Saint Sancha of Castile
Queen of Aragon

(21 September 1154/5 – 9 November 1208)


Painting by Valentin Carderera (Picture: Source)

https://www.comendadorasdemalta.org/en/2021/11/memory-of-queen-dona-sancha/ writes:

"On November 9th  the Nuns of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of the Monastery of Salinas remember their founder Doña Sancha (21 September 1154 – Sijena, 9 November 1208).
Doña Sancha, daughter of the king of León and Castile Alfonso VII «the Emperor» and of Richenza of Poland, on 18 January 1174, in Zaragoza, married the king of Aragon Alfonso II. Once widowed, in 1197 she left the court and retired with her daughter Doña Dulce to the Monastery of Santa Maria di Sijena, which she had founded in 1188, where she took her vows and assumed the cross of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem which she wore until hear death. For this reason she is revered in Aragon as the Holy Queen. For the Catholic Church she is a Servant of God and her liturgical memorial is November 9th"


Picture from: Prokopowski, Rudolf: Ordre Souverain et Militaire Jérosolymitain de Malte, Cité du Vatican, 1950

Wikipedia writes: "After her husband died at Perpignan in 1196, Sancha was relegated to the background of political affairs by her son Peter II.
She retired from court, withdrawing to the convent for noble ladies, the Monastery of Santa María de Sigena, at Sigena, which she had founded.
There she assumed the cross of the Order of St John of Jerusalem which she wore until the end of her life."

This community is still in existence!

The official website of the Order of Malta (The Nuns of the Order of Malta) writes:
"... historians give the year 1153 as the official date for the establishment of the Order’s female branch: it was then that Pope Eugene III approved the Sijena convent community, founded by Queen Sancha of Aragon, widow of Alfonso II, and her daughter Dulce.
Thus one of the oldest communities of nuns in Christendom was born.
At the beginning they were exclusively relatives of the Knights of the Order with the specific mission to pray for them all and for the Grand Master.
As in the other monasteries in previous centuries, the nuns were called “Sorores” (like “Fratres” for the Knights)."

(The webmaster of this page will appreciate further information. You may contact him via father(at)bbg.org.za)

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Page last modified on Monday, 05 January 2026 16:41:47

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