«Ilaciones de aquella edad». Santa María de Huerta: una lectura de la identidad nobiliaria del VII duque de Medinaceli don Antonio Juan Luis de la Cerda desde la cronémica social

This essay addresses a chronemic and social reflection on the noble identity of don Antonio Juan Luis de la Cerda (1607-1671), VII Duke of Medinaceli. His artistic ideas for the main chapel of the monastery of Santa María de Huerta reflect a political project that claimed his ancient right to the royal throne. To design it, he used the figure of the Archbishop Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, buried there, and the monarch who founded it, Alfonso VIII of Castilla, maternal grandfather of Fernando III, the father of Alfonso X «el Sabio». From Alfonso X’s eldest son, Fernando de Castilla, would descend the Infantes that gave rise to the Ducal House of Medinaceli. His mother and tutor, Antonia de Toledo y Colonna, played a prominent role in this project, using genealogical representation as a catalyst emblem and the cause of the canonization of King Alfonso VIII to claim legitimacy to the divine.