Affinities between the Third Orden Regular of Saint Francis of Penance and the Franciscan Observance. The Monastery of Santa Catalina of Montefaro (Galicia, Spain)

Abstract

The Galician monastery of Santa Catalina de Montefaro was built in 1392, under the patronage of the powerful nobleman Fernán Pérez de Andrade. The friars of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis of Penance (TOR) received it to live there rigorously following the spirit of the Rule of Saint Francis. This reforming branch of the Franciscan Order, which shows several aspects in common with the Observance, remained autonomous from its inception, until the 19th century. In this paper we will, first, deal with the origins and development of both the TOR and the Observance in Galicia, examining their settlement and diffusion in this territory. We will then analyse the church and the monastic spaces of Montefaro, setting their typologies against other observant and conventual buildings in order to show the relevance of this Galician example. Additionally, we will provide a reconstruction of the medieval façade of Montefaro’s church, which has been designed on the basis of a combination of material remains and documentary sources, together with a series of comparative analysis.