ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the impact these activities had on the orders' relationship with royalty, aristocracy and townspeople. Zsolt Hunyadi gives a historiographical survey of the process of urban development in Hungary and within it the establishment of the orders' houses. The chapter describes the orders' evolution in the context of the urbanization process and the social and spiritual changes in the High Middle Ages, covering the diverse geographical areas in which the military orders were involved. It also examines the importance of the location of the orders' urban houses in Europe for the connection with the Holy Land. The chapter dedicates to the Iberian Peninsula: Joan Fuguet Sans and Carme Plaza Arqué explore the different conditions, socio-political but also topographical and architectural, which influenced the creation and expansion of Templar commanderies in the Crown of Aragon. It compares the order's integration into established and predominantly Christian cities, such as Barcelona, with its integration into newly conquered towns, such as Tortosa.
