Introduction

Philip II promoted the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, among other things, to honor his victory at the Battle of San Quintin on August 10, 1557, San Lorenzo's Day. Under Juan Bautista de Toledo's leadership, this fight signaled the start of the planning phase that resulted in the laying of the first stone on 23 April 1563. After his death in 1567, the Italian Giovanni Battista Castello El Bergamasco and afterwards his student Juan de Herrera succeeded him. On September 13, 1584, twenty-one years after the last stone was set.

According to Charles I's final will and testament dated 1558, a monastery had to be established to secure worship around a newly established family pantheon. The Emperor preferred to be laid to rest far from the typical Trastámara burial grounds with his Portuguese bride Isabella and his new dynasty.

The monastery was founded "for the devotion and in the name of the blessed San Lorenzo for the particular devotion" to the king's saint and "in memory of the mercy and victory that we won at San Quintin," according to the Charter of Foundation, which was signed by Philip II on April 22, 1567, four years after the beginning of construction. This omission of the battle of San Quintin is likely due to the desire to avoid citing a war as the reason for founding a religious building. The king's "considerations" included giving thanks to God for the blessings received, maintaining his kingdoms as centers of the Christian faith in righteousness and peace, engaging in acts of worship, and interring himself, his wives, his brothers, parents, aunts, and successors in "a crypt" where prayers would be offered continuously for their souls. View of the Monastery of El Escorial, by Michel-Ange Houasse (1723).

An acknowledgment of the "many and vast blessings" that God our Lord has provided for us as well as "how much He has helped to lead and guide our deeds and our business to His holy service."
"For supporting and upholding these our Kingdoms in His holy Faith and Religion, and in peace and justice,"
God enjoys seeing churches created and established "where his holy name is exalted and praised" and where the faithful serve as an example of their faith.
According to the order given by the Emperor, "in the cobdecilo that he recently made, he committed and remitted to us what concerned his burial and the place and part where his body and that of the Empress and Queen, my lady and mother, was to be placed and laid." This was done so that "God Our Lord may pray and intercede for us and for the kings our predecessors and predecessors, and for the good of our souls."
Additionally, it was stated that "constant prayers, sacrifices, commemorations, and monuments should be said for their souls."

In other words, the monarch wanted to offer God a place to be praised and thanked for helping his family at San Quintin by praying for them. Philip II wanted to give God a place to live and bury his extended family, not a church for the faithful. The celebration of Philip II's first triumph as king, the insult caused to France by the mention of the Battle of Saint Quentin, which was fought only 150 kilometers from Paris, the veneration of the Spanish martyr Saint Laurence at a time when the Reformation was attacking the cult of saints and relics, or the need to establish a unifying hub for the new faith that resulted from the Council of Trent cannot be overlooked either.

Juan Bautista de Toledo was invited to Spain by Philip II in July 1559 to complete a number of monumental tasks for the Spanish aristocracy. A new edifice would need to be constructed to serve as a representation for a royalty that would going forward have a different understanding of the modern state. The Monastery of El Escorial was first designed by Juan Bautista, who is credited with laying the groundwork for the Herrerian language.

According to Father Sigüenza in 1605, the ground plan's rectangle is 735 by 580 Castilian feet, or 205 by 162 meters. The cross's highest point rises 95 meters overall when measured in relation to the church's floor.

Article obtained from Wikipedia article Wikipedia in his version of 2/12/2022, by various authors under the license Licencia de Documentación Libre GNU.