The Artistic and Architectural Patronage of Countess Urraca of Santa MarÃ­a de CaÃ±as: A Powerful Aristocrat, Abbess, and Advocate
type: CreativeWork
description: Countess Urraca Lope de Haro was the daughter of the noble Lord Diego Lope de Haro, friend and advisor to King Alfonso VIII of Castilla-León and granddaughter of Lord Lope Díaz de Haro and Lady Aldonza Ruiz de Castro, aristocratic courtiers as well as popular monastic patrons. As a young and wealthy widow, Countess Urraca took monastic vows at the Cistercian nunnery of Santa María de Cañas founded by her grandparents. Within a short time of uniting herself to this monastery, she was chosen as its fourth abbess in 1225, a position she held for thirty-seven years until her death in 1262. Following the tradition of monastic patronage established by her noble family members, Countess Urraca expanded the monastery's small real estate holdings, oversaw extensive building projects to create permanent structures for the nunnery, and patronized artistic projects including statuettes of the Virgin Mary and St. Peter in addition to her own decorative stone sarcophagus during her term as abbess. This thesis examines the artistic decoration and architectural patronage of this powerful woman and the influences she incorporated into the monastic structures at Cañas as she oversaw their construction. In dating the original buildings of the monastery at Cañas to the period of Countess Urraca's leadership, the predominant architectural features and decorative details of female Cistercian foundations in northern Spain are discussed. Comparisons with additional thirteenth-century Cistercian monasteries from the same region in northern Spain are offered to demonstrate the artistic connections with the structures Countess Urraca patronized. In addition, this thesis examines Countess Urraca's obvious devotion to the Virgin Mary and St. Peter by considering the medieval monastic world in which she lived and the strong emphasis the Cistercian Order placed on such worship practices. The potent spiritual connections Countess Urraca made by commissioning images of essential, holy intercessors …
abstract: Countess Urraca Lope de Haro was the daughter of the noble Lord Diego Lope de Haro, friend and advisor to King Alfonso VIII of Castilla-León and granddaughter of Lord Lope Díaz de Haro and Lady Aldonza Ruiz de Castro, aristocratic courtiers as well as popular monastic patrons. As a young and wealthy widow, Countess Urraca took monastic vows at the Cistercian nunnery of Santa María de Cañas founded by her grandparents. Within a short time of uniting herself to this monastery, she was chosen as its fourth abbess in 1225, a position she held for thirty-seven years until her death in 1262. Following the tradition of monastic patronage established by her noble family members, Countess Urraca expanded the monastery's small real estate holdings, oversaw extensive building projects to create permanent structures for the nunnery, and patronized artistic projects including statuettes of the Virgin Mary and St. Peter in addition to her own decorative stone sarcophagus during her term as abbess. This thesis examines the artistic decoration and architectural patronage of this powerful woman and the influences she incorporated into the monastic structures at Cañas as she oversaw their construction. In dating the original buildings of the monastery at Cañas to the period of Countess Urraca's leadership, the predominant architectural features and decorative details of female Cistercian foundations in northern Spain are discussed. Comparisons with additional thirteenth-century Cistercian monasteries from the same region in northern Spain are offered to demonstrate the artistic connections with the structures Countess Urraca patronized. In addition, this thesis examines Countess Urraca's obvious devotion to the Virgin Mary and St. Peter by considering the medieval monastic world in which she lived and the strong emphasis the Cistercian Order placed on such worship practices. The potent spiritual connections Countess Urraca made by commissioning images of essential, holy intercessors …
author: McMullin, Julia Alice Jardine
language: English
keywords: Urraca, nun, monastery, patronage, medieval architecture, statuette, sarcophagus, Las Huelgas, Santa Maria de Canas, Virgin, Mary, power, thirteenth century, Cistercian, Spain, Gothic, rosary, Marian psalter, Burgos, Canas, Lope de Haro, Diego Lope de Haro, Aldonza Ruiz de Castro, countess, aristocrat, noble, abbess, St. Peter, cult of Mary, Bernard of Clairvaux, Art Practice
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:27:55Z
provider: Brigham Young University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Brigham Young University - Provo