The monastic communities of San Pedro de Rocas, San Salvador de Celanova, and Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil: their evolution and ranks in the 13th-14th Centuries

Abstract

The creation of monasteries was one of the most important aspects of the Middle Ages in Galicia, because the documentation they produced makes it possible to study the period from a “microhistoric” perspective. Although monasteries were established in different periods, the traits of their communities are similar, since at their head we find an abbot, or a prior, followed by officials in charge of specific tasks. There are differences in the magnitude of these communities, as some, like Celanova or Oseira, have a community and wealth much greater than Rocas or Naves, which are bigger than San Salvador de Coruxo or Santa María de Ribeira. Despite these differences, some of the monasteries share similarities due to the adversities that occurred during Middle Ages, especially the 1347-1348 Black Death, which would condition the fate of monasteries in the rest of Medieval period, and in the Modern Age. In this paper, we will study the communities of three monasteries in Ourense: Rocas, Celanova, and Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil, both their evolution and work organization in the 13th-14th Centuries, in comparison with other monasteries in Ourense and Galicia.