Elección de sepultura y espacio funerario: Santa María la Real de Nájera (siglos XI-XV)

The choice of a tomb reflects the religious feelings and the search for prayers, as well as a mean of guaranteeing the memory of the lineage, whatever it is of royal or noble origin. Santa María de Nájera was the pantheon of the kings of Navarra until the annexation of this territory to Castile in 1076 and the subsequent delivery of the church to the Order of Cluny; lost in that time the function of royal pantheon, noble families, specially the Haro, chose the cloister of the monastery as a burial place, since then known as the Knight’s Cloister. In the same way, people from every social condition and familiares of the monastery were entitled to be buried in other wings of the cloister, with the exception of the first Duke of Nájera, who lays inside the church