Note 2185 — ACTO CUARTO

2186. al Escorial: the Real Sitio or Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo del Escorial lies thirty-one miles northwest of Madrid. It is traditionally believed that during the battle of St. Quentin on St. Lawrence's day (Aug. 10), 1557, Philip vowed that he would build a monastery and dedicate it to St. Lawrence in order to make amends for the destruction by Spanish artillery of a church that bore his name. However, as Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy won the battle and Philip himself was not present, we may suppose that the Escorial was built rather to fulfill Philip's promise to his father Charles V that he would build a suitable tomb as a final resting-place for the remains of the latter and of his wife. In modern times the Escorial has been little used as a palace by the kings of Spain. It is now a monastery in the care of Augustinian monks.