both in the past and in the present. Among these, the position of buildings has been graphically identified according to whether they are male or female, inside or outside the walls, urban monastic axes and relationship with the city gates. This makes it possible to esta- blish similarities or differences between the different urban models and the urban keys that generate answers about the construction of the monastic city. 3.2 Comparison of case studies to corroborate common charac- teristics in the monastic system of the medium-sized European city. A comparison not only from a numerical point of view in terms of number of buildings or surface area in square kilome- tres, but also graphically, using the same comparative scale. Comparison of time scales of foundation, plans of the monastic foundations, plans of settlement strategies, plans of colonies and plans of monastic influence in other cities. 3.3 Identification of indicators of the monastic system in the construction of the medium-sized European city. These will be composed of parameters of surface area, number of buildings, type of orders, number of plots, architectural forms, popula- tion data, uses, etc. The indicators are the monastic index as a result of the division of the monastic area by the urban area, the similarity in orders of both cities, population sizes, number of monastic remains in the city (complete building, church and fragments or only church), uses in the monastic plots and number of vertical elements of the urban landscape. 3.4 Strategies for the conservation of monastic heritage. In addition to its current consideration, new proposals can be addressed to ensure the safeguarding of this heritage in the city. These are the identification of monastic buildings with monastic orders or current religious use, monasteries used as urban facilities and the protection of the entire monastic heritage according to urban planning and heritage laws. In addition, the protection of the historic city centre should be included. 3.5 Analysis of possibilities for future lines of research. As a continuation of the work, exploration and research paths can be carried out on the cities of Écija and Aachen. Specifically in those aspects such as the establishment of uses or heritage protection that can be applied to other cities. In this sense, it has been sought to confirm the suitability of the method used in the doctoral thesis for its application to other case studies. Not only should new research be considered within the case studies themselves, but it should also be expanded to other cities. | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 54 Case study selection The beginning of monasticism does not take place in a speci- fic region, but is a continental phenomenon that extends to practically the whole of Western Europe. In this sense, the European scale is taken as a starting point, from which two case studies of cities are selected. Once the spatial scope has been defined, it is narrowed down to the time frame. For this reason, the arrival of the mendicant religious orders in each city is taken as the starting point, and their time course up to the present day. From the 10th century in Aachen and the 14th century in Écija to the 21st century. This is a large period in the timeline, but at the same time necessary to understand the historical development and current impact of the urban monastic system. On the other hand, within the religious panorama of the Catholic Church, only the mendicant orders are considered. One of the criteria adopted in this work has been the non-consideration of congregations, brotherhoods or religious institutions such as Salesians, Lasallians, etc., as they do not constitute bodies of consecrated life. In fact, they are not considered as orders according to the classification of the ecclesiastical hierarchical structure, according to the Canon law of the Catholic Church of 1917. For the selection of the case studies, if we take the European plan of Degree of urbanisation for local administrative units (LAU), we can observe three levels, large cities (blue), medium-sized cities (orange) and rural areas (green). Considering this difference, it can be seen that the density of medium-sized cities plays an important role. In Europe this phenomenon occurs especially in countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy or the southern half of Spain (Figure 11). The overlaying of the current religious layer in the 21st century (Figure 12) excludes countries such as, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria or Greece, where the predominant religion is Orthodox Christianity, whose monastic production is not included in this study. Neither have countries such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands or the Protestant territories of Germany been considered. For the selection of two areas and their comparison, it is of particular interest that they have different cultural and monastic develo- pment characteristics, both historically and at present. In this way, Andalusia (Spain) and North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) represent two relevant and interesting cases in comparison with other European regions. The selected territories are representative examples to be com- pared in order to check whether monasticism does indeed have an international European component. In Andalusia and North Rhine-Westphalia a high monastic presence has been detected. Therefore, for the selection of a case study, the number of introduction | 55 N o t e : b a se d o n p o p u l a t i o n g r i d f r o m 2 0 1 1 a n d L A U 2 0 1 6 . D e g r e e o f u r b a n is a t io n f o r lo c a l a d m in is t r a t iv e u n it s ( L A U ) 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 6 0 0 8 0 0 km Gu a d e lou p e (FR) 0 2 5 Ma rtin iqu e (FR) 0 2 0 Gu ya n e (FR ) 0 1 0 0 Ré u n ion (FR ) 0 2 0 Açore s (PT ) 0 5 0 Ma d e ira (PT ) 0 2 0 Ca n a rias (E S) 0 1 0 0 Ma lta 0 1 0 L iechten ste in 0 5 S o u r ce : E u r o st a t , J R C a n d E u r o p e a n C o m m i s si o n D i r e c t o r a t e - G e n e r a l f o r R e g i o n a l P o l i cy Ma yo tte (FR ) 0 1 5 A d m i n i st r a t i ve b o u n d a r i e s: © E u r o G e o g r a p h i cs © U N - F A O © T u r kst a t C a r t o g r a p h y: E u r o s t a t — G I S C O , 0 5 / 2 0 1 8 C i t i e s ( D e n se l y p o p u l a t e d a r e a s : a t l e a st 5 0 % o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i ve s i n u r b a n c e n t r e s ) T o w n s a n d s u b u r b s ( I n t e r m e d i a t e d e n si t y a r e a s: l e ss t h a n 5 0 % o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i ve s i n r u r a l g r i d c e l l s a n d l e ss t h a n 5 0 % o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i v e s i n u r b a n ce n t r e s) R u r a l a r e a s ( T h i n l y p o p u l a t e d a r e a s : m o r e t h a n 5 0 % o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i ve s i n r u r a l g r i d c e l l s) D a t a n o t a v a i l a b l e N o t e : b a se d o n p o p u l a t i o n g r i d f r o m 2 0 1 1 a n d L A U 2 0 1 6 . D e g r e e o f u r b a n is a t io n f o r lo c a l a d m in is t r a t iv e u n it s ( L A U ) 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 6 0 0 8 0 0 km Gu a d e lou p e (FR) 0 2 5 Ma rtin iqu e (FR) 0 2 0 Gu ya n e (FR ) 0 1 0 0 Ré u n ion (FR ) 0 2 0 Açore s (PT ) 0 5 0 Ma d e ira (PT ) 0 2 0 Ca n a rias (E S) 0 1 0 0 Ma lta 0 1 0 L iechten ste in 0 5 S o u r ce : E u r o st a t , J R C a n d E u r o p e a n C o m m i s si o n D i r e c t o r a t e - G e n e r a l f o r R e g i o n a l P o l i cy Ma yo tte (FR ) 0 1 5 A d m i n i st r a t i ve b o u n d a r i e s: © E u r o G e o g r a p h i cs © U N - F A O © T u r kst a t C a r t o g r a p h y: E u r o s t a t — G I S C O , 0 5 / 2 0 1 8 C i t i e s ( D e n se l y p o p u l a t e d a r e a s : a t l e a st 5 0 % o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i ve s i n u r b a n c e n t r e s ) T o w n s a n d s u b u r b s ( I n t e r m e d i a t e d e n si t y a r e a s: l e ss t h a n 5 0 % o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i ve s i n r u r a l g r i d c e l l s a n d l e ss t h a n 5 0 % o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i v e s i n u r b a n ce n t r e s) R u r a l a r e a s ( T h i n l y p o p u l a t e d a r e a s : m o r e t h a n 5 0 % o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i ve s i n r u r a l g r i d c e l l s) D a t a n o t a v a i l a b l e N o t e : b a se d o n p o p u l a t i o n g r i d f r o m 2 0 1 1 a n d L A U 2 0 1 6 . D e g r e e o f u r b a n is a t io n f o r lo c a l a d m in is t r a t iv e u n it s ( L A U ) 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 6 0 0 8 0 0 km Gu a d e lou p e (FR) 0 2 5 Ma rtin iqu e (FR) 0 2 0 Gu ya n e (FR ) 0 1 0 0 Ré u n ion (FR ) 0 2 0 Açore s (PT ) 0 5 0 Ma d e ira (PT ) 0 2 0 Ca n a rias (E S) 0 1 0 0 Ma lta 0 1 0 L iechten ste in 0 5 S o u r ce : E u r o st a t , J R C a n d E u r o p e a n C o m m i s si o n D i r e c t o r a t e - G e n e r a l f o r R e g i o n a l P o l i cy Ma yo tte (FR ) 0 1 5 A d m i n i st r a t i ve b o u n d a r i e s: © E u r o G e o g r a p h i cs © U N - F A O © T u r kst a t C a r t o g r a p h y: E u r o s t a t — G I S C O , 0 5 / 2 0 1 8 C i t i e s ( D e n se l y p o p u l a t e d a r e a s : a t l e a st 5 0 % o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i ve s i n u r b a n c e n t r e s ) T o w n s a n d s u b u r b s ( I n t e r m e d i a t e d e n si t y a r e a s: l e ss t h a n 5 0 % o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i ve s i n r u r a l g r i d c e l l s a n d l e ss t h a n 5 0 % o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i v e s i n u r b a n ce n t r e s) R u r a l a r e a s ( T h i n l y p o p u l a t e d a r e a s : m o r e t h a n 5 0 % o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i ve s i n r u r a l g r i d c e l l s) D a t a n o t a v a i l a b l e N o t e : b a se d o n p o p u l a t i o n g r i d f r o m 2 0 1 1 a n d L A U 2 0 1 6 . D e g r e e o f u r b a n is a t io n f o r lo c a l a d m in is t r a t iv e u n it s ( L A U ) 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 6 0 0 8 0 0 km Gu a d e lou p e (FR) 0 2 5 Ma rtin iqu e (FR) 0 2 0 Gu ya n e (FR ) 0 1 0 0 Ré u n ion (FR ) 0 2 0 Açore s (PT ) 0 5 0 Ma d e ira (PT ) 0 2 0 Ca n a rias (E S) 0 1 0 0 Ma lta 0 1 0 L iechten ste in 0 5 S o u r ce : E u r o st a t , J R C a n d E u r o p e a n C o m m i s si o n D i r e c t o r a t e - G e n e r a l f o r R e g i o n a l P o l i cy Ma yo tte (FR ) 0 1 5 A d m i n i st r a t i ve b o u n d a r i e s: © E u r o G e o g r a p h i cs © U N - F A O © T u r kst a t C a r t o g r a p h y: E u r o s t a t — G I S C O , 0 5 / 2 0 1 8 C i t i e s ( D e n se l y p o p u l a t e d a r e a s : a t l e a st 5 0 % o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i ve s i n u r b a n c e n t r e s ) T o w n s a n d s u b u r b s ( I n t e r m e d i a t e d e n si t y a r e a s: l e ss t h a n 5 0 % o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i ve s i n r u r a l g r i d c e l l s a n d l e ss t h a n 5 0 % o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i v e s i n u r b a n ce n t r e s) R u r a l a r e a s ( T h i n l y p o p u l a t e d a r e a s : m o r e t h a n 5 0 % o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n l i ve s i n r u r a l g r i d c e l l s) D a t a n o t a v a i l a b l e Figure 11. Degree of urbanisa - tion for local administrative units (LAU) in Europe. Source: Eurostat - GISCO. Cities - Densely populated areas: at least 50% of the population lives in urban centres. Towns and suburbs - Intermediate density areas: less than 50% of the population lives in rural grill cells and less than 50% of the population lives in urban centres. Rural areas - Thinly populated areas: more than 50% of the population lives in rural grill cells. Data not available. | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 56 Figure 12. Distribution of Chris- tianity in Europe in 2023. Own elaboration. monasteries in the city was quantified and their political-terri- torial importance was evaluated. The city of Écija 10 , second in the Kingdom of Seville in terms of the number of monasteries and convents and fifth in Andalusia, was proposed as the first case study. Moreover, since Roman times it has been an important location due to its central geographical position, as a later frontier city with the Kingdom of Granada. On the other hand, in North Rhine-Westphalia, the city of Aachen 11 , second in number of convents in the bishopric of Cologne and second also in North Rhine-Westphalia, is proposed as a second case study. The city was a strategic enclave of the Roman Germanic limes , the capital of the Carolingian Empire, as well as an impor- tant trade node in the territory, and a historical border city with Belgium and the Netherlands. While Seville and Cologne are the first cities in terms of the number of monasteries and convents, their scale is far from the concept of a medium-si- zed city. Therefore, the second level of cities with monastic importance is used. Both Écija and Aachen are medium sized cities with many differences, different urban routes but at the same time, a multitude of similarities and resemblances such as in the size of their historical centres, territorial positions or monastic development. 10 The name of Écija is used regardless of the language, as it has no official translation into other languages. 11 The name of Aachen is used in both English and German. However, the city changes its name in languages such as Spanish ‘Aquisgrán’, French ‘Aix-la-Chapelle’ or Dutch ‘Aken’. introduction | 57 1.5 state of art With certain exceptions, the study of monasticism and monastic architecture is often carried out from an artistic, constructive or graphic perspective. Usually a monastic building is taken and studied in isolation according to one of the above-mentio- ned perspectives. These research studies are of great interest and help to advance the knowledge of the heritage asset. However, in many cases, the overall view and the context of the monastery system in the cities is lost. For this reason, the perspective adopted in this research is proposed from an urban perspective. Monastic architecture is studied as a whole, as well as its relationship with the city and the urban context where it develops. For this reason, although there are some visions of the state of the art that come outside the field of urban planning, these are complementary and help to build and create a new discourse. The construction of the state of the art has been divided into three groups, according to the themes they deal with. In addi- tion, within each group, information can be found on cities, the monastic institution, heritage legislation, historical context, etc. A first grouping includes references to the context of monas- ticism and Europe. As the continent was the main setting for monasticism during the Middle Ages, it is important to search for references on this scale. Thus, one of the main references in relation to the European context are Le Goff’s 1965 book Das Hochmittelalter and his 1982 book La civilisation de l’occident medieval . Le Goff approaches medieval society not only from a historical, but also from a political, economic, social and even urbanistic point of view. Le Goff’s understanding of Europe is complemented by the vision offered by Pounds (2005) in The medieval city , where crucial aspects of the urban setting where monastic foundations were initiated are again analysed. In the European panorama, Wilson (2020) in his publication The Holy Roman Empire shows the complexity of this territory and how it is the seed of modern Europe. On the other hand, the creation of the European Union has allowed numerous studies on the territory, among which the Degree of Urbanisation (DEGURBA) classification is particularly interesting. Through the website link 12 it is possible to consult population densities and sizes, which, compared with those of previous periods, have been key to the selection of the case studies. On religious and monastic contextualisation in Europe, Lyman Hurlbut’s 2016 updated edition of The Stor y of the Christian Church provides insight into the context of the Church and continental Christianity. However, Braunfels’ work in Abendlän - dische Klosterbaukunst published in 1974 is of great significance. 12 Retrieved from: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/degree-of-urbanisation/ background (31/05/2023) | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 58 It undoubtedly represents the basis of research into European monasticism, as well as its main characteristics and the establi- shment of the beginning of the urban monastic system. In this line there are other later researches such as Schenkluhn’s (2000) Architektur der Bettelorden. Die Baukunst der Dominikaner und Franziskaner in Europa , which studies the characteristics of the two most important mendicant orders. Later, Krüger (2007) provides a comprehensive analysis of monasticism in Orden und Klöster 2000 Jahre christliche Kunst und Kultur . Although the focus is on art and architecture, there is also an extensive cartographic representation of monastic foundations on the continent. In fact, other types of mon asticism, such as Byzantine monasticism, are analysed, although these are not included in this research. The second and third groups are composed of the selected case studies and their territorial contexts. The second group inclu- des research to establishing the state of art in the context of monasticism in Andalusia. Firstly, there are four main research on monasteries and convents in urban areas. The case of Seville is studied by Pérez Cano (1997) in Patrimonio y ciudad: el sistema de los conventos de clausura en el centro histórico de Sevilla: géne- sis, diagnóstico y propuesta de inter vención para su recuperación urbanística . Her research highlights not only the importance of Seville as a monastic city in Spain, but also the study of the convent buildings belonging to the women’s orders and the building of the urban convent system. Also noteworthy are his publications with Mosquera Adell like Las clausuras sevillanas. Vida consagrada, Arquitectura, Ciudad (2009) or Arquitectura en los Conventos de Sevilla: una Aproximación Patrimonial a las Clausuras (1991). From the perspective of cloisters and open monastic spaces, it has been considered the Molina Liñán’s thesis entitled Compases, patios, claustros, jardines y huertos: los espacios abiertos de la estructura conventual femenina de Sevilla. Una propuesta de valorización y conser vación patrimonial (2021). The aforementioned study of Pérez Cano in Seville is followed by Rodríguez Marín (2000), which studies Malaga in Málaga Conventual. Estudio histórico, artístico y urbanístico de los conventos malagueños . Like Pérez Cano and Rodríguez Marín, the work entitled Baeza Conventual , by García Torralbo (1998), highlights the importance of the monastic system in the World Heritage city of Baeza. Likewise, another research, such as that of Aladro Prieto (2021), entitled La escala urbana del jerez. Los complejos bodegueros jerezanos en el siglo XIX (2021) has also influenced the development of the research. In addition to including the monastic system of Jerez as a section, it focuses on a city-building architectural typology, the wine cellar. In this sense, it is important to understand how a building typology builds and generates a city. introduction | 59 Figure 13. Catalogue file of the convent of Las Marroquíes in Écija of the Special Protection Plan. Retrieved from PEPRICCHA, 2014. The understanding and studies on the territory of Andalusia have been carried out taking the cartographies and data found in Martín de Agar y Valverde, R. [coor.] (2009) Atlas de la Historia del T erritorio de Andalucía . This publication contains a complete series of maps and historical, geographical and political layers, etc., covering the earliest signs of human life in Andalusia up to the present day. Regarding the aforemen- tioned system of medium-sized cities in Andalusia, key urban planning documents have been analysed for their identification and understanding, such as the Plan de Ordenación del T errito- rio de Andalucía (POTA). This is a territorial plan covering the whole of Andalusia, which defines the main characteristics of the territory, as well as future development strategies. Along these lines, other essential urban planning documents have also been analysed in order to understand the case study of the city of Écija: the Plan General de Ordenación Urbana (PGOU) and the Plan Especial de Protección, Reforma Interior y Catálogo del Conjunto Histórico Artístico de Écija (PEPRICCHA). The for- mer is a plan for the development and management of the urban area of the city, while the latter deals in detail with the area of the historic centre and the protection of the architec- tural and urban heritage (Figure 13). The protection of this heritage is not only managed through urban planning tools, but is also protected by law. In Écija the national law L ey del Patrimonio Histórico Español 16/1985 and the regional law Ley del Patrimonio Histórico Andaluz 14/2007 are applicable. In fact, | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 60 Figure 14. Church of Santa Cruz in Écija. Author, 2023. Figure 15. Aerial view of the convent of Santa Florentina in Écija. Source: PNOA, 2022. the application of the heritage law in conjunction with urban planning protection is extensively studied by Becerra García (2020) in his publication La conservación de la ciudad histórica en Andalucía. El planeamiento urbanístico como instrumento de protección en el cambio de siglo. This shows the use of urban planning tools and heritage legislation in the city within the Andalusian panorama. Concerning the case study of Écija, there are several references on the city, but the three publications mentioned above have been key to generate the basis for this research. The first is the publication by Caldero Bermudo (1984) Guía de conventos ecijanos , which offers a description and list of the monasteries and convents in the city. Alongside this one, the recent publica- tion by García León & Martín Ojeda (2018) Écija artística is also highlighted. The book contains a meticulously detailed review of all the religious (Figure 14), palatine and civil architecture of Écija to date. It offers numerous details together with graphic documentation on the artistic and constructive processes of the monasteries. For an understanding of the present-day city, its urban transformations, confiscations and major changes, it is essential to consult López Jiménez (2016) Más allá de la ciudad barroca. La morfología urbana de la Écija contemporánea . Not only have the aforementioned publications created the basis for the doctoral thesis, but also these and the previous ones have been used to produce two Master Theses, which are indispensable for the current doctoral thesis. However, due to their importance and the information they contain, they should be mentioned again as they also constitute part of the state of the art. The first Master Thesis belongs to the Master in Architecture and Historical Heritage at the University of Seville, entitled La estructura conventual en Écija. Génesis, influencias, transformaciones y continuidades en ciudades medias . This research has studied the urban monastic structure of Écija (Figure 15 ), although during the doctoral thesis the study is further deepened and made more complex. The second Master Thesis is part of the Master’s Degree in Urbanism, Planning and Urban Design at the University of Seville, entitled La implantación conventual en el contexto andaluz. T erritorio, ciudad y protección urbanística . Here, the monastic system was analysed and studied from an urban and territorial point of view. The importance of carto- graphy and historical iconography for the understanding of its urban evolution and monastic system must also be emphasised in Écija. Among the plans, the one drawn up by Manuel Spínola and studied in Ostos Prieto, Aladro Prieto & Pérez Cano (2022) Manuel Spínola’ s plan for the urban configuration of Écija in 1826 stands out. In this article, the aforementioned plan has been studied in minute detail, as it was the first localised plan of the city and was decisive for Écija. introduction | 61 Figure 16. Political subdivision of North Rhine-Westphalia in Landschaftsverband Rhineland and Westfalen-Lippe. Own ela- boration based on Landschafts- verbände. Westfalen-Lippe Rhineland The third group mentioned above corresponds to the city of Aachen and the territory of North Rhine-Westphalia. In the same way as has been done for the Andalusian context and Écija, in this case the basis and foundation of the other selec- ted case study is provided. Regarding the configuration of the region and the importance that the Ruhrgebiet has had on the territory, Reicher’s publications have been taken as a basis. These are Reicher et al. (2011) Schichten einer Region. Kartens- tücke zur räumlichen Struktur des Ruhrgebiets and Reicher et al (2017) Raumstrategien Ruhr 2035+. Konzepte zur Entwicklung der Agglomeration Ruhr . Both contain detailed studies on the urban-territorial configuration of the territory as well as future development strategies. On the other hand, two fundamental sources have been used for the elaboration of the basis and contextualisation of Aachen itself. The first focuses on a histori- cal-political perspective, published by Römling in 2014, entitled Aachen. Geschichte einer Stadt. This publication contains all the information on historical and socio-political events that have shaped the development of the city. From an urbanistic and morphological point of view, Curdes’ research, Die Entwicklung des Aachener Stadraumes , published in 1999, is particularly noteworthy. It shows the urban configuration of Aachen, the evolution of the city, as well as historical planimetric analyses. Indeed, Curdes’ work represents a fundamental basis for the understanding of the city. From the monastic perspective of Aachen and its territory, different publications belonging to the same research have been located. The Land of North Rhine-Westphalia ( Figure 16 ) | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 62 Figure 17. Church of St. Theresia in Aachen. Author, 2023. Figure 18. Aachen Cathedral. Author, 2023. is geographically divided into two separate areas, Rhineland and Westfalen-Lippe. This not only has territorial implications, but also has an impact on the scientific output, so that sepa- rate studies are carried out. In this sense, and on the monastic institution, research has been located that brings together the various sources and references to monastic buildings. This was initiated by Hengst (coord.), entitled W estfälisches Klosterbuch. Lexikon der vor 1815 errichteten Stifte und Klöster von ihrer Grün- dung bis zur Aufhebung , divided into part 1 in 1992 and part 2 in 1994. Each and every monastery and convent in Westphalia up to 1815 is examined in detail. Cities such as Aachen or Cologne are therefore excluded from these publications. The continua- tion of this work, but in the part of Nordrhein, is carried out by Groten et al. (2009) Nordrheinisches Klosterbuch. Lexikon der Stifte und Klöster bis 1815. T eil 1 . Similar to Hengst, the monastic buildings up to 1815 are analysed again, but this time in the territory of the Nordrhein (Figure 17). This first part includes the towns from Aachen to Düren. Later, in 2012, the second part was published in alphabetical order from Düsseldorf to Kleve. Finally, in 2022, a third part dedicated exclusively to the city of Cologne was published due to its size and monas- tic importance. Irrespective of the existing publications, these are part of a research project of the University of Bonn which publishes the complete list of monastic buildings, referenced in the website link 13 . The project is finished, although the 13 Retrieved from: https://www.igw.uni-bonn.de/fnzrlg/de/forschung/rheinische- landesgeschichte/nordrheinisches-klosterbuch (15/05/2023). introduction | 63 publication process is usually slow, therefore it explains why the fourth part is still unpublished. In terms of urban planning, several documents and tools have been considered, as in the previous case study. Firstly, the Masterplan Aachen2030 has been consulted, a document which contains the main development proposals for the city, as well as aspects related to heritage and urban protection. At the same time, the Geodatenportal Stadt Aachen 14 database was consulted on the current state of the city. This database contains up-to-date information on the city, functioning like the information plans of any urban plan. In addition to this, the TIM-online 15 database, whose geographical scope is the whole of North Rhine-Westphalia, has to be added. For the study of the heritage protection of the monastic buil- dings in Aachen, in addition to data from the Geodatenportal, legislative and urban planning documents in addition to related publications were consulted. As far as the latter is concerned, the work carried out by Raabe in 2015 in Denkmalpflege. Schne- lleinstieg für Architekten und Bauingenieure should be mentioned. In this work, a study and analysis is made of the Gesetz zum Schutz und zur Pflege der Denkmäler im Lande Nordrhein-W es- tfalen (DSchG) of 11 March 1980 from an architectural and construction perspective. In this research, the aforementioned law is taken from an urban perspective for the protection of heritage. Furthermore, it is linked to the local regulations of Aachen, approved on 24 March 2011, being the document Sat- zung für die Erhaltung des Denkmalbereiches “Innenstadt” , where the typological and protective characteristics of the historic centre are established. In addition, the Unesco World Heritage protection of the cathedral (Figure 18) in 7 June 1978 has also been analysed. Its Buffer zone affects the entire historic centre. Finally, taking the aforementioned databases and publications, further progress has been made in the urban monastic system of Aachen. One of the contributions is the presentation carried out by Ostos Prieto, Reicher and Pérez Cano in 2022, named The construction of the European convent city through the pro- jection of monasticism in Andalusia and North Rhine-W estphalia . Moreover another important contribution is the work carried out by Ostos Prieto, Reicher, Aladro Prieto, and Pérez Cano in 2022, entitled Urban development of the European monastic city through the conventual system in Aachen . The contribution was presented in a research seminar approaching the monastic reality of Aachen and its relationship with the city. 14 Retrieved from: https://geoportal.aachen.de/ (31/05/2023). 15 Retrieved from: https://www.tim-online.nrw.de/tim-online2/ (31/05/2023). a multi scalar european phenomenon 2 a multi scalar european phenomenon | 67 2.1 origin of christian monasticism Europe’s complexity is one of the characteristics that has marked the continent. It is reinforced by its development on one of the smallest continents on the globe. The diversity of peoples, cultures, languages and individual characteristics is both a rich- ness and a challenge. The difficulty of converting a continent under a common identity is even greater. Throughout history, attempts have been made to unify Europe under different flags. The most prominent method has been the creation of a single kingdom or empire, with examples such as the Roman, Carolingian, Holy Roman or Napoleonic Empires. However, these political proposals have not survived the test of time. Political union does not resolve other issues, such as Europe’s cultural diversity. In recent decades, the construction of the European Union seems to have found certain keys to the management and stability desired in the past. Nevertheless, this is not a defini- tive formula; it is still a challenge to continue working on. On the other hand, throughout history, other phenomena have appeared in the construction of Europe which, in addition to using the political sphere, have also encompassed the social and cultural fields. In this sense, the Christian religion stands out as one of the most successful, as it has managed to remain in existence since its appearance until the present day. Despite the different frontiers and cultures, Christianity was able to establish links between the different European people and give them a common identity. This is reflected not only in religion but also in literature, art and architecture. Thus, it succeeded in creating a multi-scale European phenomenon, which did not acquire a dimension from the human scale to the urban and territorial European scale. Monasticism has played an essential and fundamental role in the consolidation of the Christian religion. Monasteries originated as an isolated, isolated type of retreat, with no connection to the surrounding area. However, from the Middle Ages onwards they became one of the pillars of Catholicism. In fact, if one looks up the word monk in the Oxford Dictionary, the origin of the word comes from the Old English munuc , based on the Greek word monakhos ‘solitary’, which comes from monos ‘alone’. The solitary life is the main characteristic of monks. However, it should be noted that this kind of life is not only found in Catholicism, as Orthodox Christianity is also noted for a large number of monasteries. These can be found in former territories dominated by the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as in modern Orthodox countries such as Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria or Greece. In fact, monasteries are also found in other religions and parts of the world. In the Hindu world they are called Ashram, while Viharas are Buddhist. On the other hand, in China there are famous monasteries such as | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 68 those of the Shaolin monks where both Buddhism and Taoism are practised. Given this diversity of religions and monasteries, as mentioned in the introduction, this research has focused on Catholic Christian monasticism, specifically those built in cities by the mendicant religious orders. In order to understand the origin of Christian monasticism, it is necessary to know briefly its origin and beginnings as the dominant religion in Europe. From its birth in the 1st century, Christianity was subjected to multiple repressions and perse- cutions by the authorities of the Roman Empire who sought its abolition. However, the Emperor Constantine first used the Church as an element of unity, associating it with civil power (Lanuza, 2003). At the end of the 4th century, Emperor Theodo - sius finally proclaimed Christianity as the official religion of the Empire. Thereafter it became a dominant force in shaping the civilisations of the Western world up to the present day (Coffin et al. 2002). From Hispania to Mesopotamia, and from Egypt to Britain, Christianity spread rapidly and without any barriers. One of the earliest Christian political and territorial structures is based on the pentarchy. This is a concept that appeared during the Roman rule of Justinian I where the government is based on the authority of five persons (Hurlbut, 2016). In the 6th century, these are located in the five most important episcopal sees and cities of the empire: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem (Coffin et al. 2002) (Figure 19) . In addition to these cities, the development of the eccle- siastical structure uses the former capitals of Roman provinces as administrative and governmental centres (Pounds, 2005) . Although in this period the Roman Empire is practically divided and occupied by the Germanic peoples, the Christian map still maintains the Roman territorial unity with the exception of the island of Britannia, which would later be Christianised. In its early days, monasticism spread more rapidly in the East than in the West. It was not until the 8th century with the Bene- dictine rule that the monastic boom began in Europe (Coffin et al. 2002). The origin of the monastery as an architectural typology used for isolation and seclusion initially developed in Egypt. More than 33 foundations are known to have existed in this region, which was fully Christianised before its Arabisation (Krüger, 2007). At the beginning, these communities did not have any common characteristics but came together to prac- tise retirement together. In fact, many of these monasteries developed into small urban centres, as Greek monasticism did. They created monumental monastic complexes by building monastery-villages and monastery-towns (Braunfels, 1980). The appearance of Islam in the 7th century had as its main con- sequence in the Mediterranean the Islamisation of numerous a multi scalar european phenomenon | 69 Christian territories such as the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, Egypt and the Middle East. This resulted in the loss of territo- ries of the patriarchate of Rome, as well as the disappearance of the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. By the end of the 7th century, three successor civilisations to the Roman world had emerged, Byzantine, Islamic and Western European (Coffin et al. 2002). The Arabisation of the ancient patriarchates also had the effect of causing the disappearance of monastic development in these regions. The two surviving patriarchates soon clashed in internal conflicts and disagreements over political and religious issues. Although the Christian religion was a common unifying element, issues such as the acceptance of the Trinity caused disputes between Christians. Finally, the East-West Schism took place in 1054. The patriarchates of Rome and Constantinople split, forming the new and current branches of Catholic and Orthodox Christians (Hurlbut, 2016). This division marked the path of monasticism in the two Christian worlds. In both cases, the monastic typology is maintained as an isolated building in the territory. However, in the Catholic sphere, monasteries will soon begin to be linked to the cities, while in the Orthodox area this phenomenon rarely takes place. Antioch Rome Alexandria Constantinople Jerusalem Figure 19. Patriarchates of the Pentarchy in 6th century. Own elaboration based on Lanuza (2003). Rome Constantinople Antioch Alexandria Jerusalem | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 70 Figure 20. (right) Plan of Cluny in 1150. Hypothesis according to K. J. Conant. From Krüger (2007). Figure 21. (down) Location of Cluny foundations in the 10-11th centuries. Own elaboration based on Krüger (2007). Cluny a multi scalar european phenomenon | 71 When monasticism moved to Europe, it was in a similar way similar to the Egyptian monasticism. Isolated, unconnected buildings with no common characteristics. The reformation of the 10th century led to the appearance of the first European monasteries based on a common rule. Cluny founded the first mother house ( Figure 20 ) from which the emergence of twin monasteries began, establishing the first common European network ( Figure 21 ) (Krüger, 2007). These rules deal not only with the monastic way of life, but also with the architectural and typological characteristics of the buildings. In addition to the monastic church, there are cloisters, dormitor ies, refectories and outbuildings such as kitchens, infirmaries, storerooms or rooms for lodging (Pounds, 2005). In this respect, the characteristics of different religious orders can be highlighted. The Cistercians had to have a cloister, chapter house, fountain, refectory and dormitory. On the other hand, Carthusian monasteries are for- tified monasteries without monumental architecture, without a basilica, with individual dormitories and complete enclosure (Braunfels, 1980). Regarding the types of monastic spaces, the cloister is one of the most prominent. However, this was not present in the first monasteries, but originated to connect different spaces and buildings within the monastery. The grouping of buildings created a common courtyard which gradually became more complex and was later used as a space for meetings and reli- gious activities (Krüger, 2007). The construction of Cluny marks the beginning of European monasticism. Furthermore, these buildings in Europe were used by the Church itself as new tools for the management and control of the territory, as well as for its expansion. An example of this is the missionary activi- ties carried out in the 8th century in the former Anglo-Saxon Britain and its conversion to Christianity (Coffin et al. 2002) . Undoubtedly, monasticism will take on a much greater role in European society, no longer as a building dedicated to isolation and prayer. Finally, the religious implantation ends up being transferred to urban life, with the presence of the church as a spiritual, ideological place and possessor of propaganda and legitimacy (Mitre Fernández, 2010). Urban development in Europe is a complex phenomenon not only because of its scale across the continent but also because of its broad temporal trajectory. It is a long and complex pro- cess that spans from the earliest human settlements to the present day. The aim of this section is not a detailed analysis of these urban processes in Europe, which is beyond the scope 2.2 urban development in europe | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 72 of this research. Rather, this section analyses and studies those fundamental aspects that create the context for monastic development in Europe. Monasticism is not an isolated com- ponent in the territory, but is linked to urban, demographic growth, trade and cultural aspects. In this sense, these issues are analysed in relation to the monastic perspective. Thus, the time frame is between the medieval period, 6th century, and the beginning of the Napoleonic secularisation, 19th century. At the beginning of the medieval period, Christianity, a pri- marily urban religion, maintained the continuity of the city in the West (Le Goff, 1982). Despite the existence of a great ruralisation and a decrease in urban life, the bishop’s sees and the greater influence of the Church maintained the cities as centres of importance. One of the main causes of this rurali- sation is the dedication mainly to work activities belonging to the primary sector. Later, with the creation of new jobs and trades in the city, as well as population growth, these will gra- dually increase. The population of Western Europe increased from 27 million in the 8th century to 42 million in the 11th century and to 73 million in the 13th century (Bennett, 1937) . In the mid-medieval period there was a progressive new urba- nisation of old and new cities. In the 13th century there was a great demographic surge. It has been estimated that from 1200 to 1300 the population of Europe increased from 61 to 73 million. Between 1200 and 1340 the population of France would have increased from 12 to 21 million, that of Germany from 8 to 14 and that of England from 2.2 to 4.5 (Le Goff, 1965) . In percentage terms, the European population grew by more than 16% in just one century. In fact, the German case is paradigmatic, since in 1025 there could be as many as 200 towns. In 1150 their number exceeded 600 cities and in the year 1250 more than 1500 (Wilson, 2020). Therefore, urban development must be measured in two indices, population growth and the construction of new cities. The construction of new walls materialised the growth of the oldest cities in the whole Christianity. Between 1155 and 1156, Genoa extended its 952 wall. Cologne built a new wall in 1106 that included the new districts outside the old wall. Paris built a new wall in 1212 and Vienna had up to four walls between 1100 and 1230 (Le Goff, 1965). This urban development soon reached the rest of the non-Romanised territories, with new cities and important urban centres appearing in the territory. In the case of new settlements, it is difficult to differentiate the toponymy of villages, towns and cities 1 . In this case the toponymy is confusing because in many cases, the names Villeneuve, Ville- 1 This classification is generalised, taken as a reference from the images shown in the book by Schedel, H. (1493). a multi scalar european phenomenon | 73 franche, Sauventé in France, Freistadt or Neustadt in Germany, Villafranca or Villanova in Italy, Wola or Igota, Nowe Miasto in Poland, Ujezd, Lhota or Nové Mesto in Bohemia, evoke the privileges enjoyed by their inhabitants (Le Goff, 1965). In this sense, it is necessary to turn to other sources where the hierar- chy of an urban settlement can be located. One example is the work entitled Die Schedelsche W eltchronik 2 by Schedel (1493) . Here he differentiates between the types of cities in the Holy Roman Empire ( Figure 22 ) . Taking the images as a reference, the first level consists of cities with walls and cathedrals, signs of urbanisation and growth, such as Aachen in the third row. Below this is the smaller town of Haguennau, without walls but with a central church. Finally, with a more rural character, smaller scale buildings and poorer materials, is the village of Coblenz. This figure is an indicator of the classification of towns during the Middle Ages, which, according to their buildings and characteristics, can be placed in one of three categories. Urban development is especially linked to cultural growth in the cities. At the beginning of the Middle Ages, culture was relegated to monasteries such as Montecassino or Ripoll (Krüger, 2007). It is the role of Charlemagne, who has a great impact on the expansion of culture in the Carolingian Empire. For this purpose, he built an academy in Aachen, attracting English, Irish and Italian scholars, and transferred this idea to other cities. After the creation of the Holy Roman Empire, Otto I encouraged the creation of schools in monastic abbeys where the translation of classics into High German began (Lanuza, 2003). In addition, these monasteries were noted for works such as those in Hildesheim and Echternach. 2 This publication also contains the first map of the territory and cities of the European centre located to date. Figure 22. Classification of cities in the Holy Roman Empire, 1943. Highlighted in black box: Aachen, Haguennau and Coblenz. In Schedel, (1493) Die Scheldesche Weltchronik. | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 74 As urban development continued from the 10th century onwards, the creation of schools and universities in Europe was a continuous process. These were mainly located in large cities and urban centres, which even came to specialise according to subjects and areas of knowledge. Thus, Chartres was known for grammar studies, Bologna and Pavia for law, medicine in Montpellier, or philosophy and theology in Paris (Lanuza, 2003) . The demand for students was quite high, added to the diffi- culty of travelling from different regions of Europe to attend a particular university. The Dominican order, not being able to send all the monks to study in Paris or Bologna, had to set up their own schools in monasteries. This led in the late 13th century to the appearance of schools in monastic centres in cities such as Oxford, Cologne, Bologna, Montpellier, Florence or Barcelona (Krüger, 2007). Between the 12th and 14th centuries, trade once again took on a decisive role on a continental scale. If after the disappearance of the Roman Empire it had diminished on a local or regional scale, it once again played a decisive role in the construction of Europe and its cities. Commercial areas appeared among which important nodes began to stand out ( Figure 23 ) . Among these, the regions of Flanders and northern Italy stand out, working for the export of textiles and acquiring the dimensions of a quasi-industry (Le Goff, 1982). The main trading areas can be grouped into those of the Mediterranean trade, distributed in Figure 23. Nodes and trade rou- tes in Europe from the 13th to the 15th century. Own elaboration based on Lanuza (2003) and Le Goff (1965). Genoa Northern Italy Aragon Champagne Fairs Hanseatic League Venice a multi scalar european phenomenon | 75 Aragon, Genoa and Venice, as well as those of the North Sea, constituted by the Hanseatic League 3 . Not only the regions themselves are important, but also the communications and trade routes that were established between them. In this sense, the connection between Flanders and northern Italy by land favoured the growth of the French markets, especially the Champagne Fair, where products from England, France, Scandinavia, Germanic countries, Eastern and Southern Europe were crossed (Lanuza, 2003). In fact, the beginning of this route takes place in the city of York and ends south of Rome, with an important branch to Santiago de Compostela controlled by Franks and religious orders (Coffin et al., 2002). If the trade axes mentioned above overlap with the pilgrimage routes of the Way of St. James and the Via Francigena 4 , the two are entirely coincident. It is by no means coincidental to take advantage of the pre-existence of pilgrimage routes on which to establish trade routes. This, together with the monastic infrastructure on these important routes, led to the construction of a complex territorial network. Among the characteristic buildings that define the medieval city, the religious buildings stand out. The monasteries, together with the city walls and the cathedral, determined the characteristic image of a city (Braunfels, 1980). This can be seen in Anton Woensam’s 1531 view of Cologne’s perspective ( Figure 24 ) . The author highlights the position not only of the cathedral, which is under construction, but also of all the churches, monasteries and convents of the city above the urban landscape. In fact, those are exaggerated, because of their size or distance, they were impossible to see from the author’s point of view. This represents the importance of the urban monastic system for the city. The number of monastic buildings is directly related to its population. When in the mid-15th century, most cities on German territory had less than 2,000 inhabitants, and only 30 with more than 10,000, Cologne had about 40,000 inhabitants (Wilson, 2020). 3 The Hanseatic League brought together 180 German cities and merchant associations and linked northern and eastern European trade with the Mediterranean (Lanuza, 2003). 4 The references and planimetry of these roads are given in point 2.3. Figure 24. (top) View of Cologne. (down) Detail of monasteries in Cologne. Anton Woensam, 1531. In Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin. | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 76 At the beginning of the 14th century, few cities exceeded 100,000 inhabitants, including Venice, Milan or Paris. On the other hand, Bruges, Ghent, Toulouse, London, Hamburg, Lübeck and others of equal importance had 20-40,000 inhabitants (Coffin et al., 2002). In early 16th century Western Europe, urban growth is mainly centred on the large commercial nodes in Flanders and Northern Italy ( Figure 25 - top). Other clusters of large urban populations can be observed, such as in Anda- lusia or Sicily. The former boosted by trade from America and the latter by trade from the Mediterranean. In addition, urban centres such as London, Paris, Rome and Vienna stand out in terms of importance and size. These urban growths coincide with the views that appeared in Georg Braun’s Civitates Orbis Terrarum between 1572 and 1617. A comparison between the Van der Krogt study (2008) and the population map of Europe shown here confirms the importance of these cities as depicted in Braun’s publication. In fact, 543 cities were drawn in which the centre of Europe, the region of Flanders and the region of Andalusia stand out (Van der Krogt, 2008). The urban growth of the 17th century highlights the develo- pments in the above-mentioned regions of the previous cen- tury ( Figure 25 - middle). However, new urban centres with populations of between 50,000 and 100,000 inhabitants began to appear. In addition to London and Paris, which are in first position, places such as Lisbon and Seville stand out on the Ibe- rian Peninsula. On the other hand, in France, Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux, or Marseille are beginning to show a strong growth. On the Italian peninsula, in addition to the aforementioned Rome, Naples, Palermo and Venice are experiencing a demo- graphic expansion. In central Europe, cities such as Munich, Nuremberg, Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg and Gdansk are beco- ming increasingly important on a territorial scale. Finally, at the beginning of the 19th century, different assess- ments of urban growth can be observed ( Figure 25 - down) . The historical regions of commercial nodes such as Flanders, Northern Italy, Andalusia and Sicily maintained their importanc e but with limited growth. In contrast, there is a concentration and centralisation of population towards large cities, especially the capitals. Lisbon, Madrid, Rome, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, London or Dublin stand out with populations well above 100,000 inha- bitants. In addition, the growth of countries such as the United Kingdom, France or the Holy Roman Empire can be observed, with a large number of cities in their territory, in contrast to countries such as Spain, Portugal or Italy. From this point on, the population grows exponentially in the industrialised areas and regions, as well as in the capitals of the countries. The rest of the cities manage to maintain a medium-sized city status between large centres and small settlements. a multi scalar european phenomenon | 77 Figure 25. Historical demogra - phy of Europe. Own elaboration based on Instituto de Estadística y Cartografía de Andalucía (2009). 100,000 > 50,000 - 100,000 20,000 - 50,000 < 20,000 16th century 18th century 17th century | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 78 The early days of monasticism in Europe are marked mainly by the character of the religious orders. At the beginning, their characteristics favoured the establishment in the territory in isolation, without any connection to urban life. The monastery order of Cluny, mentioned in 2.1 above, had more than 1,500 buildings in all regions of the European continent by the 12th century (Braunfels, 1980). This expansion and foundation phe- nomenon in Christian territory was emulated by other orders, mainly the mendicant orders. This means that the establishments made by religious orders are not characteristic of one region or culture, but are considered a globalising phenomenon for the whole of Western Europe (Ostos Prieto et al., 2019). This statement redefines borders, territory and even political-social relations based on a common element that builds a European identity. During the Middle Ages, Europe was characterised by a great dispersion of small urban settlements throughout the territory. In many cases this disintegration was managed by ecclesiastical power, incorporating rural areas into parishes. This generated a village centre that helped to forge community identity (Wil- son, 2020). Gradually, monastic influence moved closer to the cities, until the emergence of the mendicant orders. The great difference between these orders and the previous ones is the combination of a contemplative and an active life. Thus, in the 13th century, the Pope approved two of the great European mendicant orders, the Franciscans in 1209 and the Dominicans in 1216. These were followed by other notable orders such as the Carmelites in 1247 and the Augustinians in 1256 (Pounds, 2005) . These new orders are characterised by their founda- tion in cities, taking as a reference an urban and territorial dimension. However, monastic expansion is not at all easy in Europe. Jakob Swinka, archbishop of Gniezno at the end of the 13th century, complains that the German Franciscans do not understand Polish. Therefore, he ordered prayers to be said in the vernacular language for the defence and promotion of the Polish language (Le Goff, 1982). Despite the difficulties the religious orders might encounter, the statistics of foundations during the 13th century by Domi- nicans and Franciscans (Figure 26) are remarkable. From a single foundation, by the end of the century the Dominicans had some 414 monasteries (Braunfels, 1980) and the Francis- cans 1254 monastic buildings 5 (Schenkluhn, 2000) ( Figure 27 ). According to Le Goff (1965), at the end of the 13th century, the map of the monasteries of Europe is the urban map of 5 It should be noted that this expansion was not only in Western Europe, but in all Catholic territories. Some states, such as the Republic of Venice or Genoa, controlled cities and regions in the East, such as Greece or the Crimea. 2.3 monastic orders in europe Figure 26. Franciscan Churches in Krakow, Poland (top), Novi Sad, Serbia (middle) & Tarifa, Spain (down). Author, 2019-2023. Franciscans Dominicans Figure 27. (right page) Francis- can (top) and Dominican (down) provinces and monasteries in 1300. Provincial capitals (dark) and other cities (light).Own elabo - ration based on ESRI cartographic base and data from Schenkluhn (2000). a multi scalar european phenomenon | 79 Franciscan provinces and monasteries Dominican provinces and monasteries | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 80 Christendom. Expansion is linked both to the spread of the Christian faith and to the performance of tasks specific to each religious order. In this sense, one of the tasks of the Domini- cans was the fight against heresy, as well as the conversion of Jews and Muslims. This led them to develop new ways of controlling heretics through legal procedures and justice (Coffin et al, 2002). Thus, their new foundations are closely linked to territories such as the Iberian Peninsula, formerly Muslim and in the midst of Christian conquest during the Middle Ages. They also stand out for their involvement in the fight against the Cathars in the south of France, especially during the 13th century (Cantera Montenegro & Cantera Montenegro, 1996) . Just as the religious order established unique rules and habits for all its members, the same was true for its buildings. In this sense, the monastic typology must be differentiated according to each order. Although they shared common elements such as the church, the cloister or the refectory, the characteristics of the buildings were different. An example of this is the buil- ding regulations approved by the Dominicans. They establish that the construction should be modest, not too large and the height of the church should not exceed thirty feet 6 . Only the choir and the sacristy may be vaulted and the church must not feature sculptures, paintings or spectacular pavements (Krüger, 2007) . Although these guidelines are the initial rules, they are modified over time. An example of this is the incorporation of sculptures, paintings and ornamental materials within the churches ( Figure 28 ) . Nevertheless, most monasteries maintain their austere character on the outside. In addition to written sources, some graphic references, such as Schedel’s book Die Schedelsche W eltchronik (1493), show the architectural differences between monasteries. In this publica- tion, the different religious orders are discussed, from Cluny and the Cistercian order to the Templar, Carthusian, Dominican, Augustinian, Franciscan, Carmelite and other orders. During the description of the text, images of the different temples and monastic architecture referenced in each of them appear ( Figure 29) . It is not a faithful and real reproduction of the building, but rather generic figures that could present the monastic typology with respect to one order or another, since some of them are repeated in different chapters. However, it is worth noting the difference between some of them, showing that since the 15th century the difference between orders was very clear, not only in the style of life, but also in their architecture. The importance of monasticism in Europe can be seen not only in its religious architecture or the number of foundations in 6 About thirty feet would be equivalent to about ten metres in the International System. Figure 28. Dominican Churches in Rome, Italy (top) & Salamanca, Spain (down). Author, 2019-2023. a multi scalar european phenomenon | 81 cities, but also in its territorial scale. In fact, the foundation of monasteries is considered by some authors such as Braunfels (1980 ) as a branch of territorial planning, which has so far not been given the attention it deserves. Early on, this architectural typology perfectly dominated the territory by seeking the most advantageous natural positions. The use of the land was not only intended for the order itself, but also for the control and management of the territory. This component was added to the creation of sacred sites, through which pilgrimage routes began to emerge. Pilgrimage sites played a dual role in the monastic develop- ment of Europe. Firstly, they became centres of attraction for all Christian territories, favouring demographic and economic growth. Many of them, cities or even isolated monasteries, became important centres of commercial or industrial activity. Examples include Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Bobbio in the Italian Apennines, Sankt Gallen, Maria Lach in the German Eifel, Ely, an island in Britain, or Glastonbury in the Somerset Marshes (Pounds, 2005). At the same time, other traditional Christian sites such as Rome and Jerusalem 7 saw a sharp increase in the number of pilgrims and visitors. Secondly, in order to visit these pilgrimage sites, Europe-wide routes and safe itineraries were built. Two of the best known routes in Europe are the Way of St. James 8 and the Via Fran- cigena ( Figure 30 ) . The first is the best known and the most fervent, and it is known that in 1139 the first Pilgrim’s Guide was created (Le Goff, 1965). This guide was followed by several publications, the most important of which was the guide of 1495 entitled Die W alfahrt und Straß zu Sankt Jakob . Here, the 7 It should be remembered that the pilgrimage to Jerusalem produced the well-known Crusades in the 11th century. 8 It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993. Retrieved from https://whc. unesco.org/en/list/669 (31/05/2023). Figure 29. Types of monastery (left to right) Augustinian, Domi- nican and Franciscan. Images by Schedel (1493). | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 82 monk of Künig gives a detailed description of the entire route. In fact, he establishes two starting points in Europe, Aachen ( Figure 31 ) and Einselden (Herbers 2011), up to Santiago de Compostela. Therefore, the pilgrimage route is not a linear route, but from the Pyrenees onwards, it splits into two. Although this is the main or major route, there were also a large number of smaller roads or routes that connected with the main one all over the continent. A network of road infrastru cture was woven around this pilgrimage route that spans the whole of Europe. The Via Francigena is less known but equally important from the 10th century. Its route starts in the English city of Canterbury and ends in Rome. In addition to this itinerary, there are other roads to Rome, but of a second level. All these roads offered themselves as an ideal place to establish monastic foundations, as they fulfilled a social function for the care of pilgrims (Krüger, 2007) . This care was not only spiritual, but the monasteries acted as day and night resting places. It must be remembered that the routes during the Middle Ages cannot be seen from today’s perspective, but that they were long and slow. A fast traveller, such as a merchant, could cover between 25 and 60 km per day depending on the terrain. In this sense, he would need two weeks to go from Bologna to Avignon 9 , and 11 or 12 days to go from Florence to Naples 10 (Le Goff, 1982). For 9 The distance between Bologna and Avignon is about 730km. 10 The distance between Florence and Naples has been calculated at about 470 km. Figure 30. Pilgrimage routes in Europe in the 15th century. Own elaboration based on Herbers (2011) and Krüger (2007). Figure 31. Sign of the Pilgrims’ Chapel of St. James in Aachen. Author, 2022. Santiago de Compostela Rome Canterbury Aachen Einselden Via Francigena Main Way of Saint James Other Ways of Saint James a multi scalar european phenomenon | 83 the Santiago and Rome routes, calculations could be made by taking an average of about 40km per day according to Le Goff’s estimates. Taking the Aachen-Santiago route, the approximate calculation in kilometres is about 1900km. This gives a total of 47.5 days on the outward journey. On the Canterbury-Rome route of 1700km, the duration would be about 42.5 days. In the case of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, pilgrimages were also common. However, the greater distance, the dangers of the route both by land and sea, and the crossing of regions belonging to other religions made the creation of major routes as on the continent extremely difficult. In turn, these difficulties facilitated the emergence of new orders in this context, espe- cially of a religious and military nature. As an example, some orders such as the Templars or the Hospitallers, known as the Knights of St. John, were decisive in facilitating the pilgrims’ journey to Jerusalem (Lyman, 2016). In addition, the Teutonic order appeared in this region in 1190, which by 1261 already had foundations in the Lower Rhine (Wilson, 2020). The order was also key in its development in Europe, building one of the main monastic states in territories east of the Baltic. In this period of monastic growth and expansion during the Middle Ages, new internal conflicts again arose within the Church. The most prominent one took place between 1378 and 1417, known as the Western Schism or the Papal Schism. The difficult political situation of the Church caused two bishops to dispute the papacy and there were even two popes at the same time, Urban and Clement, the Pope of Avignon and the Pope of Rome 11 (Lyman, 2016). This conflict divided the Church again as the previous Eastern Schism did in 1054. The division even led religious orders such as the Dominicans to side with Avignon or Rome. Moreover, many dioceses were divided into two bishops or monasteries in two abbots (Cantera Montenegro & Cantera Montenegro, 1996). Finally, in 1417, Martin V was elected as the new and sole successor to the Papacy in Rome, putting an end to the internal Christian division and reunifying the Catholic territory. This new crisis laid the foundations for new ideals and asceticism on the continent, giving rise in the near future to a new reformation, the Protestant Reformation. During the 16th century, a new event divided Catholic Europe again into two camps, the Reformation. This doctrine is directly opposed to the authority of the Church, without recognising the Pope or the ecclesiastical structure (Coffin et al, 2002). In 1517, the Augustinian monk Martin Luther put forward new reformist ideas on the concept of the political structure of the 11 The confrontation was joined by the appearance of a third pope, Alexander of Pisa in 1410 (Lyman, 2016)). | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 84 Church and Christianity itself. In the wake of the Lutheran Reformation, new movements such as the Anglican or Calvi- nist Reformation 12 emerged. The Anglican further developed Protestant ideas, denying papal authority, but building its own church by taking the English monarchy as its new leader (Lyman, 2016). However, John Calvin was inspired by Lutheran theses to establish a new system based on public election and equality of the people, contrary to the absolutist system and centred on both the monarchy and the Church (Lanuza, 2003). The crisis within the Church became more than evident. No other event altered the map of monasticism in Europe as much as the Reformation. In just a few decades, countless monastic buildings and religious orders were suppressed (Krü- ger, 2007). Faced with the disappearance of monasteries and convents, the Catholic Church did not adopt a passive stance, but rather the opposite. The Catholic response to Martin Luther’s Protestant ideas was called the Counter-Reformation. Its aims included the renewal of the Church itself, as well as preventing the Protestant advance. In fact, in the German territories, the Catholic Reformation was known by the term Rekatholisierung , which directly means a return to Catholicism. As became obvious, the ecclesiastical struggle was transferred to the political arena and religious wars were the main stage in the centre of Europe. For example, the power struggle in the Low Countries between the Dutch and the Spanish reached a religious dimension in the Thirty Years’ War between 1618 and 1648 (Wilson, 2009). Thus the map of Europe changed completely ( Figure 33) in the 16th century. One can observe the strong Lutheran influence within the Holy Roman Empire, while the Italian, Spanish or French territories still maintain a strong Catholic character. In France, however, a strong reform process appeared, fuelled by the Huguenot reform, but it did not achieve a wide extension. On the other hand, other regions of the Holy Roman Empire, the Netherlands, England, Scotland, Bohemia and the Kingdom of Hungary were largely reformed. The emergence of Protestantism was the beginning of a series of reforms that spread across much of Christian territory. Most of these reforms have been maintained to the present day, which is a major process of transformation on the European map. These changes were not only religious or ideological. As mentioned above, they directly affected the ecclesiastical struc- ture, i.e. the management of territory and cities, the system of government in ecclesiastical provinces, dioceses and parish districts. In addition to cathedrals and parishes, the monasteries and convents play an essential role in the management and control of the religious structure. In this sense, the Reformation 12 Another term also known to refer to the French Calvinist doctrine is Huguenots. a multi scalar european phenomenon | 85 rejected the monastic idea. Por ejemplo, el monasterio fran- ciscano de Berlin fue disuelto y reutilizado como laboratorio y escuela posteriormente ( Figure 32 ) . Although there were some attempts to adapt the monastery to the new ideas, such as the monastery of Husum, they were not effective (Braunfels, 1980). Therefore, the disappearance of orders and the prohibition of new foundations were common. In the monastic sphere, many of its orders were reformed, such as the Carmelites or Franciscans. The reform of these orders were the Discalced Carmelites and Capuchins respectively. The idea of the new branches was to return to the initial spirit of the order. In fact, the Capuchins had a strong counter-refor- mationist preaching work especially in Germany and France (Krüger, 2007). New orders such as the Jesuits also appeared. Their work was mainly educational and formative, creating schools and universities to fight Protestantism. They were seen as a political weapon as they not only managed to influence the local population, but also the hi gher political spheres (O’Malley, 2006) . The struggle between Catholics and Lutherans moved into the academic sphere, into the control of education and teaching. Following this educational line, other orders such as the Ursulines devoted themselves entirely to female education, especially in the areas most affected by Lutheranism such as the German territory. Figure 32. Franciscan church in Berlin, Germany. Author, 2022. Roman Catholic Huguenots Lutherans Calvinists Calvinists Calvinists Anglicans Muslims Muslims Muslims Orthodoxs Orthodoxs Figure 33. The Reformation in Europe, 16th century. Own ela- boration based on Krüger (2007). | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 86 The Spanish territory taken as a reference for its study is that defined by the borders of the Iberian Peninsula. This peninsula has a perimeter situation in Europe, with a strategic position between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Poli- tically and historically it is divided by two countries, Portugal and Spain. Its status as a peninsula has meant that the borders have hardly changed. Therefore, a historical, political and territorial approach is made to the Spanish territory on the 2.4 spanish peninsular framework Protestantism not only introduced an ecclesiastical conflict that divided Catholicism, but also generated a new monastic boom in response. The old orders intensified their founding activity, the new orders aimed to fight the new ideas, making founda- tions in practically every urban settlement. Thus, monasticism not only had a strong influence not only in the big cities, but during this period it reached even the smallest settlements. An example of this is the town of Hagenau, with 2,000 to 3,000 inhabitants at the end of the 18th century. Although it was a small town, it housed more than 11 monasteries and convents with orders such as the Premonstratensians, Franciscans, Poor Clares, Augustinians, Dominicans, Penitents, Chilermists, San- juanists, Beguines, Jesuits and Capuchins (Braunfels, 1980) . The last two orders are the result of the Catholic Counter-Re- formation, which in a short period of time reached a rate of monastic foundation very similar to that of ancient orders such as the Dominicans or the Franciscans. Finally, the beginning of the 18th century marked the end of the monastic boom in Europe. The new ideals promoted by the French Revolution of 1789, together with Napoleon’s rise to power, led to the suppression and confiscation of practically all monasteries and convents. Although it began in France, Napoleon’s conquests spread throughout the whole of Europe, encompassing all Catholic regions where religious orders existed. An example of this is the Wutemberg region where 95 abbeys were suppressed to be used as barracks, schools, sanatoriums or offices in 1806 (Wilson, 2020). In contrast, other territories such as Great Britain, which were not invaded by the French, had no monasteries at the time, as they had previously been suppressed by the Anglican Reformation. Thus, to a certain extent, European monastic development culminated as a com- mon and transcendental element in the development of the territory and cities. From the 18th century onwards, the diverse socio-political events and territorial developments marked the monastic trajectory in each region, establishing differences that had hitherto been practically non-existent. a multi scalar european phenomenon | 87 The current division of the Spanish territory is structured in 17 Autonomous Communities and 2 Autonomous Cities 13 . Among these, Andalusia stands out for containing within its boundaries the site of Écija, the case study. An approach of scale is carried out to identify again the territorial and political parameters. However, new parameters to be considered are established, such as demographics and the number of monastic settlements. These allow the construction of a context and a better understanding of the territory where Écija is located. Thus, the study from the different territorial scales is crucial to subsequently understand the development of the urban monastic system in the city. In order to understand monastic development in the Iberian Peninsula, it is necessary to analyse its historical and political context during the Middle Ages. As in Europe as a whole, the medieval period lasted approximately 10 centuries and was characterised by its convulsions and complexity. The fall of the Western Roman Empire 14 in the 5th century fragmented Roman territory into multiple kingdoms such as the Franks, the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths. The latter settled in the former Roman province of Hispania, creating a new kingdom ( Figure 34 - 01). In the 7th century, the power of the Umayyad Caliphate with its capital in Damascus extended from India to the Moroccan Atlantic coast, covering the entire African coast (Lanuza, 2003). The search for new territories and conquests led them to confront the Visigothic kingdom in Hispania in 711. The latter was quickly defeated and conquered, and decades later, the whole of Hispania was controlled by the Umayyads 15 (Coffin, et al., 2002). The new name by which the Iberian peninsula began to be known is Al-Andalus. 13 The concept of ‘Autonomous Community or Autonomous City’ refers to the name of the division of the territory of Spain. 14 If the fall of the Western Roman Empire marks the beginning of the Middle Ages, the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire marks the end of this period in 1453. 15 The expansion of the Caliphate also brought it into conflict with the Franks at the Battle of Poitiers. However, the Muslims were defeated and the Pyrenees became the new border between the two kingdoms. 2.4.1 HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL CONTEXTUALISATION peninsula. For the chronological scope, the most characteristic or determining historical layers are taken for this analysis, since a detailed analysis of the Spanish territorial evolution is not the object of this research. This is mainly focused on the medieval period, as it is the most complex and the period from which the political, social and religious construction of the country originated. | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 88 In the mid-8th century, internal political disputes within the Umayyad Caliphate led to two important developments. Firstly, Christians took advantage of Muslim political instabilities to found the Kingdom of Asturias in the north of the peninsula ( Figure 34 - 02). Secondly, the assassination of the Umayyad family of Prince Abd al-Rahman I caused him to flee Damas- cus and settle in Córdoba. Here he founded the Caliphate of Córdoba, with its capital in Córdoba, totally independent of Damascus (Lara Martínez & Lara Martínez, 2018). During this period, Christianity in the Iberian Peninsula had a scarce deve- lopment in minority groups as Islam was the official religion of the Muslim culture. On the other hand, the cities experienced a great economic and demographic development. In fact, Cordoba became one of the most populated cities in Europe (Lanuza, 2003). As mentioned above, the Christian presence was very insig- nificant and the peninsula was practically Muslim. However, the small Christian kingdom in the north grew more and more until it reached the Duero River to the south as a new frontier (Monsalvo Antón, 2010). The conquest of the city of León led to the creation of the new Kingdom of León, with its capital in this city. Together with the growth of this kingdom, other kingdoms also arose as a result of Charlemagne’s conquests to secure the Pyrenean frontier. These are the Kingdom of Navarre and the County of Barcelona ( Figure 34 - 03). As is evident, Christian influence grew and in 930 it covered most of the north of the peninsula. This allowed the emergence of territorial structures such as the Way of St. James or the construction of churches and monasteries in the new Christian kingdoms. It is important to note that the role played by the Church was even greater as, in addition to controlling and managing the territory, it had to Christianise the former Islamic areas. The wars between kingdoms went on and on throughout the centuries, especially those between the Christians Kingdoms against Al-Andalus. The Christians, out of cultural and religious affinity, concentrated their expansion towards Muslim territory. A straight-line conquest of the Christian kingdoms towards the south can be observed ( Figure 34 - 04). In 1157 the political map became more complex. The weakening of the Caliphate of Córdoba caused its division and fragmentation into small Taifa kingdoms (Monsalvo Antón, 2010). This situation was taken advantage of by the Christians who expanded their frontier to the limits of the Tagus River. The new African Almo- had Caliphate finally conquered and unified the fragments of the old Caliphate of Córdoba. A new capital was established in Seville and the Muslim territory once again consolidated (Lara Martínez & Lara Martínez, 2018). On the Christian side, the Kingdom of León was divided into three kingdoms: León, Figure 34. (right page) Historical evolution of the Iberian peninsula. From 6th to 16th centuries. Own elaboration based on Monsalvo Antón (2010). a multi scalar european phenomenon | 89 Visigothic Kingdom Umayyad Caliphate Caliphate of Córdoba Almohad Caliphate 01 03 05 02 04 06 6th cent. 10th cent. 14th cent. 8th cent. 12th cent. 16th cent. Kingdom of Asturias Kingdom of León Kingdom of León Kingdom of Castile Crown of Castile Crown of Castile Crown of Aragon Crown of Aragon Kingdom of Aragon Kingdom of Portugal Kingdom of Portugal Kingdom of Portugal Kingdom of Granada Kingdom of Navarre Kingdom of Navarre Kingdom of Navarre Kingdom of Navarre County of Barcelona | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 90 Castile and Portugal. The latter constitutes the prelude to the Portuguese country, conquering its current capital, Lisbon. In addition, Castile conquered the former Visigothic capital, Toledo, moving the capital to this city (Lara Martínez & Lara Martínez, 2018). On the other hand, the kingdom of Navarre remains in its extension, while the former County of Barcelona becomes the Kingdom of Aragon. The union of the kingdoms of Castile and León gave rise to the Crown of Castile. The Castilian king formed an alliance with the Kingdom of Navarre and the Crown of Aragon to defeat the Almohad troops at the Battle of Navas de Tolosa in 1212 (Lanuza, 2003). The Christian victory allowed the Castilian expansion to form the frontier of the Kingdom of Granada in 1301 ( Figure 34 - 05). At the same time, the Portuguese king- dom and the Crown of Aragon completed their conquests on the Iberian Peninsula, maintaining their borders with Castile 16 ( Monsalvo Antón, 2010). During this period, monasticism was found practically throughout the Iberian Peninsula, especially in the south, given the need to Christianise the newly conquered territories. Only the Kingdom of Granada, the last Muslim area on the Iberian Peninsula, was missing. However, it survived for another 200 years thanks to territorial management and diplomatic agreements between Christians and Muslims. In 1492, the last ruler of the Kingdom of Granada, Boabdil, surrendered the city of Granada to the Catholic Monarchs. This marked the end of the Islamic presence in the Iberian Peninsula for 800 years ( Figure 34 - 06). The last conquest of Muslim territory, the incorporation of the kingdom of Navarre and the marriage between Queen Isabella of Castile and Ferdi- nand of Aragon laid the foundations for the new Kingdom of Spain. From the 16th century onwards, the Iberian Peninsula was divided between Spain and Portugal 17 , a division that has remained practically unchanged to the present day ( Lara Martínez & Lara Martínez, 2018). As mentioned above, from the 15th century onwards, the territorial division of the Iberian Peninsula did not undergo any significant transformations. This is why the focus of the analysis is on the medieval period. In the six centuries that followed, the succession of new events took place mostly within the borders of each country without any major changes. In this sense, only the Napoleonic occupation in the 19th century should be highlighted, although this took place not only in Spain but also on a European scale. 16 The border between Portugal and Castile, which later became Spain, is one of the oldest political borders with scarcely any changes (Lara Martínez & Lara Martínez, 2018). 17 Although Spain and Portugal are two independent kingdoms, in some exceptions they have been united. A major example is the unification under Philip II in the 16th century. a multi scalar european phenomenon | 91 The early construction of the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon generated the creation of records and statistical documentation on their areas of influence in the territory. One of the most relevant examples is the 16th century demographic census of the Crown of Castile carried out by Tomás González 18 from the books of Rentas y Derechos Reales (González, 1829). In the 18th century, statistical censuses such as the Ensenada census in 1756, the Aranda census in 1768 and the Floridablanca cen- sus in 1787 are of particular note. These included population data, descriptions of towns, enumeration and classification of buildings, number of trades, agricultural hectares, etc. The interest of this data is to know the state of the monastic system in Spain prior to the secularisation and confiscation of religious buildings in the 19th century. The confiscations of Madoz and Mendizábal in Spain. The Royal Order of Ecclesiastical Confisca- tions 19 of 25 July 1835 20 suppressed any monastery or convent where there were fewer than 12 people. Subsequently, in 1855, a new secularisation order was published in La Gaceta de Madrid, which lasted until 1924. The end of the 18th century is crucial to know the original state of monasticism before its secularisation. In this sense, Floridablanca’s data show a total of 3072 monastic buildings, divided into 2046 male and 1026 female (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, n.d.). However, by the time Floridablanca counted the monasteries and convents in 1787, the Jesuit order had been expelled from Spain 21 . The Jesuit buildings have not been taken into account. Therefore, if the numbers are corrected and include the monasteries of the Jesuit order, the total would be 3,260 monasteries, with 2,202 male monasteries ( Atienza López, 2008). As can be seen, the male buildings are practically twice as many as the female ones in number. The ecclesiastical territorial system, together with the religious orders, arose on the Iberian Peninsula in the northern area and declined as new territories were conquered. As in Europe, monastic expansion also took place on the peninsula, but only in Christian areas. The creation of a monastery is not just another religious building. They play a key role in land-use planning, as they organise agricultural areas, cut down forests, set up 18 As indicated at the beginning of the book itself. This 19th century edition includes appendices that complete the rest of the peninsula in the 16th century, i.e. the territories of the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre. 19 Translated from the original official document entitled Real Orden de Exclaustración Eclesiástica del 25 de julio de 1835 . 20 BOE núm. 211, de 29 de julio de 1835, pages 841 a 842. Electronic resource. Available at http://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE/1835/211/A00841-00842.pdf. Accessed on 31/05/2023. 21 They were expelled in 1767 by order of King Charles III (Soto Artudeño, 2014). 2.4.2 CHURCH TERRITORIAL SYSTEM | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 92 livestock farms, etc. In addition, they consolidate depopulated borders (Sobrino González, 2013). Therefore, a large part of Iberian monasticism sought out border areas and roads of strategic value. Specifically, the border towns between the Muslim and Christian kingdoms were important areas for monastic foundations. In section 2.5.1. an analysis of the changes in the borders of the political map of the Iberian Peninsula has been made. However, by focusing this research on the monasteries, a new political layer, the ecclesiastical administrative one, has to be superimposed. Regardless of geographical or political boun- daries, the Church as an institution creates its own territorial organisation. This division is partly inherited from the Roman administration 22 , and the ecclesiastical division is even referred to in the same way, as diocese (Martínez, 1994). Furthermore, these territories are controlled and managed by the bishop, being administered in his own name (Aldea Vaquero; Marín Martínez & Vives Gatell, 1972). In this sense, the grouping of bishoprics constructs an ecclesiastical province, governed by the figure of the archbishop. On the other hand, exempt dioceses can also appear. This means that this territory does not depend directly on the Holy See (Martínez, 1994). Since the Middle Ages, the Church has had its own organisa- tion of the Christian territory, sometimes with a high lack of coherence with the political and geographical map (Martínez, 1994) . Moreover, this division has been modified over time, and is not the same today as it was initially established in the Middle Ages. Specifically, in the case of the Iberian Peninsula, up to five different divisions of ecclesiastical provinces and dioceses have been located. All the ecclesiastical provinces are shown on the map, although only the dioceses of the Andalusian cities selected. In this way, the aim is to highlight the territory and diocese on which they depended, as well as their relative posi- tion in relation to their corresponding ecclesiastical province. The first division into ecclesiastical provinces was established in the 13th century (Aldea Vaquero; Marín Martínez & Vives Gatell, 1972), which bears no relation to the Christian king- doms ( Figure 35 - 01). The most striking example is to be found between Portugal and Castile whose ecclesiastical government responds to very different issues from the political ones. The provinces of Santiago, Braga and Seville overlap between the two kingdoms. Moreover, and obviously, the Muslim territory is excluded from the territorial organisation. In the 14th century, the peninsular territory was restructured, with the segregation 22 During the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian in the 3rd century, the territory was divided into dioceses. a multi scalar european phenomenon | 93 01 03 05 02 04 Figure 35. Historical evolution of the Ecclesiastical provincies in the Iberian peninsula. From 14th to 21st centuries. In dark colour, the dioceses studied. Own elaboration based on Monsalvo Antón (2010). 14th cent. 16th cent. 21st cent. 15th cent. 19th cent. E.P.Granada E.P.Granada E.P.Granada E.P.Mérida E.P.Valladolid E.P.Valladolid E.P.Pamplona y Tudela E.P.Zaragoza E.P.Zaragoza E.P.Zaragoza E.P.Braga E.P.Braga E.P.Lisboa E.P.Zaragoza E.P.Barcelona E.P.Tarragona E.P.Tarragona E.P.Tarragona E.P.Tarragona E.P.Tarragona E.P.Valencia E.P.Valencia E.P.Valencia E.P.Toledo E.P.Toledo E.P.Toledo E.P.Toledo E.P.Toledo E.P.Madrid E.P.Oviedo E.P.Burgos E.P.Burgos E.P.Burgos Ex. Ex. Ex. Ex. Ex. Ex. Ex. E.P.Santiago de Compostela E.P.Santiago de Compostela E.P.Santiago de Compostela E.P.Santiago de Compostela E.P.Santiago de Compostela E.P.Santiago de Compostela E.P.Sevilla E.P.Sevilla E.P.Sevilla E.P.Sevilla E.P.Sevilla Ex. | Exempt Province E.P. | Ecclesiastical Province | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 94 of the province of Tarragona and the enlargement of the pro- vince of Santiago ( Figure 35 - 02). The conquest of Granada in the 15th century allowed the incorporation of the entire peninsular territory into the ecclesiastical provincial division and diocese (Figure 35 - 03). In this period, the political and religious frontier of the kingdom of Portugal coincided with that of Castile, with the provinces of Braga and Lisbon. On the other hand, the territorial division of Spain remained completely unchanged until 1851. In the mid-19th century, the agreements between Church and State restructured the religious map (Martínez, 1994), again differentiated from the political map of Spain into provinces at that time. In this new division ( Figure 35 - 04), the exempt provinces disappeared and new provinces emerged, such as Valladolid and Burgos. At the same time, provinces such as Seville and Granada were enlarged, almost doubling their size. In 1950 the ecclesiastical provincial division was reorganised once again ( Figure 35 - 05). Finally, the provinces were roughly adapted to the political map of the time, with most of the borders coinciding between the religious and administrative divisions. In addition, a more homogeneous distribution of the territory was chosen, with the disappearance of large provincial areas as could be found in the previous divisions. The study and identification of the ecclesiastical provincial division is relevant to understand monasticism. This structure manages churches and religious buildings both from an urban and territorial point of view. This means that part of the decisions of monastic foundations are not only based on the city itself, but also on the ecclesiastical province. In fact, the foundation of a monastery has always had an important significance. The appearance of a religious order in a city signifies a new focus of power and a new institutional force that can interfere with the existing order (Atienza López, 2008). This leads to a cons- tant struggle between bishops and archbishops, as well as a greater concentration of religious orders in some territories more than others. 2.4.3 MONASTICISM IN ANDALUSIAN CONTEXT One of the Spanish regions where monasticism has had a larger impact has been in Andalusia. This is due to various reasons, among them the Christianisation of the former Islamic region, together with the economic power of the cities as the gateway to America. The mendicant orders found Andalusian cities to be strategic points for establishing foundations and spreading rapidly. One of their characteristics is their more urban cha- racter in comparison with the rural monasteries of the north a multi scalar european phenomenon | 95 of the peninsula (López Martínez, 1992). Although isolated monasteries far from the cities also appear in the south, they represent a smaller percentage in relation to those located in the city. The mendicant orders are the protagonists of monas- tic development in Andalusia. Most of the cities incorporate the monastic typology as part of their urban structure. The mendicant orders appear as an urban phenomenon (García Torralbo, 1998), added to the role of equipment in the city. Due to their urban character, it is necessary to study the data of their population and monastic size. The latter is measured by quantifying the total number of monasteries and convents. The territory of Andalusia covers an area of 87,598 km2 (Consejería de Obras Públicas y Transportes, 2006), much larger than that of some European countries such as Belgium with 30,688 km2 or the Netherlands with 41,850 km2. In demographic terms, Andalusia has a population of approximately 8.5 million in 2022 (Instituto de Estadística y Cartografía de Andalucía, 2023). In this context, the provincial capitals are the most populated, such as Seville and Malaga with between 600,000 and 700,000 inhabitants, followed by Cordoba, Granada, Almeria or Jerez de la Frontera with a population between 200,000 and 300,000 inhabitants. Therefore, a selection should be made of those cities that are most representative and important in the territory. Both cities, infrastructures and territory are regulated by the Andalusian territorial development plan (POTA) 23 since 2006. This plan makes a distinction between cities according to their population size, being main city, medium-sized city and small city. In this grouping, the main cities are the eight provincial capitals, plus the area of Algeciras 24 . On the other hand, medium-sized cities are those with a population of more than 10,000 inhabitants, the remaining cities being considered small (Consejería de Obras Públicas y Transportes, 2006). In this sense, Andalusia stands out for its urban-territorial structure based on the network of medium-sized cities, which is the main urban model and one of the most sustainable. The classification of towns in the territorial plan is based on demographic data and current facilities without introducing the main component in this study, the monastic one. Before establishing a selection of cities, it is necessary to combine demo - graphic and monastic data. As no publications or documentary sources have been found which clearly and concisely collect the monastic data of all the Andalusian cities, the heritage 23 Acronym of Plan de Ordenación del Territorio de Andalucía. 24 The consideration of Algeciras as a major city is due to the creation of a metropolitan area derived from port activity. As a strategic point in the Strait of Gibraltar, the port is one of the most important at European level (Consejería de Obras Públicas y Transportes, 2006). | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 96 protection of Conjunto Histórico has been used. The heritage protection of the cities is linked to the monastic development itself, as there is an abundant architectural production in these cities. In Andalusia, a total of 120 cities have been protected (Becerra García, 2020), and 77 of them have at least one monastery or convent. It should be borne in mind that these are not all monastic cities, but those that meet the two condi- tions, Conjunto Histórico and monastery. The selection of this sample is intended to delimit the scope of the study in order to generate the context of the case study, since the study of the whole monasteries in Andalusia is not one of the objectives of the research. In order to establish an Andalusian contextualisation, a brief historical overview is made of the determining layers in the con- figuration of the territory, and a database 25 is created to study its demography and monastic development. For the historical layers, time-sliced maps are made to identify the most relevant aspects on a territorial level. For the database, a table (Figure 36) is drawn up which can later be represented graphically in cartographic form. The columns of the table are discussed below. The first four columns locate the position of the city in relation to its initial ecclesiastical province and diocese in the 16th century and the current one in 2022. All selected cities are listed alphabetically, together with their decimal coordinates in degrees. Subsequently, census data from the 16th century (González, 1829), 1850 (Madoz, 1847), 1900 and 2022 popu- lation (Instituto de Estadística y Cartografía de Andalucía, n.d.) are used. At the same time, a column is added with the date on which some of the cities were founded. Not all of them have a Roman or medieval origin, so that in the 16th century there is no population data, as is evident. 25 The complete database can be found in the annexes. Ecclesiastical province 16th cent. Diocese 16th cent. Ecclesiastical province 2022 Diocese 2022 City Coor. X Coor. Y Pop. 16th cent. Pop. 1850 Pop. 1900 Pop. 2022 City Foundations Total mon. & conv. Male Female Augustians Figure 36. Structure of the table of monastic cities in Andalusia. Complete table in annexes. Own elaboration. a multi scalar european phenomenon | 97 In order to corroborate the existence of monastic buildings and their total number, different sources have been used. First of all, it is important to bear in mind that the information must be prior to the confiscations of the 19th century, as these entailed the disappearance of numerous monasteries and convents. Therefore, Madoz’s meticulous register of Andalusian cities (Madoz, 1847) has been key. Furthermore, this information has been contrasted with the documentary base of the Portal de Archivos Españoles (PARES) (Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte, 2023) as well as with the following documentary sources (Soto Artudeño, 2014), (Miura Andrades, 2018), (Aladro Prieto, 2021), (Barrios Rozúa, 2004), (Rodríguez Marín, 2000), (García Torralbo, 1998) and (Pérez Cano, 1997). The table shows the total number of foundations per city at the end of the 18th century, divided into male and female. Furthermore, each of the monastic foundations per city has been distinguished by religious order and date of foundation. Thus, it is possible to know which order and in which year it arrived in each place. In cases where there is more than one foundation of the same order in a city, this has been divided into columns, sorted by year from youngest to oldest. The history of the territory of Andalusia 26 spans more than 21 centuries, a complex process to study in detail in this sec- tion. For this reason, the most significant historical layers for the territorial and monastic development of the region are highlighted. It is a strategic location in the south of the Iberian Peninsula between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, building part of the Strait of Gibraltar. To the north, the Sierra Morena mountain range and its forests establish a natural border. In the centre, the Guadalquivir river acts as the backbone of the whole territory ( Figure 37 ) . Finally, other mountainous areas stand out, such as the Subbaetic and Peni- baetic Systems, where the highest geographical point of the peninsula, the Mulhacén, is located. The territory that forms the current Andalusia has been a place of confluence of different civilisations, cultures and transfor- mations throughout history. The first cities have a Phoenician origin, such as Cadiz, or Greek, such as Malaga (Lara Martínez & Lara Martínez, 2018). However, it was not until the arrival of Rome in the 2nd century BC when there was a growth in the construction of cities and territorial planning. The Emperor Augustus divided the Empire into provinces, subdivided into 26 The name Andalusia refers to the territory of the Autonomous Community that emerged in 1981. Previously, this region has had different place names and a surface area that has changed throughout history. 2.4.3.1 HISTORICAL-TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 98 smaller units called conventus . The territory of Hispania was organised in the 1st century BC into the provinces of Tarraconen - sis, Lusitania and Baetica (Instituto de Estadística y Cartografía de Andalucía, 2009). The latter is located in the south of the peninsula, coinciding approximately with the current extension of Andalusia ( Figure 38 ) . The capitals of each conventus are the cities of Corduba, Astigi, Hispalis and Gades 27 (Cuenca Toribio, 2005) . The graphic representation of the size of the cities is made differentiating provincial capitals from the rest of the settlements, since the Roman population data are unknown. An approximate size can be calculated by estimating 225-250 inhabitants/hectare (Gozalbes Cravioto, 2007). Roman infrastructures were spread throughout the Empire, highlighting its road system. This was not only used to connect cities, but also to increase the speed of travel from one part of the Empire to another, trade and communications. A good connection to Rome from the provinces was important. This led to the creation of important roads such as the Via Augusta. This connected the cities of Gades and Rome (Blázquez Mar- tínez, 2006), as well as passing through all the capitals of the Baetica conventus . The importance of communications was not only terrestrial but also fluvial. The Betis river 28 was used as a commercial and transport axis from the centre of Baetica to Rome. In the case of Astigi, thanks to the navigability of the Singilis river 29 , a tributary of the Betis, it was also connected to the river transport system (García-Dils de la Vega, 2015) for the transport of olive oil. The importance of this system of cities and territorial infrastructures lies in their use by the monastic orders for their development. The ancient capitals of conventus became bishop’s seats and the site of monastic foundations. On the other hand, the Roman roads inherited in later centu- ries were the basis for future urban-territorial developments. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Roman territo- rial and administrative structure was inherited by both Visigoths and Muslims. The creation of Al-Andalus from the 8th century onwards led to economic and demographic growth in Andalu- sia (Cuenca Toribio, 2005). Cordoba became the capital of the new caliphate, acquiring a leading role at European level. This period was overshadowed by the battle of Navas de Tolosa in 1212, which marked the beginning of the Christian conquest of Andalusia. This conquest was not immediate, but lasted more than two hundred years. It was a long process conditioned by political, economic and geographical issues and developed in six phases ( Figure 39 ) (Ostos Prieto, 2020). During this period, 27 The current names of the cities in the same order are Córdoba, Écija, Seville and Cádiz. 28 Nowadays, the Guadalquivir River. 29 Nowadays, the Genil River. a multi scalar european phenomenon | 99 Guadalquivir River Sierra Morena Political border in 2023 Mulhacén Subbaetic System Penibaetic System Sierra Nevada Mediterranean Sea Atlantic Ocean Figure 37. Topographical map of Andalusia. Own elaboration based on Esri topographic map. Figure 38. Roman province of Baetica with conventus capitals and Via Augusta, 1st century. Own elaboration based on Instituto de Estadística y Cartografía de Andalucía (2009). Corduba Astigi Urso Asido Malaca Iliberri Tucci Gades Hispalis Betis River Via Augusta Political border in 2023 | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 100 the mendicant orders arrived in Andalusia for the first time. Being in Islamic control in the previous centuries, they were unable to establish foundations, as was the case in the Christian areas of Europe. The conquest of Granada in the 15th century marked the end of the Islamic period in Andalusia. This was divided into four administrative areas known as kingdoms, namely the Kingdom of Seville, the Kingdom of Cordoba, the Kingdom of Jaen and the Kingdom of Granada (Instituto de Estadística y Cartografía de Andalucía, 2009). In addition, there was a new economic and demographic growth motivated by trade with America. Seville became the Port of the Indies 30 (Cuenca Toribio, 2005). This meant that they had a monopoly on trade with the Spa- nish American territories. The absence of religious orders in the territory, added to the need for their Christianisation and the trade with America were attractive to the mendicant orders (Pérez Cano, 1997). The foundation of a monastery in Anda- lusia was the beginning of their expansion into the American continent (Salas Almela, 2011). Therefore, it is not surprising that Seville is the city with the largest number of monasteries 30 Seville was the port of America until the beginning of the 18th century, when it moved to Cadiz. The reasons for this include the fortification of this city and the larger size of the ships (Cuenca Toribio, 2005). Figure 39. Phases of the Christian conquest of Andalusia, 13th-15th centuries. Own elaboration based on Ostos Prieto (2020). Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 4 Phase 5 Phase 6 Phase 3 Phase 6 | 1489-1492 Phase 5 | 1350-1489 Phase 4 | 1284-1350 Phase 3 | 1255-1284 Phase 2 | 1236-1255 Phase 1 | 1212-1236 Political border in 2023 a multi scalar european phenomenon | 101 and convents in the country (Pérez Cano, 1997). The great urban growth and population data were reflected in the 16th century census of the Kingdom of Castile. This document pro- vides the first data on Andalusian cities. The most populated was Seville with 18,000 inhabitants, followed by Granada with 13,757, Jerez de la Frontera with 6,816 and Cordoba in fourth place with 6,257 inhabitants (González, 1829). As mentioned in point 2.4.1, from the 16th century onwards the Spanish political boundaries did not undergo any appreciable changes. Neither did the territory of Andalusia. Urban growth was gradual until the beginning of the 19th century. With the loss of the American territories, Andalusia’s importance as a commercial hub disappeared. Moreover, the new changes, technological advances and industrialisation hardly reached the south of the peninsula. The Andalusian region continued to be mainly agricultural and livestock farming. On the other hand, the large urban centres, such as the capital cities, are experiencing notable urban growth (Cuenca Toribio, 2005). Furthermore, there were improvements in road and communication infras- tructures that helped population growth (Lara Martínez & Lara Martínez, 2018). Within the six most populated cities in 1850 ( Figure 40 ) , it can be observed how the capitals Seville, Malaga and Cordoba experienced an exponential increase. Although Jerez is not a provincial capital, it did experience a process of industrialisation through the winery and wine, turning it into a winery city in the 19th century (Aladro Prieto, 2021). In con- trast, Écija lacks industry, focusing on agricultural activity and showing no signs of demographic growth. The 21st century marks the division of cities into the three categories indicated above by the Andalusian territorial develo - pment plan. Currently, all provincial capitals have a population 0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000 2022 1900 1850 Écija Jerez de la Frontera Granada Córdoba Málaga Sevilla Figure 40. Population graph of relevant Andalusian cities. Own elaboration based on data from the table in the Figure 36. | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 102 The city of the Andalusian territory stands out for its monastic component. This type of building has marked the construction and development of cities in the south of the peninsula. This fact is not only perceptible in the past, but also in the rich monastic heritage that can be seen today. The beginning of 2.4.3.2 THE MONASTIC CITY IN ANDALUSIA Figure 41. Population growth in Andalusia. Own elaboration based on data from the table in the Figure 36. < 5,000 5,000 - 10,000 10,000 - 25,000 25,000 - 50,000 50,000 - 100,000 200,000 - 500,000 500,000 - 1,000,000 100,000 - 200,000 16th cent. 1850 1900 2022 Population per city Year of population Granada Guadix Baza Almería Málaga Antequera Loja Lucena Osuna Écija Palma del Río Seville Aracena Huelva Sanlúcar de Barrameda Cádiz Jerez de la Frontera Medina Sidonia Tarifa Ronda Jaén Córdoba Dos Torres Andújar Úbeda Baeza of over 100,000 inhabitants. In this range, Seville is the largest with almost 700,000 people. On the other hand, Iznatoraf, with 905 inhabitants, is the smallest. In order to be able to observe the population changes of the selected cities in the territory, a population map has been drawn up ( Figure 41 ) . It shows four circles arranged by colour, which, depending on their size, represent the number of inhabitants. The darkest one shows the data from the 16th century census, followed by the 19th and 20th century in lighter colours, ending with the lightest colour referring to the year 2022. The map clearly shows the growth of the cities of Seville, Malaga and Cor- doba, as well as the metropolitan area of Cadiz. Moreover, the system of medium-sized cities that builds up the centre of Andalusia can be clearly identified. The difference in colour is hardly noticeable in these cities, as the population has remained very similar between the 20th and 21st centuries. In addition, the map shows the more rural or less developed areas due to topographical issues, which are those with an absence of cities. a multi scalar european phenomenon | 103 monasticism in Andalusia has been determined by historical-te- rritorial analysis. The monastic establishment began at the same time as the Christian conquest itself, which is fundamental for understanding the process (Ostos Prieto, 2020). As the terri- tory was controlled by Islam before the 13th century, there were no monastic developments. The Christianisation of the new conquered territories, together with the expansion of the mendicant orders in Europe, led to the rapid construction of a multitude of monasteries in Andalusian cities. Among the first orders to establish foundations were the Dominican and Franciscan orders. Both were in the midst of a process of expansion on the continent, so they took advan- tage of the incorporation of new Christian territories for their foundations. In fact, the Dominicans, after their foundation in 1216 in Toulouse, travelled to Castilian lands four years later to spread the order (Huerga, 1992). Moreover, their first buildings were strategically located, selecting large cities such as Cordoba, Seville and Jerez de la Frontera. From there, they were distribu- ted to the rest of the towns. During this first stage of conquest and monastic expansion, the role played by the military orders was particularly important. The existence of a border with the Kingdom of Granada and the continuous wars favoured their appearance on this stage. Despite their active participation in wars, they did not have their own armies, but accompanied the armies of the kings. Thanks to this, they participated in the cession of lands and properties in the conquered areas to found their monasteries (López Martínez, 1992). These orders include mainly Spanish orders such as Calatrava, Alcántara and Santiago (Pounds, 2005). However, there are also European military orders such as the Order of St. Mary of Spain. This type of order stands out above all for the foundation of castles or fortified monasteries in the border area. Therefore, these were orders with an eminently military purpose which, when the war was over, their function disappeared. Monastic foundations in Andalusia did not take place imme- diately and quickly, quite the contrary. It is a process that spans nine centuries from the 13th century to the present day. Nevertheless, in this analysis it has been considered the area from its beginning in the 13th century until the confiscations in the 19th century ( Figure 42 ) . This selection is not random, but the end of the 18th century represents the period of maximum monastic expansion in the cities. Thereafter, socio-political chan - ges marked the transformation of monasteries and convents. The graph shows the number of foundations per century in the selected cities. Different aspects can be highlighted. The first is a production of almost 40 monasteries in the 13th century, the result of the first monastic expansion and Christian conquest. This process subsequently weakened. | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 104 The continuous wars between Castile and Granada did not favour the creation of new monasteries. As a result, once the war ended in the 15th century, there was a great increase in monastic expansion. The 16th century was undoubtedly the most important, with more than 250 foundations, representing more than 47% of all the monastic buildings in Andalusia. During the 16th and 17th centuries, different events took place, such as the trade with America and the Spanish Golden Age. This led to a period of economic and demographic growth (Cuenca Toribio, 2005), which the religious orders took advantage of to establish new monastic buildings. Finally, the 18th century stands out as being, together with the 14th century, one of the moments of least monastic production. Probably, in this case, it is due to the existence of a large number of monasteries and, therefore, to a possible exhaustion of the monastic city. This fact is reflected in the 18th century, when there were hardly any religious left in most of the convents, being one of the reasons for the secularisation of the monasteries. The end of the 18th century is taken as the time when cities have a greater monastic construction 31 , as a result of the expan- sion of religious orders. In order to understand the territorial dimension and impact, the total number of foundations made per city has been graphically represented ( Figure 43 ) . A total of 552 foundations between monasteries and convents have been counted in the selected cities. This layer overlaps with the political layer of ecclesiastical provinces and dioceses for the same period. The political layer of the Church is decisive in the study of monastic typology, since it is responsible for the control and management of the territory in the religious sphere. At first glance, the current provincial capitals such as Cordoba, Granada 31 As discussed in the table’s production process. The monastic data from the end of the 18th century include the Jesuit monasteries secularised in 1767. 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 100 150 200 250 300 50 0 Figure 42. Total number of monastic foundations in Andalu- sia by century. Own elaboration based on data from the table in the Figure 36. a multi scalar european phenomenon | 105 Granada Guadix Baza Almería Málaga Antequera Loja Lucena Osuna Écija Palma del Río Seville Aracena Huelva Sanlúcar de Barrameda Cádiz Jerez de la Frontera Medina Sidonia Tarifa Ronda Jaén Córdoba Dos Torres Ecclesiastial province of Granada Ecclesiastial province of Seville Ecclesiastial province of Santiago Ecclesiastial province of Toledo Andújar Úbeda Baeza 70 > 30 - 50 20 - 30 12 - 20 8 - 12 2 - 8 < 2 Number per city Figure 36. Figure 43. Number of monastic buildings at the end of the 18th century in Andalusia. Own ela- boration based on data from the table in the and Seville stand out. The monasteries and convents were initially located in the capitals and important towns, alterna- ting later with smaller or rural ones (Pérez Cano, 1997). On a second level, other provincial capitals such as Malaga or Cadiz can be distinguished, together with medium-sized cities such as Écija, Osuna, Baeza, Sanlúcar de Barrameda or Jerez de la Frontera 32 . Regarding the ecclesiastical territorial division, major differences can be detected. Firstly, the province of Seville stands out over the provinces of Granada and Toledo 33 in terms of the number of monasteries, with the dioceses of Seville and Cadiz standing out. In contrast, the dioceses of Almería and Guadix have the lowest monastic production. This may be due to their remoteness from central population centres and lack of communication infrastructures with the rest of the territo- ries (Ostos Prieto, 2020). Finally, it is possible to find a great dispersion of small monastic centres composed of one to three foundations, which practically make up the Andalusian map. These are third-level foundations, as most of them are towns with less than 10,000 inhabitants. 32 Although Jerez de la Frontera is mentioned here as a medium-sized city, it is not currently included in this grouping, as its population exceeds 200,000 inhabitants. 33 The ecclesiastical province of Toledo is much more extensive. However, in this analysis reference is made only to the dioceses of Cordoba and Jaen, those belonging to the Andalusian territory. Political border in 2023 | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 106 The construction of monasteries and convents was mainly carried out by religious orders. Until now, the monastic scene has only been analysed as a whole, without considering which orders we are referring to. In Andalusia, 39 orders have been identified ( Figure 44 ) , including both male and female orders. This scheme is a reflection of what happens on a continental European scale, but reduced to Andalusia. At first sight, there is a greater variety of male orders than female orders. In this sense, it should be noted that there are military orders with only a male branch and others, such as the Carthusian monks, Order of Santiago Discalced Trinitarians Order of Calatrava Trinitarians Discalced Mercedarians Sancti Spiritu Hieronymites Hospitaller Order of St. John of God Recollects Franciscans Franciscans Carthusians Carmelites Basilians Third Order of Trinitarians Order of the Holy Spirit Discalced Mercedarians Dominicans Poor Clares Discalced Carmelites Discalced Agustinians Order of Minims Third Order of Saint Francis Mercedarians Order of Saint Mary of Spain Jesuits Oratorians Discalced Franciscans Dominicans Discalced Carmelites Capuchins Augustinians Third Order of Saint Francis Order of Minims Hieronymites Conceptionists Capuchins Recollects Agustinians Carmelites Augustinians 0 10 20 30 40 50 Female order Male order Figure 44. Number of founda - tions of religious male and female orders in Andalusia. Own elabo- ration based on data from the table in the Figure 36. a multi scalar european phenomenon | 107 which did not have a female branch. On the other hand, the majority of religious orders are the female part of a male one. For example, the orders of the Augustinians, Carmelites, Poor Clares ( Figure 45 ) , Dominicans or Hieronymites can be named as prominent. In addition to the list of the names of the orders, the total number of foundations per order has also been counted. In both the male and female orders, the Franciscan and Dominican orders are undoubtedly the most important ones. The former has around 50 foundations, while the latter has 35. The graph shows the clear influence that both orders achieved in the territory. On a second level, some male orders of the Franciscan reforms stand out, such as the Discalced, Conceptionist or Minims orders, with more than 20 founda- tions. Also noteworthy are orders such as the Augustinians, the Carmelites, the Discalced Carmelites, the Jesuits and the Hospitallers of St. John of God. The same process is repeated in the female part, but in smaller numbers, around 10 con- vents. In contrast, the orders with the fewest foundations are generally the military ones, whose main function was exercised mainly during the period of the Christian conquest. Other orders, such as the Carthusian monks, have an isolated character and are mainly located in rural areas. In this case they have been included because of their proximity to some cities ( Figure 46 ) . However, these monasteries do not form part of the urban context and, unlike the rest of the orders, they hardly generate any relationship. The total number of orders in a city establishes a criterion for measuring the social level and importance of the order in the territory. As they were mendicant orders, the decision to establish them was fundamental in order to obtain resources. For this reason, not all orders have foundations in every city analysed. Moreover, the type of order differs according to the city. For example, although Dominicans and Franciscans are two of the most influential orders, they are not found in all the urban areas. In Andalusia, one of the characteristics of the Franciscans was their extension in large cities and low-density areas (López Martínez, 1992). In this sense, the foundation of four convents per city is one of the characteristics of the monastic city (Le Goff, 1982). These are Dominicans (foun- ded 1220-1221), Franciscans (1209), Carmelites (1254) and Augustinians (1256) (Pounds, 2005). In order to verify Le Goff’s characteristic of the monastic city, a plan has been drawn up showing the foundations of the four orders mentioned ( Figure 47 ). The plan is structured as follows. Each colour represents one of the mendicant orders, Dominicans (pink), Franciscans (blue), Augustinians (turquoise) Figure 45. Poor Clares’ convent. Seville. Author, 2021. Figure 46. La Cartuja Monastery, Seville. Author, 2021. | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 108 Figure 47. Location of male reli- gious orders by cities in Andalusia. Ordered by year of foundation. Own elaboration based on data from the table in the Mendicant male orders Order of foundation 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Agustinians Carmelites Dominicans Franciscans Granada Guadix Baza Almería Málaga Antequera Lucena Osuna Marchena Carmona Écija Palma del Río Cazalla Seville Utrera Aracena Sanlúcar de Barrameda El Puerto de Santa María Cádiz Jerez de la Frontera Arcos de la Frontera Ronda Jaén Córdoba Bujalance Úbeda Baeza Figure 36. Ecclesiastial province of Granada Ecclesiastial province of Seville Ecclesiastial province of Santiago Ecclesiastial province of Toledo and Carmelites (purple). Concentric circles are then made in each city, depending on whether there are any foundations of these orders. The spectrum varies from 1 to 4 foundations per settlement. In cases where there is more than one founda- tion, the circles are arranged in order of arrival. The smallest belongs to the first order and the outermost to the last to be founded in the city. Finally, only those cities where two or more foundations exist have been identified with names. A look at the plan shows that these orders are decisive in the construction of monastic Andalusia. Nevertheless, this is not a common characteristic for all the cities. On the contrary, it helps to distinguish those of greater importance than others and of greater total monastic production. Thus, 9 cities have been identified with Dominican, Franciscan, Augustinian and Carmelite foundations, being Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Jerez de la Frontera, Seville, Osuna, Écija, Córdoba, Jaén, Antequera and Málaga. On a second level, five cities can be found with three foundations, followed by 12 towns with at least two of the four orders selected. Taking up the arguments of the mendicant orders for settling in a city, the urban centres with the greatest economic weight and strategic importance are clearly identifiable. This indicator has definitely been relevant in confirming and reaffirming the choice of Écija as a case study. Political border in 2023 a multi scalar european phenomenon | 109 The German territory is defined by its current political boun- daries, as these have been very different throughout its his- tory. Germany is centrally located in Europe, surrounded by countries with the exception of some areas bordered by the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. These geographical and political factors have contributed to a constant reconfiguration of the country to its present state. This territorial complexity establi- shes the need for an initial approach from a historical, political and territorial point of view. For the chronological scope, the most characteristic or decisive historical layers are taken for this analysis, as a detailed analysis of German territorial evolution is not the object of this research. In this sense, these sections are accompanied by an additional layer, the politico-religious structure. The advent of Christianity brought about a new reli- gious structure all over Europe, which managed and organised the territory in its own way. 2.5 german territory framework The current division of the German territory consists of 16 Bun- desländer or Länder 34 . Among these, North Rhine-Westphalia stands out. An approach of scale is made to identify again territorial and political components. However, new parameters such as demographics or the number of monastic settlements are established. These allow the construction of a context and a better understanding of the territory in which Aachen is situated. Thus, the study of the different territorial scales is essential for the further understanding of the development of the urban monastic system in the city. In order to understand monastic development in Germany, it is necessary to analyse its historical and political context during the Middle Ages. The medieval period, as throughout Europe, lasted approximately 10 centuries and was characterised by a complex and turbulent period. The fall of the Western Roman Empire 35 in the 5th century fragmented the Roman territory into multiple kingdoms such as the Ostrogoths, the Visigoths and the Franks. The latter settled in the former Roman province of Gaul, creating a new kingdom west of the Rhine (Roymans, 2020) . From the 6th century onwards, the Franks gradually con- solidated their power in central Europe, building an increasingly powerful and extensive kingdom. At the end of the 8th and beginning of the 9th century, the coronation of Charlemagne marked the beginning of the Carolingian Empire. After the 34 The term Bundesländer or Länder refers to the name of the division of the territory of Germany. 35 If the fall of the Western Roman Empire marks the beginning of the Middle Ages, the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire marks the end of this period in 1453. 2.5.1 HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL CONTEXTUALISATION | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 110 demise of the Roman Empire, the Carolingian Empire emerged as a new great empire and was considered the successor to the Roman Empire (Schulze, 2008). Its territory extended from present-day France and Germany, half of the Italian peninsula, occupying parts of present-day Bosnia, Hungary and Poland ( Figure 41 - 01) ( Lanuza, 2003). During this period, the econo- mic growth of the capital city of Aachen, where its cathedral was built, was particularly noteworthy. The end of the Carolingian Empire period came with the signing of the Treaty of Verdun between the grandsons of Charlemagne in 843. They agreed on the division of the territory into three parts, Western France, Middle Fran ce and Eastern France (Coffin et al., 2002). The latter is the prelude to the construction of a new European empire. During the 10th century, King Othon I of Eastern France was the founder of the Holy Roman Empire in 962 (Schulze, 2008). This new empire is of great significance in Europe not only because of its duration of more than a millennium, but also because of its extension. In addition to present-day Germany, it included ten other contemporary countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Swit- zerland. Other countries such as Hungary, Spain and Sweden were also linked to the empire (Wilson, 2020). In the imperial context, Aachen became the coronation seat of the emperors. From the founding of the empire, Otto I linked political power with ecclesiastical power. New emperors had to take an oath before Charlemagne’s throne and be consecrated by a bishop in Aachen (Lanuza, 2003). Its initial territorial extension occupied practically the entire centre of the European continent, from southern Denmark to Rome ( Figure 41 - 02). As can be seen, Otho set out a first territorial division for the management of the empire. However, this structure disintegrates and multi- plies in a short period of time. The different noble houses, as well as the growing religious power and the independence of city-states, build up modern Europe. From the 11th century onwards, the Holy Roman Empire became increasingly complex. It was not a single kingdom like the later France, Spain or England, but the construction of a political unity through the union of dozens of small states and kingdoms. Moreover, the emperor was not a hereditary position, but had to be approved by the electing princes, there was an oligarchy that approved or opposed the figure of the emperor (Wilson, 2020). The political structure of the Empire could be divided into four parts according to the type of gover- nment. These are nobility, imperial territories, imperial cities and clergy. The first are territories ruled by a noble family, such as the Habsburgs, the Hohenzollerns or the Wettins (Lanuza, 2003) . Imperial territories are those that are directly ruled by Figure 48. (right page) Historical development of German territory. From 9th to 19th centuries. Own elaboration based on Wilson (2020) and Schulze (2008). a multi scalar european phenomenon | 111 Carolingian Empire Holy Roman Empire Holy Roman Empire Holy Roman Empire German Reich 05 04 02 01 03 19th cent. 18th cent. 10th cent. 9th cent. 16th cent. | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 112 the emperor, i.e. belong to him. Imperial cities are city-states that have achieved independence by imperial decree and are self-governing. They included the largest cities in the empire, such as Ausburg, Nuremberg, Hamburg, Cologne, Lübeck and Strasbourg, with more than 40,000 inhabitants. These were followed by others such as Frankfurt am Main, Bremen, Ulm and Aachen, with a population of 20,000. And others with less than 10,000 inhabitants such as Nordhausen, Heilbronn, Rotherburg or Regensburg (Wilson, 2020). In the Empire, ecclesiastical territories are those ruled by a reli- gious authority such as a bishop or archbishop. The emperor had to accept the development of the Church as a separate institution of the empire, although they considered themselves to be the Imperial Church, the German term for which is Rei- chskirche (Wilson, 2020). They could be managed either by the cathedral itself, the seat of the bishopric, or by monasteries. These monasteries do not have an urban character, but are those with an isolated position in the territory, although often very close to a city. In fact, it can be observed in Europe that after the construction of a cathedral, it is followed by the foun- dation of a monastery outside the city limits (Pounds, 2005). An example is the case of Aachen, where, after the construction of its cathedral, the monastery of Burtscheid appears to the south, with its own ecclesiastical territory dependent on the bishopric of Cologne. A sample of the complexity of the Holy Roman Empire can be seen in the historical layer of 1648 ( Figure 48 - 03). This period shows the enormous internal fragmentation of the empire caused by internal disputes and struggles between states. Besi- des the war conflicts, there was also religious strife between Protestants and Catholics, which in turn led to further wars in central Europe. This religious fighting included the German wars between 1540 and 1555, the French wars between 1562 and 1598, the Dutch war against Spain between 1566 and 1609, and the Thirty Years’ War in Germany between 1618 and 1648 (Coffin et al., 2002). Religious division led to further disintegra- tion and internal differences in the imperial territories. Thus, in the mid-17th century one can detect larger territorial units such as the Austrian or Spanish Habsburgs, as well as dynasties such as the Albertine of Saxony or the Hohenzollern of Brandenburg (Wilson, 2020). The spread of the ecclesiastical territory, which was larger than many of the minor houses or kingdoms, is also noteworthy. Here we can highlight the power of the Church itself, which not only built the Papal States, but also began to expand territorially through the bishoprics. Despite continuous political wars and religious conflicts, the empire remained a territorial unit in Europe until the 19th a multi scalar european phenomenon | 113 century. At the beginning of the century, France emerged as a new military power with Napoleon at the helm and a desire to conquer Europe. In 1806, Emperor Franz II decreed the suppression of the Holy Roman Empire to prevent Napoleon from usurping it (Wilson, 2020). Once Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo, the empire was never to be rebuilt, instead the Germanic Confederation or Deutscher Bund was built between 1815 and 1866 ( Figure 41 - 04) (Schulze, 2008). There was an attempt to re-unify the different kingdoms and states, just as the Holy Roman Empire did during the Middle and Modern Ages. In this new union, independent ecclesiastical territory disappeared and was absorbed by some of the existing states. On the other hand, two kingdoms stand out above the rest in both size and importance: Austria and Prussia. From them, two new empires were created, and the Confederation was broken up into the Austrian Empire to the south and the Deutsches Reich to the north, which lasted from 1871 to 1918 ( Figure 48 - 05) (Lanuza, 2003). From 1871 onwards, after the unification led by Prussia, Germany can be referred to as a political nation (Wilson, 2020). Differences again became apparent and generated new divisions and political reconfi- gurations in the territory. The German Empire is the prelude to today’s Germany, again constructed in territorial units of Principalities and Duchies, a legacy of earlier times. In fact, this concept of independent territorial division can still be seen in today’s German composition of Bundesländer . The 20th century on a global scale is undoubtedly marked by German history. As is well known, the First World War 1918- 1924, followed by the Second World War 1939-1945, reshaped the political map of Europe. It was not until the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 that Germany was reunified and became the country it is today in 2023. As mentioned above, due to the various socio-political events in history, it is not possible to understand the history of Germany, but rather the history of the German territory. In contrast to other terri- tories, the centre of Europe is a complex scenario in which a brief historical review is necessary to understand its analysis. The aim of this section is to put the changes and transforma- tions in the German territory into context in order to be able to study monasticism later on. The complexity of the fragmented structure of the Holy Roman Empire prevented the centralised recording or documentation of demographic statistics. Although population data existed from the 16th century onwards, they were kept on an indivi- 2.5.2 CHURCH TERRITORIAL SYSTEM | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 114 dualised basis, depending on the particular state or region. In this sense, it was not until the Napoleonic arrival in the 19th century, and the reign of Prussia thereafter, that generalised demographic statistics were produced. Nevertheless, the pre- vious absence of data contrasts with the amount produced on an annual basis from 1816 36 onwards (Statistischen Landesamt North Rhine-Westphalia, 1966). In addition to population data, descriptions of cities, enumeration and classification of buildings, number of trades, agricultural hectares, etc. are also produced. However, no general records prior to the French have been located. This implies that the number of monaste- ries on German territory prior to the French secularisation and religious confiscation cannot be known with certainty. This leads to the use of other research and sources that may have been able to obtain monastic data from centuries before the 19th century 37 . On the other hand, we do know data prior to the second of the great confiscations of the same century, the Kulturkampf . During the German Empire, Chancellor Otto von Bismark opposed the Catholic Church between 1871 and 1878, resulting in the confiscation of most monasteries and convents (Schulze, 2008). The ecclesiastical territorial system, together with religious orders, emerged as new territories in Europe became Christiani- sed. Burgundy and Italy had ecclesiastical structures da ting back to the Roman period, while this was not the case in present-day regions such as Germany, Britain, Poland or Hungary (Wilson, 2020) . As Christianity spread, so did the religious architectural typology of the monastery. The creation of a monastery is not just another religious building. They play a very important role in land planning as they organise agricultural areas, cut down forests, set up livestock farms, etc. (Sobrino González, 2013) . As well as dominating and administering the territory, they also served as the residence of princes and kings, or could even form part of a defensive system from a political and Christian point of view (Braunfels, 1980). This management can be seen in the 1648 Holy Roman Empire’s spatial planning ( Figure 48 - 03) . The strength of the community as a political and social space was seen to imply that these rights emanated from the territory (Wilson, 2009). Therefore, it highlights the importance of the Imperial Church building and territories directly administered by the Catholic Church. Indeed, the ecclesiastical infrastructure of the Reichskirche was a fundamental pillar of the European political order until the early 19th century (Wilson, 2020). Thus, 36 The statistical data are divided into two volumes. The first with population data between 1816 and 1871, and the second between 1871-1961. Subsequently, the data can be consulted online on the web site of the Landesbetrieb IT.NRW Statistik und IT-Dienstleistungen. 37 The most prominent for this research has been Groten et al. (2009) (2012) (2022) and Hengst (1992) (1994). However, these only study the territory of North Rhine-Westphalia, and data on a general German scale have not been found. a multi scalar european phenomenon | 115 much of the monasticism had its own territory independent of nobiliary rule, constituting large areas of importance. Moreover, the ecclesiastical territories controlled by the bishoprics are more prone to monastic foundation than those controlled by the Germanic states. In section 2.5.1. a brief analysis of the changing edges of the political map of the German territory has been made. However, by focusing this research on the monasteries, a new political layer, the ecclesiastical administrative one, has to be superim- posed. Irrespective of geographical or political boundaries, the Church as an institution creates its own territorial organisation. Even this territorial structure bec ame more complex, as many of the mendicant orders created their own division of controlled territory. Thus, Franciscans did not only think of their town or monastery when they thought of their home, but of the entire Franciscan province (Braunfels, 1980). The church division is partly inherited from the Roman adminis- tration 38 , even going so far as to call the ecclesiastical division in the same way, as diocese (Martinez, 1994). This system was used by the Catholic Church and extended to new territories that had not been Romanised. It is an effective method of controlling and managing the Christian faith, normally carried out by a bishop, being administered in his own name (Aldea Vaquero; Marín Martínez & Vives Gatell, 1972). In this sense, the grouping of bishoprics constructs an ecclesiastical province, governed by the figure of the archbishop. On the other hand, exempt dioceses can also appear. This means that this territory does not depend directly on the Holy See (Martínez, 1994). Since the Middle Ages, the Church has had its own organisa- tion of the Christian territory, sometimes with a high lack of coherence with the political and geographical map (Martínez, 1994) . Moreover, this division is modified over time, and is not the same today as it was initially established in the Middle Ages. In the case of the German territory, the context of the Holy Roman Empire is taken as a reference for its analysis. This case is relevant because ecclesiastical power plays a very important role. Although there is a political system of an Imperial Church directly controlled by the bishops as if it were just another noble house, the territory is divided as in the rest of the European continent. Thus, from the 10th century onwards, up to ten different divisions of ecclesiastical provinces and dioceses can be found. In the mapping, all ecclesiastical provinces and only the dioceses in which the selected cities of North Rhine-Westphalia are located are shown. In this way, the territory and diocese on 38 During the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian in the 3rd century, the territory was divided into dioceses. | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 116 which they depended as well as their relative position in rela- tion to their respective ecclesiastical province are highlighted. The first ecclesiastical political division of the Holy Roman Empire is characterised by a structure of large territorial units, with the provinces of Mainz and Cologne being the most important ( Figure 49 - 01). This is no coincidence, since the church took the former Roman capitals and important cities as the seat of its bishoprics. The ecclesiastical capitals are heirs to the Roman centres of power (Wilson, 2020). Where Roman influence had not reached, new episcopal sees were founded between the 7th and 9th centuries. Over time, these were endowed with the maximum number of foundations of religious orders, where at that time Cologne occupied the first place in importance in the German territory (Braunfels, 1980). The cities of North Rhine-Westphalia were divided into the two ecclesiastical pro- vinces mentioned above. The majority of the dioceses belonged to the province of Cologne, with one exception, the diocese of Paderborn, historically in the province of Mainz. While the territory of the dioceses is practically constant, this is not the case with the division of the ecclesiastical provinces. The 16th century witnessed major changes in the ecclesiastical map of the Holy Roman Empire ( Figure 49 - 02). As the territory expanded, new provinces were added both to the east and to the west, and there were also some modifications of the provincial boundaries. In this period a great difference in size can be observed between the western and eastern provinces. This is due to a greater or lesser Christian consolidation of the territory. Thus, the larger eastern provinces and bishoprics are still building up the Christian territory, while the more tradi- tional western provinces and bishoprics have a more complex and segregated territorial structure. On the other hand, the disappearance of bishoprics in n orthern Europe and the transfor - mation of these territories into exempt ecclesiastical provinces can be observed. This is directly related to the emergence of Protestantism in 1517 (Krüger, 2007) and its total dissociation from papal and Catholic authority. T he Reformation was mainly supported by the middle and upper classes in the cities. The- refore, it is no coincidence that it initially triumphed especially in the independent cities of the Holy Roman Empire (Wilson, 2009) . This made it easier for cities that were bishopric sees to cease to be bishoprics, creating exempt territories. They are still considered ecclesiastical provinces, but have lost their see. At the beginning of the 19th century, the great division and dispute between Catholics and Protestants can be observed. This is perfectly reflected in the transformation of the eccle- siastical provinces in the centre of Europe (Figure 49 - 03). The ecclesiastical territories of Northern and Eastern Europe have a multi scalar european phenomenon | 117 mainly disappeared. In the common ideology, the Protestant success was far-reaching in 1590 and has lasted up to the present day. Although half of Europe came under Protestant control, the proportion was reduced to one-fifth, with the territories returning to Catholic influence (Wilson, 2009). In relation to the province and bishopric of Cologne they are reduced in their western area once the Netherlands has taken over Protestan- tism from Catholicism. The Lutheran territories are considered Apostolic Vicariates, while the rest of the provinces maintain their approximate ecclesiastical territorial structure. Finally, in the 21st century, the ecclesiastical territorial structure changed again compared to the previous centuries (Figure 49 - 04) . In this new division, three fundamental aspects stand out. 04 03 01 02 Figure 49. Historical evolution of the Ecclesiastical provincies in the German territory. From 10th to 21st centuries. In dark colour, the dioceses studied. Own elabo- ration based on Wilson (2020) and Bistumskarte from dbk.de. 21st cent. 19th cent. 10th cent. 16th cent. Ex. Ex. Ex. Ex. Ex. Ex. Ex. Ex. E.P.Cologne E.P.Freiburg E.P.Salzburg E.P.Salzburg E.P.Salzburg E.P.Gniezno E.P.Gniezno E.P.Magdeburg E.P.Prague E.P.Aquileia E.P.Aquileia E.P.Ravenna E.P.Trier E.P.Trier E.P.Trier E.P.Reims E.P.Besançon E.P.Milan E.P.Milan E.P.Vienne E.P.Tarentaise E.P.Cologne E.P.Cologne E.P.Cologne E.P.Bremen E.P.Bremen E.P.Mainz E.P.Mainz E.P.Mainz E.P.Hamburg E.P.Berlin E .P .P a de r bor n E.P.Bamberg E.P.Munich Ex. | Exempt Province E.P. | Ecclesiastical Province | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 118 First, the ecclesiastical boundaries are adapted to the political borders of the German country. However, the internal division of the ecclesiastical provinces is completely different from that of the Bundesländer, with the Church once again drawing a distinction between the political and the religious. Secondly, the territory was restructured, and historical provinces such as Mainz were enlarged or broken up. The province of Cologne expanded southwards towards the Palatinate region, while the diocese of Paderborn grew in importance and became the provincial capital. Finally, new bishoprics were restructured and established in the former Protestant territories, and the cities of Hamburg and Berlin were restored as provincial capitals for Catholic Christianity. Although much of the country is still Pro- testant, the ecclesiastical structure shows the Catholic power that still exists in Germany. The study and identification of the ecclesiastical provincial division is relevant to understand monasticism. This structure manages churches and religious buildings both from an urban and territorial point of view. This means that part of the decisions of monastic foundations are not only based on the city itself, but also on the ecclesiastical province. In fact, the foundation of a monastery has always had an important significance. The appearance of a religious order in a city signifies a new focus of power and a new institutional force that can interfere with the existing political order (Atienza López, 2008). This leads to a constant struggle between bishops and archbishops, as well as a greater concentration of religious orders in some territories more than others. One of the German regions where monasticism had a great impact was in North Rhine-Westphalia. This is primarily due to its early Christianisation of the territory beyond the Roman border of the Rhine. The establishment of Aachen as the capital of the Carolingian empire raised the monastic influence of the region even higher. In addition, its proximity to the Cluny or Cistercian motherhouses facilitated the arrival of the first monas - tic orders, followed from the 13th century by the mendicant orders. They are the protagonists of monastic development in North Rhine-Westphalia. The mendicant orders appear as an urban phenomenon (García Torralbo, 1998), in addition to their role in the city. Because they have an urban character, it is necessary to study the cities in terms of their population and monastic size. The latter is measured by quantifying the total number of monas- teries and convents. The territory of North Rhine-Westphalia 2.5.3 MONASTICISM IN NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA CONTEXT a multi scalar european phenomenon | 119 covers an area of 34,112 km2 (Landesbetrieb IT.NRW Statistik und IT-Dienstleistungen, 2023), which is about the size of some European countries such as Belgium with 30,688 km2 or Slovenia with 20,273 km2. In demographic terms, North Rhine-Wes- tphalia has a population of approximately 18 million in 2022 (Landesbetrieb IT.NRW Statistik und IT-Dienstleistungen, 2023) . Many cities also have a high population, such as Cologne with more than 1 million or those in the Ruhr area with between 300,000 and 600,000 inhabitants, such as D üsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg or Bochum. Therefore, a selection should be made of cities that are more representative and important in the territory. According to their population density and size, three sizes of towns can be distinguished, namely main cities, medium-sized cities and small settlements. So far, the classification of cities has not taken into account the introduction of the main component in this study, the monas- tic dimension. Before a selection of cities can be made, it is necessary to combine demographic and monastic information. In order to locate data on monastic foundations throughout North Rhine-Westphalia, the publications of Groten et al. (2009) (2012) (2022) and Hengst (1992) (1994) have been used as main sources. They contain all monastic data before 1815. On the other hand, the Denkmalbereich is also considered as a form of heritage protection for cities. It is interesting to know which protected cities contain monastic buildings. However, this data could not be taken into account as there is no register or list of all the cities that have been classified as Denkmalbereich . Therefore, the classification was based on the combination of population data and the number of monasteries. Regarding the population data for 2022, these have not been considered for the selection of cities. These respond to urban growth unrelated to monastic processes, mainly from the mid-19th century and during the 20th century. For this purpose, the population of the first register of 1816 has been taken, where a demographic distribution linked to monastic development can be observed. Finally, out of a total of 193 cities with monastic foundations identified, those with more than 2,000 inhabitants in 1816 were selected, reducing the sample to 88 cities, including Aachen. This selection of the sample is intended to narrow the scope of work in order to generate the context of the case study, as a detailed analysis of monasticism in North Rhine-Westphalia is not one of the aims of the research. In order to establish a contextualisation of North Rhine-Wes- tphalia, a brief historical overview is carried out, through the layers that determine the configuration of the territory, and the creation of a database 39 to study its demography and 39 The complete database can be found in the annexes. | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 120 monastic development. For the historical layers, time-sliced maps are made to identify the most relevant aspects linked to Aachen on a territorial level. A table ( Figure 50 ) is created for the database, which can then be represented graphically in a cartographic form. Each column is discussed below. The first one identifies the region of the city’s territory, whether it is Nordrhein or Westfalen 40 . Next, four columns locate the position of the city in relation to its ecclesiastical province and diocese, initially in the 16th century and currently in 2022. All selected cities are listed alphabetically, together with their decimal coordinates in degrees. Census data from 1816, 1852, 1939 41 ( Statistischen Landesamt North Rhine-Westphalia, 1966) and 2022 (Landesbetrieb IT.NRW Statistik und IT-Dienstleistungen, 2023) are subsequently used. The above mentioned sources have been used to corroborate the existence of monastic buildings and their total number. First of all, it is important to bear in mind that the information is prior to the Napoleonic confiscations of the 19th century, which led to the disappearance of numerous monasteries and convents. Although some foundations in the 19th and 20th centuries are known, they have not been taken into conside- ration due to lack of data 42 . The table below shows the total number of foundations per city at the end of the 18th century, divided into male and female. In addition, each of the monas- tic foundations per city has been distinguished by order and date of foundation. Therefore, it is possible to know which order and in which year it arrived in each place. In those cases where there is more than one foundation of the same order in a city, this has been divided into columns, sorted by year from youngest to oldest. The history of the territory of North Rhine-Westphalia 43 spans more than 21 centuries and is a complex process to study in detail in this section. Therefore, the most significant historical layers for the territorial and monastic development of the region are highlighted. It is a strategic location governed by the Ruhr basin in the centre of the territory (Figure 51 ) . Its 40 The territorial division has been discussed in section 1.5 where a territorial map with both divisions is shown. 41 The choice of 1939 is motivated by the fact that it was the year just before the beginning of the war. During the following years, the population changed considerably due to the war. 42 In the case study of Aachen, it has been taken into account and it has been possible to locate different sources and databases for its study. 43 The name North Rhine-Westphalia refers to the territory of the Bundesland which was created in 1947. Previously, this region has had various place names and an area that has changed over the course of history. 2.5.3.1 HISTORICAL-TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT a multi scalar european phenomenon | 121 Region Ecclesiastical province 16th cent. Diocese 16th cent. Ecclesiastical province 2022 Diocese 2022 City Coor. X Coor. Y Pop. 1816 Pop. 1852 Pop. 1939 Pop. 2022 Total mon. & conv. Male Female Augustians Figure 50. Structure of the table of monastic cities in North Rhi- ne-Westphalia. Complete table in annexes. Own elaboration. Figure 51. Topographical map of North Rhine-Westphalia. Own elaboration based on Esri topo- graphic map. Rhine River Ruhr River Lippe River Eifel Sauerland Belgium Netherlands Political border in 2023 | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 122 political position places it between the borders of the Nether- lands and Belgium to the west, where Aachen is the city that builds the three border corners. In orographic terms, the most important river, in terms of its size and historical significance, is the Rhine in the western part. The tributary of the Ruhr is notable for mining activity and for supporting most of the cities and population of the entire Land (Reicher et al., 2011) . Its topography is practically constant with slight topographical differences only accentuated a little further south. The forests of the Eifel and Sauerland make up large natural areas full of woodland where there is hardly any urban development. The territory of present-day North Rhine-Westphalia has been a place of constant political change and transformation throu- ghout history. It has also been a place occupied by different nations, kingdoms and countries, which finally came under the rule of Germany. The first evidence of the construction of large cities and the development of the territory dates back to the 1st century BC. Emperor Augustus divided the Empire Figure 52. Limes Germanicus of the roman province of Germania Inferior, 1st AC century. Own elaboration based on Roymans et al. (2020). Limes Germanicus Rhenus River Colonia Clauda Ara Agripinnensium Bonna Icorigoium Iuliacum Aquae Granni Traiectum Novaesium Colonia Ulpia Traiana Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum Political border in 2023 a multi scalar european phenomenon | 123 into provinces, subdivided into smaller units called conventus . One of the peculiarities of this territory is the use of the river Rhenus 44 as a border or Limes Germanicus ( Figure 52 ) . This factor led to the appearance and construction of cities on its perimeter, such as Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum, Colonia Ulpia Traiana, or Colonia Claudia Ara Agripinnensium 45 (Roymans et al., 2020). At the same time, they are also capitals of the conventus of the Roman province of Germania Inferior. The graphical representation of the size of cities is made differen- tiating provincial capitals from the rest of the settlements, as the Roman population data are unknown. An approximate size can be calculated by estimating 225-250 inhabitants/ hectare (Gozalbes Cravioto, 2007). On the other hand, most of the cities in this region have a Roman foundation. While in the Mediterranean there were cities of Greek or Phoenician origin, in the case of Germania, urban production was scarce. Roman infrastructures extended throughout the Empire, among which we can highlight its road system. This was not only used to connect cities, but also to increase the speed of travel from one part of the Empire to another. In addition to roads, the Rhenus river was used here for river transport. The location of many of the cities along the river provided a natural means of communication. In addition, a new road was built parallel to the river, running from north to south, connecting the cities by land (Roymans et al., 2020). In the case of Aquae Granni, today’s Aachen, it was not a provincial capital or conventus . However, its strategic position between the capitals of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium and Traiectum can be observed. Its intermediate position and the location of thermal baths in the area made it an ideal place for leisure and relaxation. These factors would lead to a rapid growth of the city in the centuries to come (Römling, 2014). The importance of this system of cities and territorial infrastructures lies in their use by the monastic orders for their development. The former conventus capitals became bishop’s sees and the site of monastic foundations. At the same time, the Roman roads inherited in later centuries formed the basis for future urban-territorial developments. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Roman terri- torial and administrative structure is inherited by the Franks and extended to the eastern bank of the Rhine. With the establishment of the Frankish Empire and the rule of Charle- magne 46 , the cities grow economically and demographically (Coffin, et al., 2002). After the fall of the Carolingian Empire, 44 Today, the Rhine river. 45 The current names of the cities in the same order are Nijmegen, Xanten and Cologne. 46 Charlemagne is so important for monasticism that he is attributed with the foundation of 27 cathedrals and 232 monasteries and abbeys (Wilson, 2020). | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 124 the Holy Roman Empire emerged as the successor to the eas- tern Carolingian part. Its duration in Europe spanned almost a millennium, from the 10th to the 19th century (Wilson, 2020) . On German territory, and specifically in North Rhine-Westphalia, two categories of cities are to be distinguished. Firstly, those of ancient tradition on the left bank of the Rhine. Secondly, those with medieval foundations, whose founding motivation was usually based on a bishopric or monastery as a germinal element (Mitre Fernandez, 2010). During this period, monastic and mendicant orders were established, occupying practically the entire territory. During the 15th and especially the 16th century, the fragmen- tation of the territory is really complex ( Figure 53 ) . In fact, in order to situate the context under study, the river layers and current boundaries of North Rhine-Westphalia have been superimposed. In accordance with the imperial division, the Reichkirche have been represented in purple, the Imperial Free Cities in red and the other colours representing the different noble houses and landowners. In this sense, a large ecclesias- tical structure stands out, which competes in extension with the nobility. This generated great mistrust and simultaneous conflicts between the emperor and the Church (Wilson, 2020) . Despite the territorial division, this period saw economic and demographic growth, mainly driven by trade with the Flanders region. The proximity of the region combined with the river connection to the Rhine favoured commercial development. In fact, a multitude of cloth factories and workshops have been located in Aachen, linked to the commercial node of Flanders (Coffin, et al., 2002). In this context, and linked to the bishopric of Cologne, the town became the place of the largest monastic foundation in the whole of North Rhine-Westphalia. As discussed in section 2.6.1, the political structure was far from constant. From the construction of the Deutsches Reich onwards, a certain political stability appeared in the last quarter of the 19th century. This period also coincided with the emergence of new technological developments and industrialisation. This was decisive for the development of the region, especially for the construction of the landscape and territory of the Ruhr mining area (Reicher et al., 2017). Industry is helping cities to multiply their population exponentially. Moreover, this new activity reshapes the urban map of North Rhine-Westphalia. Historical bishopric cities such as Paderborn or Münster remained on a second level in terms of population while maintaining a steady growth. In contrast, between 1816 and 1939, cities such as Dortmund, Duisburg or Bochum multiplied their population by a factor of about 12. Within the six most populated cities in 1816 (Figure 54 ) , it can be observed how Cologne, Düsseldorf or a multi scalar european phenomenon | 125 Figure 53. Territory of North Rhine-Westphalia in the 16th century. Own elaboration based on Wilson (2020). 0 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000 1,000,000 1,200,000 2022 1939 1816 1852 Cologne Düsseldorf Elberfeld Bonn Münster Aachen Figure 50. Figure 54. Population graph of relevant North Renanian cities. Own elaboration based on data from the table in the Political border in 2023 Aachen Düren Cologne Münster Paderborn Minden Jülich Geldern Berg Cleve Ahaus Steinfurt Tecklenburg Ravengsberg Lippe Schwalenberg Detmold Büren Arnsberg Mark Mark Nassau Nassau Wittenstein Sayn Schauenburg Wesel Duisburg Dortmund Kaiserswerth Cologne Bishopric Cologne Bishopric Cologne Bishopric Cologne Bishopric Cologne Bishopric Cologne Bishopric Cologne Bishopric Münster Bishopric Minden Bishopric Paderboern Bishopric Corvey Abbey Kornelimünster Abbey Osnabruck Bishopric Cologne Bishopric Cologne Bishopric Cologne Bishopric Free imperial city Bishopric city Bishopric Nobility territory | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 126 Elberfeld experience an exponential growth from 1852 onwards. Although all cities grow more than seven or eight times their size, Münster, Bonn and Aachen grow more steadily. In fact, the latter has gone from being one of the largest in terms of population to one of the smallest of the selected group in 2022. This is due to the fact that the other cities are either provincial capitals or are directly affected by the Ruhr area. The 21st century shows very different population figures from the beginning and middle of the 20th century. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, in some cases the population has increased by a factor of 12. Cologne continues to lead as the most populated and fastest growing city, with over one million inhabitants in 2022. This is followed by Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg with a population between 500,000 and 600,000 inhabitants. A third group consists of about 15 cities with populations between 100,000 and 300,000 inhabitants, which are considered as medium-sized cities in the German < 5,000 5,000 - 10,000 10,000 - 25,000 25,000 - 50,000 50,000 - 100,000 200,000 - 500,000 500,000 - 1,000,000 1,000,000 - 1,500,000 100,000 - 200,000 1816 1851 1939 2022 Population per city Year of population Figure 50. Figure 55. Population growth in North Rhine-Westphalia. Own elaboration based on data from the table in the Aachen Cologne Bonn Düren Jülich Mönchengladbach Neuss Düsseldorf Solingen Siegen Duisburg Essen Dortmund Münster Coesfeld Wesel Xanten Paderborn Höxter Warburg Arnsberg Soest Hamm Warendorf Vreden Borken Bocholt Goch Bedburg Monschau Recklinghausen Dorsten Lippstadt Minden Herford Lemgo Bielefeld Emmerich a multi scalar european phenomenon | 127 The city in North Rhine-Westphalia stands out for its monastic component. This building typology has shaped the construction and development of cities throughout Europe. This is not only evident in the past, but also in the rich monastic heritage that can be seen today. The beginning of monasticism has been determined by historical-territorial analysis. The monastic establi - shment begins with the first Benedictine and Cistercian orders. Examples are the Benedictine foundations in Bonn in 690 or Düsseldorf in 695 (Groten et al., 2009). In fact, the importance of female orders in the context of the Holy Roman Empire must be mentioned, which stand out due to foundations originating from noble families and also from the imperial family. During the 9th and 10th centuries, a multitude of foundations took place in territories such as Westphalia in cities like Essen or Cologne (Krüger, 2007). Later, in the 13th century, the mendicant orders occupied practically all cities in the region. Among the first religious orders to establish foundations were the Dominican and Franciscan friars. Both were in the midst of a process of expansion on the continent. In fact, the Franciscans, after their first foundation in Assisi in 1209, reached a total number of 1254 new foundations in 1300 (Ostos Prieto et al., 2021) . Moreover, their first buildings are strategically located, selecting large cities such as Aachen, Dortmund, Cologne, Münster or Paderborn. From there, they are distributed to other 2.5.3.2 THE MONASTIC CITY IN NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA spectrum. On the opposite side it is possible to identify a muni- cipality with less than 2,000 inhabitants such as Eckenhagen or even Havixbeck, which has lost population to 700 people. Despite its lower population and subsequent loss of population, the settlement reached two monastic foundations. In order to be able to observe the population changes of the selected towns in the territory, a population cartography has been drawn up ( Figure 55 ) . Four coloured circles are depicted in this map, which, depending on their size, represent the number of inhabitants. The darkest circle shows the data from the 1816 census, followed by the 1852 and 1939 census in lighter colours, ending with the lightest colour for the year 2022. On the plan, the growth of cities such as Cologne is clearly visible, but more evident are those in the Ruhr area. On the other hand, one can clearly identify the system of medium-sized cities that builds up some areas of the territory such as in the west and northeast. In addition, there are some small dots referring to rural or very low-density populations. Finally, the plan shows the more rural or topographically less developed areas, which are those with an absence of cities. | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 128 towns and cities. Other orders, such as the Carmelite monks, which in 1291 already had 15 foundations in the Rhineland (Andrews, 2006) and later expanded into Denmark and Eastern Europe, are also noteworthy. During the first stage of European Christianisation, in addition to the monastic or mendicant orders, there was another type of religious order, the military ones. Some of these had their origin in the Crusades, such as the Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem, or ‘Templars’, and the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, the ‘Hospitallers’ (Pounds, 2005). These also had foundations in central Europe along with other orders such as the Teutonic Order. This military order aimed at the Chris- tianisation of northern and eastern Europe. Indeed, this order is notable for the construction of its own state in the Baltic territory of present-day Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from the 14th century onwards (Schulze, 2008). Again, the importance of the religious orders, which were even capable of building kingdoms or states, is reflected. In addition to the foundation of a new kingdom, the order continued to found monasteries in other cities like the mendicant orders, especially in German territory and central Europe. The monastic foundations in North Rhine-Westphalia did not take place immediately and quickly, but quite the opposite. It is a process from the 7th century to the present day, spanning 15 centuries. Nevertheless, in this analysis it has been conside- red from the beginning of the 7th century up to the French confiscations in the 19th century (Figure 56 ). This selection is not random, but the end of the 18th century represents the period of maximum monastic expansion in the cities. From then on, socio-political changes marked the transformation of monasteries and convents. The graph shows the number of foundations per century in the selected cities. Several aspects can be highlighted in this respect. The first is an apparent scarce or low production from the 8th to the 12th century. In this period monasticism begins, but through orders seeking seclusion and isolation. Therefore, there is not a high level of production, since the function of the monastery is practically contemplative. From the 13th century onwards, mendicant orders linked to urban life began to appear. This century is reflected in the graph as the second in monastic production, with almost 100 foundations. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the monastic boom continued to expand in the towns of North Rhine-Westphalia until the begin- ning of the 16th century. The low production of monasteries and convents in this century is due to two main reasons. Firstly, the emergence of Protestantism and its growing strength in the Holy Roman Empire. Secondly, the religious and political wars a multi scalar european phenomenon | 129 that followed one after the other, up to four simultaneously (Coffin, et al., 2002), did not favour monastic development at all. On the other hand, the 17th century contrasts sharply with the 16th century, being in fact the century of greatest monastic production, with more than 100 foundations. The so-called Counter-Reformation, promoted by the Catholics, had a strong impact on the creation of new orders such as the Jesuits or the reconversion of Protestant territories. In addition to the religious aspect, there was also the political one. For example, the Spanish managed to retake cities such as Aachen, Münster, Recklinghausen, Jülich, Cleves, Mark and Berg in 1598 for the Catholics (Wilson, 2009). Finally, the 18th century stands out as one of the periods with the lowest mendicant monastic production, along with the 16th century. In this case, it is most probably due to the existence of a large number of monasteries and, therefore, to a possible exhaustion of the monastic city. The end of the 18th century is taken as the time when cities had the greatest monastic construction, as a result of the expan- sion of religious orders. In order to understand the territorial dimension and impact, the total number of foundations made per city has been graphically represented ( Figure 57 ). A total of 432 foundations between monasteries and convents have been counted in the selected cities. This layer overlaps with the political level of ecclesiastical provinces and dioceses for the same period. Studying the monastic typology, the political layer of the Church is decisive, since it is in charge of the control 9th 7th 13th 8th 14th 15th 10th 16th 11th 17th 12th 18th 40 60 80 100 20 0 Figure 56. Total number of monastic foundations in North Rhine-Westphalia by century. Own elaboration based on data from the table in the Figure 50. | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 130 and management of the territory in the religious sphere. At first glance, major cities such as Cologne, Aachen or Münster stand out. On a second level, other important cities in the region such as Düren, Bonn, Neuss, Düsseldorf or Duisburg can be distinguished. As can be seen, the monastic cities are also located along the axis of the Rhine as a territorial backbone. Regarding the ecclesiastical territorial division, major differen- ces can be detected. The province and bishopric of Cologne stands out as the one with the largest number of monasteries compared to Mainz, which is administered from the bishopric of Paderborn. The low number in the latter is also due to the presence of the wooded area of Sauerland to the south. Fina- lly, a wide dispersion of small monastic nuclei can be observed throughout the territory. As mentioned above, many of these towns were of little importance, such as Bochum. It was only from the beginning of the mining activity in the Ruhr that the urban plan changed completely. 60 > 5 - 10 10 - 20 20 - 30 2 - 5 <2 Number per city Figure 57. Number of monastic buildings per cities at the end of the 18th century in North Rhine-Westphalia. Own elabo - ration based on data from the table in the Figure 50. Aachen Cologne Bonn Düren Jülich Mönchengladbach Neuss Düsseldorf Solingen Siegen Duisburg Essen Dortmund Münster Coesfeld Wesel Xanten Paderborn Höxter Warburg Arnsberg Soest Hamm Warendorf Vreden Borken Bocholt Goch Bedburg Monschau Recklinghausen Dorsten Lippstadt Minden Herford Lemgo Bielefeld Ecclesiastial province of Mainz Ecclesiastial province of Trier Ecclesiastial province of Cologne Emmerich Political border in 2023 a multi scalar european phenomenon | 131 The construction of monasteries and convents was mainly carried out by religious orders 47 . So far, the monastic scene has only been analysed as a whole, without considering which orders we are referring to. In the case of North Rhine-Westphalia, 56 orders have been identified ( Figure 60 ) , including both male and female orders. This scheme is a reflection of what is happening on a continental European scale, but reduced to the territory analysed. At first glance, a fairly similar number of male and female orders can be observed. This is undoubtedly influenced by the strength that female orders acquired in the Holy Roman Empire (Krüger, 2007). Most of the orders are duplicated in male and female ones, such as Augustinians (), Carmelites, Benedictines (Figure 58), Franciscans, Dominicans or Tertiaries. On the other hand, the male orders include those without a female branch, such as the Carthusians, the Jesuits ( Figure 59) or the military orders such as the Teutonic Order or the Knights of St. John. In addition, among the female orders, orders without a male branch have also been found, such as the Celestines, Christenserines or Ursulines. The number of foundations of monasteries and convents is very different. Broadly speaking, there is a greater number of male than female foundations. Although there is an approximate number of orders between men and women, the foundations of monasteries are much higher. On the other hand, between male and female orders, there is no simultaneous production. In this sense, Franciscans and male Benedictines have more than 30 foundations, but not their female counterparts. The opposite is also true, where female Cistercians have more than 15 foundations compared to a couple of male ones, being also one of the orders with the smallest number of buildings. Howe- ver, in other orders, such as the Augustinians, a high number of foundations can be observed in both male and female orders, with more than 15 and 25 buildings respectively. It should be remembered that the graph includes both urban monasteries of mendicant orders and rural monasteries, as in the case of the Carthusians or Cistercians. In this case they have been inclu- ded because of their proximity to some cities. However, these monasteries do not form part of the urban environment and hardly generate social relations, unlike the rest of the orders. The total number of religious orders in a city establishes a crite- rion for measuring the social level and importance of this one in the territory. As they had a mendicant nature, the decision to establish them was fundamental in order to obtain resources. For this reason, not all orders have foundations in each of the cities analysed. Moreover, the type differs according to the city. 47 It could happen that a monastery or convent was financed by the nobility, even if it was eventually donated to a religious order. Figure 58. Benedictine church, Cologne. Author, 2021. Figure 59. Jesuit church, Bonn. Author, 2021. | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 132 Congregation of Windesheimer Recollects Franciscans Third Order of Saint Francis Teutonic order Canons Regular of the Holy Cross Benedictines Discalced Franciscans Servite Order Carthusians Order of Minims Alexians Dominicans Premonstratensians Carmelites Jesuits Williamites St. Mary Magdalene Third Order of Saint Francis Third Order of Dominicans Servite Order Premonstratensians Klausnerinnen Sisters of St Elizabeth Devotessen Congregation of Notre Dame Poor Clares Celitine Sisters Carmelites Benedictines Congregation of Windesheimer Antonines Franciscans Holy Sepulchre Discalced Carmelites Order of Saint John Augustinians Cistercians Oratorians Capuchins Brethren of the Common Life Trappists Ursulines Capuchin Tertiaries Sisters of the Common Life Holy Sepulchre Recollects Franciscans Loreto Sisters Dominicans Christenserines Celestines Cistercians Discalced Carmelites Bridgettines Annonciades Begines Augustinians 0 10 20 30 40 a multi scalar european phenomenon | 133 For example, although Dominicans and Franciscans are two of the most influential orders, they are not found in every city. In this sense, the foundation of four monasteries per city is one of the characteristics of the monastic city (Le Goff, 1982) . These are Dominican (founded 1220-1221), Franciscan (1209), Carmelite (1254) and Augustinian (1256) (Pounds, 2005). In order to verify Le Goff’s characteristic of the monastic city, a plan has been drawn up showing the foundations of the four orders mentioned ( Figure 61 ) . The plan is structured as follows. Each colour represents one of the mendicant orders, Dominicans (pink), Franciscans (blue), Augustinians (turquoise) and Carmelites (purple). Concentric circles are then made in each town, depending on whether there are any foundations of these orders. The spectrum varies from 1 to 4 foundations per town. In cases where there is more than one foundation of the same order, the circles are arranged in order of arrival. The smallest belongs to the first order and the outermost to Figure 61. Location of male reli- gious orders by cities in North Rhine-Westphalia. Ordered by year of foundation. Own elabo- ration based on data from the table in the Mendicant male orders Order of foundation Agustinians Carmelites Dominicans Franciscans Figure 50. Aachen Cologne Bonn Düren Neuss Werl Soest Münster Warendorf Coesfeld Wesel Borken Recklinghausen Paderborn Höxter Lippstadt Herford Ecclesiastial province of Cologne Ecclesiastial province of Mainz Ecclesiastial province of Trier Female order Male order Figure 60. (Left page) Number of foundations of religious male and female orders in North Rhi- ne-Westphalia. Own elaboration based on data from the table in the Figure 50. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 134 the last to be founded in the city. Finally, only those cities in which there are two or more foundations have been identified with names. The plan shows a wide dispersion of these religious orders in the territory, especially the Franciscans, shown in blue. Only Aachen and Cologne are the two cities with the four men- tioned by Le Goff. With three of these orders, four cities are located, Paderborn, Herford, Münster and Borken. Next, 11 cities have at least two of the Dominican, Franciscan, Augus- tinian or Carmelite buildings. On the third level, 22 cities have at least one of the four monastic foundations. In this case, it is not a common characteristic for all the cities. However, it does represent the most important and influential towns at the time. The urban centres with the greatest economic weight and strategic importance are clearly identifiable. This indicator has definitely been relevant to confirm and reaffirm the choice of Aachen as a case study. the construction of the monastic city of écija 3 the construction of the monastic city of écija | 139 The construction of a city’s urban morphology is characterised by the succession of multiple layers throughout history. The city is the outcome of a continuous evolution brought about by the urban transformations of each historical period, as well as of the society that inhabits it. In fact, the mark left by different societies and cultures on the urban environment increases its enrichment and complexity. This contributes in a decisive way to its current configuration. The urban environment must be understood from a chronological review and perspective that allows the evolution of the whole to be discerned. The new growth, in addition to the transformations on the urban morphology, will be decisive in the development of the city. The case study of the city of Écija is a remarkable and clear example of the transition of different historical layers along its timeline. These have left a clear mark on its current configura- tion. In order to be able to identify and analyse in detail the possible different historical layers that make up the city, it is necessary to turn to other sources and studies on stages prior to the one studied in this research. The historical planimetry constitutes the most explicit and appropriate support for the urban analysis of Écija. The first known planimetric document dates from the 19th century. Therefo re, previous studies assume hypotheses based on other research. The importance of the location of Écija must be understood initially from the Andalusian territorial scale. It occupies a key central position not only in the southern Iberian peninsular territory, but also as an intermediate point on the route between Seville and Cordoba. Its location in the valley of the Guadalquivir river should also be highlighted. It was built next to one of the Guadalquivir’s major tributaries, the Genil river. The urban site is located at one of the highest points in the Genil valley ( Figure 62 ) . Here there is a small rise on its west bank marked to the south by one of its tributaries, the Arga- masilla stream. In fact, the meander generated by the river generates a large, practically flat area, as opposed to the east bank where the valley slope is steeper. On the other hand, with regard to the climate, the high temperatures during the summer months prevent dense vegetation from thriving in the valley itself. Only along the banks of the river is it possible to find a greater number of trees. Written sources, previous research and even old views do not characterise the town as a predominantly vegetation-rich environment, but rather the opposite. This factor would later lead to the intensive cultivation of olive trees, cereals and cotton in the region. The first known human settlement was located in this topogra- phical context, which was mainly accentuated by the differences in elevation and the watercourses. Archaeological excavations 3.1 support and urban development | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 140 have confirmed the existence of a first settlement of Turdetan origin between the 9th and 1st centuries BC (Hernández Díaz et al., 1951). The first settlers occupied the highest position, named El Picadero sheltered by the riverbeds. This created a strategic position close to a water source. The Turdetan settlement was not a decisive phase for urban development, because the establishment of the Roman city was imposed on the previous structure. In the 1st century BC, Hispania conquered by Rome was divided into three provinces: Tarraconensis, Lusitania and Baetica 1 . The last one was subdivided into four conventus : His- palis, Corduba, Gades and Astigi (Oscáriz Gil, 2012). The new Astigi, the name given by the Romans to the present-day Écija, plays an important role as the new capital ( Figure 63 ) . It was officially founded in the last quarter of the 1st century BC as Colonia Augusta Firma Astigi by Emperor Augustus ( García-Dils de la Vega, 2015). The new centrality favoured not only the growth of the city itself, but also the connections with Cor- duba and Hispalis through the Via Augusta. This connection connected Rome with Gades by land, in addition to a port settlement in the Singilis 2 , which connected Astigi with Rome. Important land and river connections arose as a result of the importance of the olive oil trade. This activity, together with 1 Although there were several provincial divisions during the Roman period, the provincial division of Augustus in the 1st BC century is referred here. 2 Singilis is the Roman name of the aforementioned Genil river that flows next to Écija (Cortés y López, 1835) Genil river Argamasilla stream El Picadero hill Via Augusta Figure 62. (left) Toponymy of the location of Écija. Own ela- boration. Figure 63. (right) Roman city of Écija, 2nd BC - 5th AC centuries. Own elaboration based on the García-Dils de la Vega hypotheses (García-Dils de la Vega, 2015). the construction of the monastic city of écija | 141 its status as a capital, allowed the city to develop fast. The city was laid out along the traditional Roman orthogonal layout divided by the Cardus Maximus (north-south) and the Decuma- nus Maximus (east-west). The Decumanus itself is also part of the aforementioned Via Augusta as it passes through Astigi (García-Dils de la Vega, 2015). The different roads that make up the city are located parallel to the Cardus and Decumanus , forming grids of approximately 100x100 metres ( García-Dils de la Vega, 2015). In addition to its urban characteristics, the city has an important system of facilities. It is made up of the forum, the theatre 3 and temples, within the walls, together with the circus and amphitheatre, outside the walls. This is an indication of the importance and economic prosperity of Astigi during Roman rule. Between the 4th and 5th centuries, the decline of the Roman Empire combined with an internal crisis led to an internal divi- sion into West and East. The western part faced the arrival of a multitude of Germanic peoples, which led to the disappea- rance of the Western Roman Empire, but not that of its eastern counterpart. The Visigoths settled mainly in ancient Hispania from the 5th to the 8th century. Both in this period and in the later periods of Roman rule, the emergence of Christianity and its presence in Astigi was more than evident. The city was named an episcopal see, hosting a large number of bishops, among whom Saint Fulgentius can be highlighted (Martínez Melón, 2008). The Visigothic period was a time of very slight alterations in its urban configuration. It can be considered a continuation of the Roman city. However, since the introduction of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire and the banning of pagan cult, it led to the destruction or conver- sion of old temples for new religious structures of a Christian nature (Jiménez Sánchez & Sales Carbonell, 2004). The end of the Visigothic period on the peninsula is marked by the year 711 and the battle of the Guadalete River. Islamic troops led by Tariq Ibn Ziyad and Musa Ibn Nusair occupied the former Hispanic territory (Lara & Lara, 2018), which acquired a new name, Al-Andalus. During the Muslim Middle Ages, the Cora of Istiyya 4 added the production of cotton to that of olive oil, becoming a major export centre for both products. During this period, the ancient Roman city underwent a complete transformation of its urban layout ( Figure 65 ) . In the case of Écija, the old Cardus and Decu- manus are diluted in the new layout, and the orthogonal city disappears completely. The new morphology is irregular and 3 Although there are sources indicating the existence of a theatre in the city, to the present day, neither its exact location nor empirical evidence of its existence has been located (García-Dils de la Vega, 2015). 4 Name of Écija during its Muslim period. Figure 64. (top to down) Mos- que remains in Santa Cruz; Tower of Santa María; Tower of San Juan. Author, 2023. | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 142 organic, characteristic of the arabic city (García-Dils de la Vega, 2015) . On the highest point of Écija, the site of the original Turdetan settlement, the new Alcázar [alc] was built as part of the new medina . Furthermore, the mosque [mo] and the cementery [ce] were built as urban facilites. The influence of Islam was not in terms of growth, but in the alteration of the urban structure. The reticular morphology was transformed into a completely different, organic and irregular one. After five centuries of Muslim presence in Écija, the Christian conquest marked the beginning of a new medieval period in the 13th century. Christian troops led by the Castilian monarch Ferdinand III occupied the city in 1240 (Chamocho Cantudo, 2017) . In this context, the urban approach of the Christians was mainly focused on the replacement of the old mosques with Christian temples. It was part of the strategy of Christia- nisation of the new conquered territories. The importance of the Church can be seen in the first division into collaciones 5 . Above the four main churches, Santa Cruz [ch1], Santa María [ch2], Santa Bárbara [ch3] and San Juan [ch4] ( Figure 64 ) two fictitious cross-shaped axes are drawn to mark the new admi- nistrative districts (Remolina Sevaine, 2014). Their relevance at the urban level is transcendental due to the important role played by the Church in the new urban transformations of this 5 Spanish term for the political-ecclesiastical division of the city into areas according to their parish churches (Montero Vallejo, 1996). Figure 65. (left) Islamic city of Écija, 8th - 13th centuries. Own elaboration based on the Remo- lina Seivane hypotheses (Remo- lina Seivane, 2014). Figure 66. (right) Christian city of Écija, 13th - 15th centuries. Own elaboration based on the Remolina Seivane hypotheses (Remolina Seivane, 2014). alc ch1 ch2 ch3 ch4 mo ce [mo] mosque [ch1] Church of Santa Cruz [ce] cementery [ch2] Church of Santa María [alc] alcázar [ch3] Church of Santa Bárbara [ch4] Church of San Juan 8th - 13th cent. 13th - 15th cent. the construction of the monastic city of écija | 143 Figure 67. (left) Christian city of Écija, 15th - 16th centuries. Own elaboration based on the Remolina Seivane hypotheses (Remolina Seivane, 2014). period. The Christians maintained the existing urban fabric and built new religious facilities ( Figure 66 ) . Construction began not only of churches, but also of monasteries and convents as a new Christian architectural typology. Until the 15th century, the city did not undergo significant changes. As it was located on the border between the Chris- tian and Muslim kingdoms, constant fighting prevented urban growth. In 1492, the Catholic Monarchs conquered the city of Granada, thus concluding the Muslim presence on the penin- sula. At the end of the medieval period marked by the wars between the peninsular kingdoms, the city began new urban developments. With the city within the city walls filled in, the first suburbs were built outside the city walls ( Figure 67 ) . These began to the south and east, occupying a position between the city and the riverbeds. With regard to the parish buildings, the construction of the two remaining ones, Santiago [ch5] and San Gil [ch6] was completed. In all, there are six parish churches. At the crossroads of the axes marked by the aforementioned settlements, the city’s main square was built [msq]. This square, whose popular name is “El Salón”, forms the new urban centre and is also the place for the establishment of commerce and the local market. In the 16th century, the urban development of Écija increased. The growth of the first suburbs slowed down, giving rise to two new ones to the north and west of the city ( Figure 68 ). ch5 ala ch6 msq [msq] Main square “El Salón” [ala] Alameda [ch5] Church of Santiago [ch6] Church of San Gil Figure 68. (middle) City of Écija, 16th - 17th centuries. Own elaboration based on based on historical views of the city. Figure 69. (right) City of Écija, 18th century. Own elaboration based on historical views of the city. 15th - 16th cent. 18th cent. 16th - 17th cent. | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 144 These were guided by the main roads, especially the northern suburb. However, the suburb by the river is completed with the incorporation of a new urban recreational facility, the alameda 6 [ala]. It is important to point out this urban space in the city, as it is one of the first cities to incorporate this type of facility 7 . Other facilities, such as the royal butcher’s shops, are derived from the market activity carried out in El Salón. On the other hand, in relation to urban infrastructures, the construction of the Arca del agua 8 for the supply of the population appears for the first time (Santofimia Albiñana, 2011). This shows not only the urban importance of Écija, but also its political, economic and social significance ( Figure 70 ) . The urban growth of the city was further boosted by the rise of the religious orders, which established their last foundations in the city during the 17th century. At this time, the city enjoyed not only national but also international renown. This led Flemish and Italian artists and travellers of the time to stop in the city to leave the first known graphic works. It is worth mentioning the description by Vélez de Guevara (1641) “The Plaza Mayor of Écija is the most distinguished in Andalusia with a fountain in the centre and four nymphs” (p.61) 9 . If the Baroque occupies an important place in the Spanish panorama of the 18th century, it is even more so for Écija. The Baroque is the period of greatest exponent in Écija ( Figure 69 ). To this phenomenon must be added the disaster of 1755, the Lisbon Earthquake. Écija was one of the cities affected. There was serious structural damage, mainly to religious buildings and their towers. Many of these structures were not originally prepared to withstand such seismic activity. However, the sum of these events meant that most of the towers and churches were rebuilt. The destruction caused by the earthquake was used to build new towers and bell-glabe s in a baroque architectural style, as was the case with palace buildings, municipal buildings, etc. (Hernández Díaz et al., 1951). Such was the importance that Baroque acquired in the city that a local style developed in the city, known as Ecijan Baroque. This style is defined by the use of tiles, plaster and brick (Reina Valle, 1996). In this century, the growth of the northern and western suburbs of the city increased. As they were not delimited by physical barriers such as the stream and the river, they developed further. During the Baroque period, there were no new urban expansions or transformations. The aim was to beautify and rebuild the city. 6 Built in 1578, known as Paseo de San Pablo (Aguilar Diosdado & García León, 1988). 7 One of the first Spanish avenues, together with the one in Ecija, are those of Madrid (1570) and Seville (1574) (Quilodrán Rubio et al., 2020). 8 Building used as water tank. 9 Original quotation: “La Plaza Mayor de Écija, es la más insigne de Andalucía con una fuente en el centro y cuatro ninfas” (Vélez de Guevara 1641, p. 61). Figure 70. (top to down) Clois- ter of Santiago; Main square ‘El Salón’; Alameda. Author, 2023. the construction of the monastic city of écija | 145 The Christian conquest indicates the beginning of the construc- tion of monastic Écija. The monastic foundational process in the city did not take place in a single phase. It is not a limited development, but occurs along the timeline from the 14th to the 17th century. Nevertheless, this process is even more complex. Some foundations can be up to three centuries apart, which means that situations and contexts are totally unrelated to each other. However, despite the difficulties and differences, the establishment of a monastery or a convent in a city is a unique and continuous development. Moreover, it is favoured or harmed in relation to the socio-political factors of the time. The decision to found a monastic order can be situated on two scales from an urban-territorial perspective. Firstly, the choice of the urban setting in the territorial context is a determining factor, as each city is different from the other. Following the urban relevance and importance, according to López Martínez (1992) , “the first foundations would take place in the large cities, [...] Seville, Jerez, Écija and Alcalá de Guadaira, were the towns in which the first monasteries were founded in the 13th century” (p. 36) 10 . Then, the second consideration is directly related to the place where they were established in the urban fabric. Once again, factors such as economics, power relations or relations with the people determine the monastic location in the city. Undoubtedly, it is essential for an order to find the most optimal location and integration in the urban fabric. Otherwise, it could mean the disappearance of the order and the convent building in the city. In Écija there are few documentary sources that highlight the monastic structure beyond the buildings themselves and their architecture. For this reason, it is difficult to identify an exact date for each of the foundations in the city. However, the contrast between different sources makes it possible to determine the years of establishment. Thus, a complete list of all the monastic buildings can be compiled. On the other hand, contradictions have also been detected between some of the sources, such as the appearance of some monastic buildings in the city that have not been found in other documents. Due to the scarcity of information, a more in-depth study was carried out, both in terms of its veracity and in terms of the compari- son between different sources. In order to collect all the data found in the sources consulted, a table has been drawn up. It contains information on all the foundations in Écija and shows the inherent characteristics of the monastic structure in the city. The sources used for the study of monasteries and convents in Écija are diverse. Thanks to them, it has been possible to 10 Original quote: “las primeras fundaciones tendrían lugar en las grandes ciudades, […] Sevilla, Jerez, Écija y Alcalá de Guadaira, fueron los poblaciones en las que se fundaron los primeros conventos en el siglo XIII” (López Martínez 1992, p. 36). 3.2 monastic foundations | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 146 Understanding the monastic system in Écija requires a study of its implantation in the urban fabric. This is important not only from a historical point of view that distributes the arrival of the orders chronologically, but also from other perspectives. The study of socio-political events is linked to urban development and monastic settlement. For this reason, it is important to take an urban perspective in which the monastic location and its relationship with the structure of the city are analysed. This morphological analysis is detached from the usual chronological distribution in centuries. In this sense, we offer a vision of four centuries distributed in six different stages ( Figure 71 ) . These stages take into account factors such as urban development, the political, economic or social background of the period. Therefore, it is an analysis adapted to a more accurate reality than the chronological study limited to centuries. Before the arrival of the Muslims in Écija in the 8th century, it was considered a politically important city, as it was the episco- pal see 11 . In fact, the first record of a female monastic religious building on the Iberian Peninsula dates from this period, in the city of Écija. Numerous sources describe a convent outside the walls formed by a community of nuns, the so-called Monaste- rio del Valle. This was the first female order on the peninsula (Noguera Rosado, 1982). One of the references to this first enclave is the one made by Madoz (1847) where “Sister St. Florentina was the founder of the nuns who existed in the Monasterio del Valle and who were later beheaded by the Saracens...” (p. 435) 12 . It narrates the terrible events between the religious sisters and the arrival of the Muslim troops in the 11 The period referred to as the episcopal see belongs to the Christianisation of the Roman city, as well as to its later Visigothic period. 12 Original quote: “la hermana Sta. Florentina, fundadora de las mojas que existieron en el conv. Del valle y fueron despues degolladas por los sarracenos…” (Madoz 1847, p. 435) locate and count the position of the buildings of this religious typology. The differences detected between the sources have made the research process more complex. However, the contrast of textual and graphic data has made it possible to establish with greater clarity the key points of the monastic foundations in Écija. In this sense, the studies by Caldero Bermudo (1984), Hernández Díaz et al. (1955), López Jiménez (2016), Martín de Roa (2005), López (1795), Madoz (1847) or García León & Martín Ojeda (2018) are relevant. To these references must be added the various historical views and iconographies of the city, in addition to the historical cartography of the 18th and 19th centuries. 3.2.1 ORDERS AND ESTABLISHMENT the construction of the monastic city of écija | 147 01 | San Pablo y Santo Domingo 02 | Nuestra Señora del Carmen 03 | Santa Florentina 04 | San Francisco 05 | San Jerónimo del Valle 06 | Santa Inés del Valle 07 | San Agustín 08 | Nuestra Señora de la Victoria 09 | Espíritu Santo 10 | Nuestra Señora de la Merced 11 | Nuestra Señora de los Remedios 12 | Visitación a Santa Isabel (Las Recogidas) 13 | Santísima Trinidad y Purísima Concepción de Nuestra Señora (Las Marroquíes) 14 | Limpia Concepción de Nuestra Señora (Los Descalzos) 15 | San Fulgencio 16 | Divina Pastora (Capuchinos) 17 | Santa Ana 18 | San José (Las Teresas) 19 | La Purísima Concepción (Las Gemelas) 20 | Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación (Monjas Blancas) 21 | Hospital de San Pedro, San Pablo y San Juan de Dios Figure 71. Timeline with data on the foundation of monasteries and con - vents, as well as relevant historical data. Based on the table in Figure 78. Own elaboration. 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 1383 | 01 Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 5 Phase 4 Phase 6 1240 | Christian conquest of Écija 1492 | Conquest of Granada 1503 | Beginning of the American trade 1755 | Lisbon Earthquake 1808 | French occupation 1425 | 02 1460 | 03 1473 | 04 1486 | 05 1487 | 06 1491 | 07 1505 | 08 1508 | 09 1509 | 11 1509 | 10 1570 | 12 1587 | 13 1591 | 14 1598 | 15 1621 | 16 1626 | 17 1634 | 18 1639 | 19 1644 | 20 1655 | 21 | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 148 city 13 . As for the location of the convent building, it has not been possible to locate it exactly due to the scarcity of sources and archaeological research. However, some authors suggest that the future Hieronymite order in Écija was founded on the ancient ruins of the disappeared convent (García León & Martín Ojeda, 2018). The Christian conquest in the 13th century and the domination of Christianity over Islam led to monastic foundations in the city of Écija. On the one hand, the consolidation of noble power took place through typologies such as the palace or the stately house. On the other hand, the ecclesiastic used the church and the convent as a means of consolidating his power and domi- nion in the new settlements. In fact, it was considered normal practice for the religious to accompany the army. The aim was not only to satisfy religious needs but also to participate in the new distribution of land or the founding of monasteries in new conquered cities (García Torra lbo, 1998). The distribution of land favoured the religious establishment to a large extent. Thus, in 1383, the first monastic building was founded in the city, the monastery of San Pablo y Santo Domingo [1] (Aguilar Díaz, 2006) . The Dominican building belongs to the establishment of the first phase ( Figure 72 ) . However, the monastery is the fifth religious building, as there were already four parishes: Santa Cruz [ch1], Santa María [ch2], Santa Bárbara [ch3] and San Juan [ch4]. The Dominicans located the monastery within the city walls, close to one of the main roads connecting the city. The strategy of implantation is mainly conditioned by the constant conflicts of war between the kingdoms of Castile and Granada. Écija was a strategic border enclave. In this context, the monastic site is protected against possible attacks. Moreover, it was a strategic point on the border from which to Christianise the new territories. During the 15th century, the war with the Muslim kingdom intensified, with the Christian side winning numerous victories and extending the frontier almost as far as the city of Granada. This was a determining factor in the new urban development of Écija. The disappearance of its frontier status with the Nas- rid kingdom allowed for expansion outside the city walls. The city underwent new transformations after centuries without notable changes. The urban area grew, reflected in its two suburbs. On the other hand, a new parish church was built, that of Santiago [ch5], the first outside the city walls due to the decrease in the pressure of war on Écija. The new church of San Gil [ch6] was also built on the site of the old alcázar . With regard to the construction of the public space, the main 13 There is a popular legend about this event entitled Las Mártires del V alle (The Martyrs of the Valley), which narrates the events that took place. This legend, along with other Ecijan legends, is collected by Noguera Rosado, J.J. (1982) Fantasía Ecijana. Gráficas Sol. the construction of the monastic city of écija | 149 square was built on part of the old Muslim cemetery, which became known as the Plaza Real. Important buildings were positioned on this square to form the new central nucleus of urban life, although the historical road axes continued to pre- vail. Finally, a new gate appeared in the wall, known as Puerta Nueva [gate A], creating a new access next to the monastery of Santo Domingo. Further urban development and the advance of the Christian conquest led to new monastery founda tions in the 15th century. In the second stage, in 1425, the Carmelite order established itself in a position far from the walled boundary ( Figure 73 ). The new monastery of Nuestra Señora del Carmen [2] is stra- tegically located next to the ancient Via Augusta , which still connects the cities of Seville and Cordoba. In fact, its position on the western side is to avoid both the floods of the river and a more rugged topography. In the third foundational stage, two buildings appear within the walls ( Figure 74 ) . The first belongs to the Dominican Nuns 14 , founded in 1460 [3]. As was usual for women’s orders, they established an inner-wall settlement, sheltered from the possibility of external dangers and with the security offered by the wall. The convent of Santa Florentina adopted a strategic position next to the wall, taking 14 The Dominican nuns constitute the first female order in the city without considering the nuns of the Visigothic period in Écija. Figure 72. (left) Phase 1 of monastic development, 14th century. Own elaboration. Figure 73. (right) Phase 2 of monastic development, 15th century. Own elaboration. 1 A 2 ch1 ch2 ch3 ch5 ch6 ch4 [ch5] Church of Santiago [ch6] Church of San Gil [ch1] Church of Santa Cruz [ch2] Church of Santa María [ch3] Church of Santa Bárbara [A] Gate Puerta Nueva [ch4] Church of San Juan [1] San Pablo y Santo Domingo [2] Nuestra Señora del Carmen | the monastic system as builder of european medium - sized cities 150 advantage of it as part of the convent itself. This situation is reinforced by the existence of the Puerta Sevilla [gate B] and the northern entrance through the Puerta Palma 15 [gate C]. The appearance of the Plaza Real 16 as the new centre of the city was taken advantage of by the Franciscans to establish their monastery next to it in 1473 [4]. Unlike “the French Franciscans who preferred small towns. On the contrary, the Andalusian Franciscans spread throughout all the towns, especially the large ones, ignoring the most depressed and low-density areas” (López Martínez 1992, p. 42) 17 . The position of the plot of the monastery of San Francisco allows it to interact with the main urban axes and to have direct access from the square. It is the only monastic building in the Plaza Real. The fourth stage is the most numerous in terms of foundations in the city ( Figure 75 ) . This stage took place between the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century, coinciding with the conquest of the city of Granada. The disappearance of Muslim influence on the peninsula allowed monastic foundations to spring up all over Andalusia. These new foundations were not founded by chance. It can be detected that a greater number of monasteries and convents were founded in those towns that were the seat of stately or ecclesiastical courts (López Martínez, 1992). It is characteristic that among the seven new monasteries and convents, only one is within the walls. Although orders such as the Hieronymites tend to look for spaces far from urban life, this is not frequent in the Poor Clares or Augustinians. The end of the war allowed for the possibility of a safe establishment outside the walls, together with other factors of an urban nature. There was probably a lack of available land inside the walls at that time, which led the orders to locate outside the walls. The monastery furthest from the city is that of San Jerónimo del Valle, founded in 1486 [5]. The location of the building sought the proximity of the road to Palma del Río, as well as the fertile lands of the river for agricultural work (Freire Gálvez, 2008) . The monastery gardens required a continuous supply of water for irrigation. This undoubtedly favoured the choice of this position by the Hieronymite monks. The foundation of Santa Inés del Valle in 1487 [6] was the first convent to be located outside the city walls. The strategy of the Poor Clares is totally the opposite of that of the Dominicans, with their 15 Name of the gate related to the road to the city of Palma del Río. 16 The Plaza Real, now known as Plaza de España (Spanish square), is popularly known as the ‘Salón’. (López Jiménez, 2016) 17 Original quote: “los franciscanos franceses que prefirieron las pequeñas poblaciones. Por el contrario, los franciscanos andaluces se extendieron por todas las poblaciones, especialmente las grandes, ignorando las áreas más deprimidas y de más baja densidad.” (López Martínez 1992, p. 42) [Document text truncated for crawler view.]