ALCANTARA, ORDER OF

major military and religious order in Spain. It was founded in 1156 or 1166 by Don Suero Fernndez Barrientos and was recognized in 1177 by Pope Alexander III in a special papal bull. Its purpose was to defend Christian Spain against the Moors. In 1218 King Alfonso IX of Leon gave to the order the town of Alcntara, and during the next two centuries its knights defended the southern borders of Christian Spain. Membership reached 100,000, and the order's annual income was between 40,000 and 50,000 ducats. After Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile incorporated the military orders into the crown in 1493, the fiefs of the Order of Alcntara formed part of the royal heritage.