The Jeronimites in Spain, their Patrons and Success, 1373–1516

Abstract

In the middle of the fourteenth century the Castilian Church was suffering severe strains. Falling rents exacerbated by plague were affecting many monasteries and making it difficult for them to maintain discipline. At the same time the nature of the regime of Pedro 1 drove a distinguished group of secular clergy into exile in France and Italy. An alternative reaction lay in seeking the eremitical life, and this was to lead to the remarkable phenomenon of the Jeronimite Order. The cause of ecclesiastical reform was to be sustained by both exiles and hermits.