El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, or Monasterio de El Escorial, is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, 2.06 kilometres (1.28 mi) up the valley from the town of El Escorial and about 45 kilometres (28 mi) northwest of the Spanish capital Madrid. Built between 1563 and 1584 by order of King Philip II, El Escorial is the largest Renaissance building in the world. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, basilica, royal palace, pantheon, library, museum, university, school, and hospital.

The Hieronymites or Jeronimites, also formally known as the Order of Saint Jerome, is a Catholic cloistered religious order and a common name for several congregations of hermit monks living according to the Rule of Saint Augustine, though the role principle of their lives is that of the 5th-century hermit and biblical scholar Jerome.