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Fuente del Maestre (Municipality, Extremadura, Spain)

Flag of Fuente del Maestre - Image by Ivan Sache, 15 March 2020

Presentation of Fuente del Maestre
Flag of Fuente del Maestre

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Presentation of Fuente del Maestre

The municipality of Fuente del Maestre (6,743 inhabitants in 2019; 17,970 ha; municipal website) is located 70 km south-east of Badajoz and 15 km south-west of Villafranca de los Barros.

Fuente del Maestre might have been in the Roman times the town of Castra Vainaria mentioned by Pliny. Remains of several small churches, dated to the late Roman and Hispano-Visigothic periods (5th-7th centuries) have been found.
During the Moorish period, the town was called Fuente Roniel in the medieval chronicles. The citadel housed a significant Mozarabic community, whose necropolis has been recently discovered close to the parish church. The Provincial Archeological Museum keeps a brick tile engraved with an Arab writing.

Reconquerred in the 13the century by King Alfonso X, the town was incorporated to the alfoz of Mérida, which was ruled by the Order of Saint John. Renamed to Fuente del Maestre (The Master's Fountain), it was soon one of the most important commanderies of the order in the region. The exact date of estabihsment of the order's rule on the town is unknown; remains of a convent and a fortified farm located near Villalba de los Barros indicate that the Order of the Temple once ruled the place. At the time, the town was completely surrounded by a thick wall, of which some remains have been preserved; it was one of the most powerful fortresses in Lower Extremadura.

Fuente del Maestre was granted the status of villa in the 14th century. Municipal Ordinances were first granted in 1527 by Charles V, to be confirmed by Philip II and Philip V. The town was awarded the title of ciudad at the end of the 19th century.

Ivan Sache, 15 March 2020

Flag of Fuente del Maestre

The flag and arms of Fuente del Maestre were adopted on April 2008 by the Municipal Council.
The flag (photo, photo, photo, photo, photo) is quartered red and white by a white-red / red-white cross, superimposed by the municipal coat of arms. Red and white are the colors of the Order of Saint James.

The coat of arms is "Argent a Cross of Saint James cantonned by four scalloips of the same. Inescutcheon Per fess, 1. Argent a Cross of the Order of Alcántara gules cantonned in chief by two eighy-pointed stars azure, 2. Gules a fountain argent and a lion or in fess. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown open."
The lion and the fountain, which makes the arms canting, are traditional emblems of the town featured fro example on the pavement of the Plaza de España, as well as the scallops related to the very common family name Zambrano.
[La Driza, 18 April 2008]

Ivan Sache, 15 March 2020