Military orders · Kingdom of Portugal · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Pereiro

The knights of San Julián del Pereiro began as a brotherhood serving a church on the Côa, in the Riba-Côa that belongs to León in 1200.

Alexander III took the house under his protection in 1176, and Lucius III addressed its head as master in 1183. Since 1187 the order is affiliated to Calatrava. It is still a small Leonese frontier order, holding a convent and some lands near the Portuguese border; Alcántara, which gives it its later name, is in Almohad hands and comes to it only in 1218.

Who holds it

Title
Master of San Julián del Pereiro
Confidence
low

Gómez appears as prior in 1175-1176 and as master in Lucius III's bull of 1183. Who is master on 1 January 1200 is not pinned in the sources checked.

What it holds

  • The convent of San Julián del Pereiro on the Côa, and modest lands round it (not pinned)
  • Not held: Alcántara (Almohad in 1200, given to the order in 1218)

How it was acquired

Papal protection in 1176 and 1183; royal grants of the Leonese kings (not pinned).

How things stand that morning

Held, on the León-Portugal frontier.

Wealth

Small: frontier lands and flocks.

Threats

  • War between León and Portugal along the Côa

Advocates and rivals

The Order of Calatrava, its mother house since 1187; the king of León; the Portuguese across the Côa.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The bulls of 1176 and 1183 are known; the site of the convent and the order's holdings in 1200 are not pinned.

On the map: The convent's exact site near Pinhel is not pinned; the disc marks the area only.

Primary sources for Portugal

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

5 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.

Sources and studies

  1. Orden de Alcántara (es.wikipedia)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.