On 2 January 1187,
Pope Clement III issued a
papal bull authorising the founding of a monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In June of the same year,
Alfonso VIII of Castile, at the behest of his wife,
Eleanor of England, daughter of
Henry II of England and
Eleanor of Aquitaine granted the foundational charter stipulating that the monastery was to be governed by the
Cistercian Order. Until the 16th century, it enjoyed many royal privileges granted to it by the king, including exemption from taxes, the lordship of many villages and territories (governed by the monastery's
abbess), and the possession of many of the royal families' valued personal items, most of them religious. It is even claimed that, until the
Council of Trent, the
abbess was able to
hear confession and give
absolution, like a
priest. In 1199, the founders formally delivered the monastery to the nuns and added a clause pursuant to which the monastery was to be the burial place of the royal family. Constance, the youngest daughter of Alfonso, joined the Cistercians there. She was the first known as the Lady of Las Huelgas. This position was held as well by other women from the royal family, including her niece Constance and her grand-niece Berengaria, and maintained the close connection between the community and their royal patrons. Queen Eleanor and
Queen Berengaria were both documented as supporting and being involved with the abbey. While members of the royal family were secular leaders of the monastery, abbesses such as
Sancha Garcia were spiritual authorities. The abbess of the monastery was, by the favor of the king, invested with almost royal prerogatives, and exercised an unlimited secular authority over more than fifty villages. Like secular lords, she held her own courts, in civil and criminal cases, and, like
bishops, she granted
dimissorial letters for
ordination, and issued licenses authorizing priests within the territory of her abbatial jurisdiction to hear confessions, to preach, and to engage in
pastoral care. She was privileged also to confirm the abbesses of other monasteries, to impose censures, and to convoke
synods. At a
general chapter of the Cistercians held in 1189, she was made Abbess General of the Order for the Kingdom of León and Castile, with the privilege of convoking annually a general chapter at Burgos. The abbess of Las Huelgas retained her ancient prerogatives up to the time of the
Council of Trent in the 16th century. Currently, the monastic community, which at present numbers 36, is part of the Spanish Congregation of
St. Bernard, a reform movement of Cistercian nuns, which arose during the 16th and 17th centuries. Due to this, they are also commonly referred to as "Bernadines". The nuns of this Congregation would follow a more exact observance of the
Rule of St. Benedict than other Cistercian houses, with frequent and lengthy fasts, and celebrating the
Divine Office about 2:00 A.M. The nuns support themselves through the decoration of
porcelain items, making
rosaries and providing laundry services for local hotels. This abbey has founded a
daughter house in
Peru, the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity, which is located in the agricultural
Lurín District, on the outskirts of the
Lima Metropolitan Area. The monastery has about ten professed nuns, and several candidates in various stages of formation. They support themselves by making cakes and jams, for which they use the produce of their own gardens. == Cultural heritage==