IN 1468 JOHN II (1398–1479), monarch of the Crown of Aragon, went through cataracts surgery. The king experienced the normal nervousness before the operation and, thus, he felt compelled to ask for a little bit of divine help. It is said that John II prayed to St. Engracia, a young girl martyred in 254 in Zaragoza, to intercede on his behalf. Luckily, the surgical procedure was successful. As a way to thank the saint, the king promised to transform the old parish dedicated to her in the city into a monastery of the order of St. Jerome. Nevertheless, John II died before he could turn his project into a reality and it was his son and heir, Ferdinand II (1452–1516), who inaugurated the Hieronymite monastery of Santa Engracia in Zaragoza in 1493.

The members of the Trastamara royal family were devoted supporters and promoters of the Order of St. Jerome. Their sponsorship meant the foundation of the very first Hieronymite monastery in the Kingdom of Aragon, which was located—as we have just seen—in Zaragoza. But not everyone in the city was happy about it. Many of its inhabitants disliked the project, particularly those who dwelt near that church, although they had nothing against the monks. Consequently, the parishioners of St. Engracia wrote a letter of complaint, in which they argued that their devotion was focused on that particular church (the document explained that the parishioners “have their devotions [there] and their parents and relatives buried there”). They also begged the king to preserve the parochial status of St. Engracia. Ferdinand II accepted their petition and, subsequently, asked the Pope for a bull that allowed the new monastery church to act as a local parish.

What was at stake here was the access of the parishioners to the tombs of their deceased relatives. In many cases, they had paid for those burial places and sepulchres, or at least had restored them, and they also had kept and decorated them. This was how the parishioners honoured and took care of their ancestors.