Monastery of Santa María la Real de las Huelgas, Valladolid

One later historian attributed the original foundation to doña Sancha, the sister of the Emperor of Spain Alfonso VII (1105-1157).

This monastery lay on the new frontier of land taken back from Muslim rule in Alfonso's active engagement in the Reconquest of Christian Spain.

The new monastery suffered severe damages in 1328 from the forces of King Alfonso XI, known as "The Avenger", as he attempted to seize his grandmother and former Regent, the aforementioned Queen Maria, who had retired there after his coronation.

More peaceful times followed for that region of Spain, and the monastic community settled into a normal routine of a life of prayer and work.

Work on the monastery church was begun in 1579 under the rule of Abbess Ana Quijada y de Mendoza (1543-1590), and was completed in 1599.

Today (2011) the monastery has 17 nuns, led by the current Abbess, María del Mar Martínez Lopez, O.Cist., who was elected on 28 December 2002.