ABSTRACT
Sigena, one of the most important Hospitaller female communities in Europe from both quantitative and qualitative standpoints, has received more attention than other such houses both from historians and from scholars of art history. The new monastery was likely to accumulate great debts in its early stages; if that happened, the Castellan would support it financially. Sancha's testament of 1208 reflected the queen's lifelong commitment to Sigena. The monastery was plundered in August 1936 at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. The Rule of Sigena was a very descriptive text in 60 articles, much longer than the Rule of the Order or that of Saint Augustine. The nature and status of Sigena were totally different from those of a simple commandery. The Hospitaller authorities in the West and Queen Sancha reached in 1187 a preliminary balance between autonomy of the new foundation and control over it by the Order.
