Quintanar de la Orden is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

located in the

province of Toledo Toledo () is a Province (Spain), province of central Spain, in the western part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Madrid Province, Madrid, Cuenca Province (Spai ...

Castilla–La Mancha Castilla–La Mancha (, ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Comprising the provinces of Province of Albacete, Albacete, Province of Ciudad Real, Ciudad Real, Province of Cuenca, Cuenca, Province of Guadalajar ...

. The municipality spans across a total area of 87.87 km² and, as of 1 January 2023, the municipality has a registered population of 11,119. It is part of the Mancha Alta de Toledo ''comarca''.

Name

Quintanar de la Orden 1824 Edward Hawke Locker

The term "Quintanar" derives from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Quintana'' meaning 'one fifth' which may relate to the portion of the harvest of the tenants (or its monetary equivalent) which had to be paid as tax or rent at the market where they sold food. It could also be related to the distance, of five miles from a particular Roman communications center. The term "Order" is a reference to the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; ) is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the patron saint of Spain, ''Santiago'' ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgrims on the Way of S ...

. Before the "de la Orden" moniker, Quintanar was known as "Quintanar de la Encina".

Geography

The municipality borders the towns of Mota del Cuervo in the

Province of Cuenca Cuenca () is one of the five provinces of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha. It is located in the eastern part of this autonomous community and covers 17,141 square km. It has a population of 203,841 ...

and Villanueva de Alcardete, El Toboso, Miguel Esteban and La Puebla de Almoradiel in the

Province of Toledo Toledo () is a Province (Spain), province of central Spain, in the western part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Madrid Province, Madrid, Cuenca Province (Spai ...

History

The discovery

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

may indicate the presence a prehistoric settlement. Roman coins indicate the existence of some sort of installation here at that time. Quintanar was one of the villages of La Mancha whose repopulation was tasked to the

. The early settlers possibly were Mozarabs from Toledo. Quintanar was granted a ''chartae populationis'' during the reign of Ferdinand III. Some Jews installed in Quintanar following their expulsion from Andalusia in 1443. Autochthonous crypto-Jews were found in the town between 1588 and 1592. '' Moriscos'' were also reported in the town between 1570 and 1597, accounting for 235 in 1603.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * Municipalities in the Province of Toledo {{CastileLaMancha-geo-stub