1.
Segovia
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Segovia is a city in the autonomous region of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital of Segovia Province, the name of Segovia is of Celtiberian origin. The first inhabitants named the city Segobriga and this name comes from two terms of the Celtiberian language of the Celtic branch of Indo-European. The term Sego means «victory» and the suffix -briga would mean «city» or «strength», so the name might be translated as City of the victory or Victorious city. Under the Romans and Arabs, the city was called Segovia, Segovia is located on the plains of Old Castile, near Valladolid and the Spanish capital, Madrid. Segovia is one of nine provinces that make up the region of Castile. Burgos and Valladolid lie to the north, Ávila to the west, Madrid to the south, the altitude of the province varies from 750 metres in the extreme northwest to a maximum of 2,430 m at Peñalara peak in the Sierra de Guadarrama. The town lies on the route of the Camino de Santiago de Madrid. The climate is hot-summer Mediterranean near the boundaries of Csb and BSk, resulting from the high altitude, the average annual temperature is 12.42 °C, with a minimum in December of −14 °C and maximum in August of 39 °C. All of this make the province a damp corner in the context of the region, the predominant forms of vegetation in the mountainous areas include pine, evergreen, oak, beech and juniper. Aside from the city, there are a number of other villages within the municipality of Segovia. Fuentemilanos Hontoria Madrona Revenga, established in 1983 as a local entity. Zamarramala Torredondo Perogordo The first recorded mention of a settlement in what is today Segovia was a Celtic possession, control later passed into the hands of the Romans. The city is a site of the battle in 75 BCE where Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius was victorious over the Quintus Sertorius and Hirtuleius. During the Roman period the settlement belonged to one of numerous contemporary Latin convents and it is believed that the city was abandoned after the Islamic invasion of Spain centuries later. Segovias position on trading routes made it an important centre of trade in wool, the end of the Middle Ages saw something of a golden age for Segovia, with a growing Jewish population and the creation of a foundation for a powerful cloth industry. Several splendid works of Gothic architecture were also completed during this period, notably, Isabella I was proclaimed queen of Castile in the church of San Miguel de Segovia on December 13,1474. Like most Castilian textile centres, Segovia joined the Revolt of the Comuneros under the command of Juan Bravo, despite the defeat of the Communities, the citys resultant economic boom continued into the sixteenth century, its population rising to 27,000 in 1594
2.
Castle
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A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. Usage of the term has varied over time and has applied to structures as diverse as hill forts. Over the approximately 900 years that castles were built, they took on a great many forms with different features, although some, such as curtain walls. A European innovation, castles originated in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the fall of the Carolingian Empire resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes. Although their military origins are often emphasised in castle studies, the structures served as centres of administration. Many castles were built from earth and timber, but had their defences replaced later by stone. Early castles often exploited natural defences, lacking features such as towers and arrowslits, in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, a scientific approach to castle defence emerged. This led to the proliferation of towers, with an emphasis on flanking fire, many new castles were polygonal or relied on concentric defence – several stages of defence within each other that could all function at the same time to maximise the castles firepower. These changes in defence have been attributed to a mixture of castle technology from the Crusades, such as concentric fortification, not all the elements of castle architecture were military in nature, so that devices such as moats evolved from their original purpose of defence into symbols of power. Some grand castles had long winding approaches intended to impress and dominate their landscape, while castles continued to be built well into the 16th century, new techniques to deal with improved cannon fire made them uncomfortable and undesirable places to live. As a result, true castles went into decline and were replaced by artillery forts with no role in civil administration, and country houses that were indefensible. From the 18th century onwards, there was a renewed interest in castles with the construction of castles, part of a romantic revival of Gothic architecture. The word castle is derived from the Latin word castellum, which is a diminutive of the word castrum, meaning fortified place. The Old English castel, Old French castel or chastel, French château, Spanish castillo, Italian castello, the word castle was introduced into English shortly before the Norman Conquest to denote this type of building, which was then new to England. In its simplest terms, the definition of a castle accepted amongst academics is a fortified residence. Feudalism was the link between a lord and his vassal where, in return for service and the expectation of loyalty. Castles served a range of purposes, the most important of which were military, administrative, as well as defensive structures, castles were also offensive tools which could be used as a base of operations in enemy territory
3.
World Heritage Site
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A World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized by the United Nations, specifically by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sites are selected on the basis of having cultural, historical, scientific or some form of significance. UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the interests of humanity. The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture, under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the Worlds Cultural and Natural Heritage, since then,192 state parties have ratified the convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments. As of July 2016,1052 sites are listed,814 cultural,203 natural, in 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested UNESCO to assist their countries to protect and rescue the endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched an appeal to the Member States for an International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the campaign, which ended in 1980, was considered a success. The project cost $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries, the projects success led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the United States initiated the idea of cultural conservation with nature conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, the Convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of June 2016, it has been ratified by 192 states, including 188 UN member states plus the Cook Islands, the Holy See, Niue, a country must first list its significant cultural and natural sites, the result is called the Tentative List. A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on the Tentative List, next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File. The Nomination File is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and these bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list, up to 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so there is now only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of outstanding value and meet at least one of the ten criteria. Thus, the Geneva Convention treaty promulgates, Article 53, PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS AND OF PLACES OF WORSHIP. There are 1,052 World Heritage Sites located in 165 States Party, of these,814 are cultural,203 are natural and 35 are mixed properties
4.
Museum
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Most large museums are located in major cities throughout the world and more local ones exist in smaller cities, towns and even the countryside. Museums have varying aims, ranging from serving researchers and specialists to serving the general public, the goal of serving researchers is increasingly shifting to serving the general public. There are many types of museums, including art museums, natural history museums, science museums, war museums, the city with the largest number of museums is Mexico City with over 128 museums. According to The World Museum Community, there are more than 55,000 museums in 202 countries, the English museum comes from the Latin word, and is pluralized as museums. The first museum/library is considered to be the one of Plato in Athens, however, Pausanias gives another place called Museum, namely a small hill in Classical Athens opposite to the Akropolis. The hill was called Mouseion after Mousaious, a man who used to sing on the hill, the purpose of modern museums is to collect, preserve, interpret, and display items of artistic, cultural, or scientific significance for the education of the public. The purpose can also depend on ones point of view, to a family looking for entertainment on a Sunday afternoon, a trip to a local history museum or large city art museum could be a fun, and enlightening way to spend the day. To city leaders, a healthy museum community can be seen as a gauge of the health of a city. To a museum professional, a museum might be seen as a way to educate the public about the museums mission, Museums are, above all, storehouses of knowledge. In 1829, James Smithsons bequest, that would fund the Smithsonian Institution, stated he wanted to establish an institution for the increase, Museums of natural history in the late 19th century exemplified the Victorian desire for consumption and for order. Gathering all examples of classification of a field of knowledge for research. As American colleges grew in the 19th century, they developed their own natural history collections for the use of their students, while many large museums, such as the Smithsonian Institution, are still respected as research centers, research is no longer a main purpose of most museums. While there is a debate about the purposes of interpretation of a museums collection, there has been a consistent mission to protect. Much care, expertise, and expense is invested in efforts to retard decomposition in aging documents, artifacts, artworks. All museums display objects that are important to a culture, as historian Steven Conn writes, To see the thing itself, with ones own eyes and in a public place, surrounded by other people having some version of the same experience can be enchanting. Museum purposes vary from institution to institution, some favor education over conservation, or vice versa. For example, in the 1970s, the Canada Science and Technology Museum favored education over preservation of their objects and they displayed objects as well as their functions. One exhibit featured a printing press that a staff member used for visitors to create museum memorabilia
5.
Jean Laurent (photographer)
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Jean Laurent or, in Spanish, Juan Laurent Minier, sometimes simply J. Laurent was a French photographer who mostly worked in Spain. He first moved to Spain in 1843, and settled in Madrid, until 1855, he worked as a box and paper maker, creating luxurious boxes for pastries and marbled paper for book bindings. That year, he interested in photography from having done work coloring photographs. In 1866, together with the Spanish photographer, José Martínez Sánchez, he patented Leptographic Paper which produced positives, the paper enjoyed some popularity in Spain and France, but was never widely used. He could boast of the title Fotógrafo de Su Majestad la Reina from 1861 to 1868 and that same year, he opened a store in Paris, devoted exclusively to selling his photographs of Spain and Portugal. One unusual product produced by his company were fans printed with photographs that would unfold like a mosaic, in 1874, he was commissioned by Baron Émile d’Erlanger to take photographs of the Black Paintings by Francisco de Goya at the Quinta del Sordo. The photographs were used as a guide by the artist, Salvador Martínez Cubells, to remove the paintings. This led to Laurent becoming the official photographer for the Museo del Prado, Laurents son-in-law, Alfonso Roswag Nogier, became his principal partner and carried on the firms business after Laurents retirement in 1881. After his death, the archive was acquired by the French photographer Joseph Jean Marie Lacoste Borde, after his death in 1975, the collection was acquired by the Spanish government. The Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural de España has archived over 12,000 images created by Laurent, las fotografías valencianas de J. Laurent, Valencia, Ayuntamiento de Valencia,2003. ISBN 84-8484-069-7 Jean Laurent en el Museo Municipal de Madrid, purificación Nájera Colino, Madrid, Museo Municipal de Madrid,2005. Fotografías, 1862-1902, Guadalajara, Diputación Provincial,2007, ISBN 978-84-87791-90-1 La Andalucía del siglo XIX en las fotografías de J. Laurent y Cía. ISBN 84-8266-024-1 Un fotógrafo francés en la España del siglo XIX, J. Laurent, Un photographe français dans lEspagne du XIXème siècle, Madrid, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, ISBN 84-922135-0-7 J. Laurent y Cía en Aragón. Fotografías, 1861-1877, Zaragoza, Diputación Provincial de Zaragoza,1997, ISBN 84-89721-13-0 Obras Públicas de España. Fotografías de J. Laurent, 1858-1870, Ciudad Real, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha,2003
6.
Berbers
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Berbers or Amazighen are an ethnic group indigenous to North Africa. They are distributed in an area stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Siwa Oasis in Egypt, historically, they spoke Berber languages, which together form the Berber branch of the Afro-Asiatic family. The majority of Berbers are predominantly Sunni Muslim, the Berber identity is usually wider than language and ethnicity, and encompasses the entire history and geography of North Africa. Berbers are not an entirely homogeneous ethnicity and they encompass a range of phenotypes, societies and ancestries, the unifying forces for the Berber people may be their shared language, or a collective identification with Berber heritage and history. There are some twenty-five to thirty million Berber speakers in North Africa, the number of ethnic Berbers is far greater, as a large part of the Berbers have acquired other languages over the course of many decades or centuries, and no longer speak Berber today. The majority of North Africas population is believed to be Berber in origin, Berbers call themselves some variant of the word i-Mazigh-en, possibly meaning free people or noble men. The name likely had its ancient parallel in the Roman and Greek names for Berbers, dihya or Kahina was a religious and military leader who led a fierce Berber resistance against the Arab-Muslim expansion in Northwest Africa. Kusaila was a leader of the Awraba tribe of the Berber people. A history by a Roman consul in Africa made the first reference of the barbarian to describe Numidia. The use of the term Berber spread in the following the arrival of the Vandals during their major invasions. The English term was introduced in the 19th century, replacing the earlier Barbary, for the historian Abraham Isaac Laredo the name Amazigh could be derived from the name of the ancestor Mezeg which is the translation of biblical ancestor Dedan son of Sheba in the Targum. According to Leo Africanus, Amazigh meant free man, though this has been disputed, further, it also has a cognate in the Tuareg word Amajegh, meaning noble. The Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines mentioned various tribes with similar names living in Greater Libya in the areas where Berbers were later found, later tribal names differ from the classical sources, but are probably still related to the modern Amazigh. The Meshwesh tribe among them represents the first thus identified from the field, all those names are similar and perhaps foreign renditions of the name used by the Berbers in general for themselves, Imazighen. The Maghreb region in northwestern Africa is believed to have been inhabited by Berbers from at least 10,000 BC, local cave paintings, which have been dated to twelve millennia before present, have been found in the Tassili nAjjer region of southern Algeria. Other rock art has been observed in Tadrart Acacus in the Libyan desert, a Neolithic society, marked by domestication and subsistence agriculture, developed in the Saharan and Mediterranean region of northern Africa between 6000 and 2000 BC. This type of life, richly depicted in the Tassili nAjjer cave paintings of southeastern Algeria, prehistorical Tifinagh scripts were also found in the Oran region. During the pre-Roman era, several independent states existed before the king Masinissa unified the people of Numidia
7.
Almoravid
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The Almoravid dynasty was a Berber imperial dynasty of Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that stretched over the western Maghreb, founded by Abdallah ibn Yasin, the Almoravid capital was Marrakesh, a city they founded in 1062. The dynasty originated among the Lamtuna and the Gudala, nomadic Berber tribes of the Sahara and this enabled them to control an empire that stretched 3,000 kilometers north to south. However, the rule of the dynasty was relatively short-lived, the Almoravids fell—at the height of their power—when they failed to quell the Masmuda-led rebellion initiated by Ibn Tumart. As a result, their last king Ishaq ibn Ali was killed in Marrakesh in April 1147 by the Almohad Caliphate, who replaced them as a ruling dynasty both in Morocco and Al-Andalus. The term Almoravid comes from the Arabic al-Murabitun, which is the form of al-Murabit—literally meaning one who is tying. The term is related to the notion of Ribat, a frontier monastery-fortress, another theory states that the name Almoravid comes from a school of Malikite law called Dar al-Murabitin founded in Sus al-Aksa, modern day Morocco, by a certain scholar named Waggag Ibn Zallu. Ibn Zallu sent his student Abdallah ibn Yasin to preach Malikite Islam to the Sanhaja Berbers of the Adrar, hence, the name of the Almoravids comes from the followers of the Dar al-Murabitin, the house of those who were bound together in the cause of God. It is uncertain exactly when or why the Almoravids acquired that appellation, al-Bakri, writing in 1068, before their apex, already calls them the al-Murabitun, but does not clarify the reasons for it. Ibn Idhari wrote that the name was suggested by Ibn Yasin in the persevering in the fight sense,1054, in which they had taken many losses. Whichever explanation is true, it seems certain the appellation was chosen by the Almoravids for themselves, the name might be related to the ribat of Waggag ibn Zallu in the village of Aglu, where the future Almoravid spiritual leader Abdallah ibn Yasin got his initial training. Contemporaries frequently referred to them as the al-mulathimun, the Almoravids veiled themselves below the eyes with a tagelmust, a custom they adapted from southern Sanhaja Berbers. Although practical for the desert dust, the Almoravids insisted on wearing the veil everywhere, as a badge of foreignness in urban settings and it served as the uniform of the Almoravids. Under their rule, sumptuary laws forbade anybody else from wearing the veil, in turn, the succeeding Almohads made a point of mocking the Almoravid veil as symbolic of effeminacy and decadence. The western Sanhaja had been converted to Islam some time in the 9th century and they were subsequently united in the 10th century and, with the zeal of neophyte converts, launched several campaigns against the Sudanese. Under their king Tinbarutan ibn Usfayshar, the Sanhaja Lamtuna erected the citadel of Awdaghust, after the collapse of the Sanhaja union, Awdagust passed over to the Ghana empire, and the trans-Saharan routes were taken over by the Zenata Maghrawa of Sijilmassa. The Maghrawa also exploited this disunion to dislodge the Sanhaja Gazzula and Lamta out of their pasturelands in the Sous, around 1035, the Lamtuna chieftain Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Tifat, tried to reunite the Sanhaja desert tribes, but his reign lasted less than three years. Around 1040, Yahya ibn Ibrahim, a chieftain of the Gudala, on his return, he stopped by Kairouan in Ifriqiya, where he met Abu Imran al-Fasi, a native of Fes and a jurist and scholar of the Sunni Maliki school
8.
Duero river
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The Douro is one of the major rivers of the Iberian Peninsula, flowing from its source near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province across northern-central Spain and Portugal to its outlet at Porto. The Latinized name Durius, likely came from the Celtic tribes that inhabited the area before Roman times, in modern Welsh, dŵr is water, as well as dour in modern Breton with cognate dobhar in Irish. In Roman times, the river was personified as a god, the Douro vinhateiro, an area of the Douro Valley in Portugal long devoted to vineyards, has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Traditionally, the wine was taken down river in boats called rabelos, to be stored in barrels in cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia. In the 1950s and 1960s, dams were built along the river, now Port wine is transported in tanker trucks. In 1998, Portugal and Spain signed the Albufeira Convention, an agreement on the sharing of trans-boundary rivers to include the Douro, Tagus, the convention superseded an original agreement on the Douro, signed in 1927, that was expanded in 1964 and 1968 to include tributaries. It is the third-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula after the Tagus and its total length is 897 kilometres, of which only sections of the Portuguese extension below the fall line are navigable, by light rivercraft. In this region, there are few tributaries of the Douro, the most important are the Pisuerga, passing through Valladolid, and the Esla, which passes through Zamora. This region is generally semi-arid plains, with wheat and in places, especially near Aranda de Duero, with vineyards. Sheep rearing is still important. For 112 kilometres, the forms part of the national border line between Spain and Portugal, in a region of narrow canyons. It formed a barrier to invasions, creating a cultural/linguistic divide. In these isolated areas, in which the Aldeadávila Dam impounds the river, there are protected areas, the International Douro Natural Park and the Arribes del Duero Natural Park. The Douro fully enters Portuguese territory just after the confluence with the Águeda River, once the Douro enters Portugal, except for Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia at the river mouth, the only population centres of any note are Foz do Tua, Pinhão and Peso da Régua. Tributaries here are small, merging into the Douro along the canyons, the most important are Côa, Tua, Sabor, Corgo, Tavora, Paiva, Tâmega, none of these small, fast-flowing rivers is navigable. The most populous cities along the Douro River are Valladolid and Zamora in Spain, the latter two are located at the mouth of the Douro at the Atlantic Ocean. In Portugal, the Douro flows through the districts of Bragança, Guarda, Viseu, Vila Real, Aveiro, Porto is the main hub city in northern Portugal. Its historic centre has designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its significant architecture
9.
Toledo, Spain
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Toledo is a city and municipality located in central Spain, it is the capital of the province of Toledo and the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 for its cultural and monumental heritage and historical co-existence of Christian, Muslim. Toledo has a history in the production of bladed weapons, which are now popular souvenirs of the city, people who were born or have lived in Toledo include Brunhilda of Austrasia, Al-Zarqali, Garcilaso de la Vega, Eleanor of Toledo, Alfonso X and El Greco. It was also the place of important historic events such as the Visigothic Councils of Toledo, as of 2015, the city has a population of 83,226 and an area of 232.1 km2. The town was granted arms in the 16th century, which by special royal privilege was based on the royal of arms of Spain, Toledo is mentioned by the Roman historian Livy as urbs parva, sed loco munita. At that time, Toletum was a city of the Carpetani tribe and it was incorporated into the Roman Empire as a civitas stipendiaria, that is, a tributary city of non-citizens. It later achieved the status of municipium by Flavian times, with this status, city officials, even of Carpetani origin, obtained Roman citizenship for public service, and the forms of Roman law and politics were increasingly adopted. At approximately this time were constructed in Toletum a Roman circus, city walls, public baths, and a municipal water supply and storage system. The Roman circus in Toledo was one of the largest in Hispania, at 423 metres long and 100 metres wide, chariot races were held on special holidays and were also commissioned by private citizens to celebrate career achievements. A fragmentary stone inscription records circus games paid for by a citizen of unknown name to celebrate his achieving the sevirate, archaeologists have also identified portions of a special seat of the sort used by the city elites to attend circus games, called a sella curulis. The circus could hold up to 15000 spectators, during Roman times, Toledo was never a provincial capital nor a conventus iuridicus. It started to gain importance in late antiquity, there are indications that large private houses within the city walls were enlarged, while several large villas were built north of the city through the third and fourth centuries. Games were held in the circus into the fourth and early fifth centuries C. E. also an indication of active city life. A church council was held in Toledo in the year 400 to discuss the conflict with Priscillianism, a second council of Toledo was held in 527. The Visigothic king Theudis was in Toledo in 546, where he promulgated a law and this is strong though not certain evidence that Toledo was the chief residence for Theudis. King Athanagild died in Toledo, probably in 568 and this changed with Liuvigild, who brought the peninsula under his control. The Visigoths ruled from Toledo until the Moors conquered the Iberian peninsula in the years of 8th century. Today the historic center is pierced of basements, passages, wells, baths, a series of church councils was held in Toledo under the Visigoths
10.
Alfonso VIII of Castile
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Alfonso VIII, called the Noble or the one of the Navas, was the King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. He is most remembered for his part in the Reconquista and the downfall of the Almohad Caliphate and his reign saw the domination of Castile over León and, by his alliance with Aragon, he drew those two spheres of Christian Iberia into close connection. Alfonso was born to Sancho III of Castile and Blanche, in Soria on 11 November 1155 and he was named after his grandfather Alfonso VII of León and Castile, who divided his kingdoms between his sons. This division set the stage for conflict in the family until the kingdoms were re-united by Alfonso VIIIs grandson and his early life resembled that of other medieval kings. Though proclaimed king when only two years of age, Alfonso was regarded as merely nominal by the nobles to whom a minority was convenient. Immediately, Castile was plunged into conflicts between the noble houses vying for ascendancy in the inevitable regency. The devotion of a squire of his household, who carried him on the pommel of his saddle to the stronghold of San Esteban de Gormaz, the noble houses of Lara and Castro both claimed the regency, as did the boys uncle, Ferdinand II of León. In 1159 the young Alfonso was put briefly in the custody of García Garcés de Aza, in March 1160 the Castro and Lara met at the Battle of Lobregal and the Castro were victorious, but the guardianship of Alfonso and the regency fell to Manrique Pérez de Lara. Alfonso was put in the custody of the loyal village Ávila, at barely fifteen, he came forth to do a mans work by restoring his kingdom to order. It was only by a surprise that he recovered his capital Toledo from the hands of the Laras, during the regency, his uncle Sancho VI of Navarre took advantage of the chaos and the kings minority to seize lands along the border, including much of La Rioja. In 1170, Alfonso sent an embassy to Bordeaux to Henry II of England, due to the brides young age of 9, the marriage was finalized at Burgos, before 17 September 1177. The marriage treaty helped provide Alfonso with an ally against his uncle. In 1176, Alfonso asked his father-in-law to arbitrate the border territories. While Alfonso received back much which had taken from him. In 1186, he recuperated part of La Rioja from the Kingdom of Navarre, in 1187, Alfonso negotiated with Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor who was seeking to marry his son Conrad to Alfonsos eldest child and heir, Berengaria. In April 1188 they agreed on a treaty in Seligenstadt which made clear that she was the heir of Castile after any sons of Alfonso, and this became relevant in her ultimate succession to the throne, even though the marriage to Conrad was never consummated and later annulled. The treaty also documented traditional rights and obligations between the sovereign and the nobles in Castile, in July 1188, Alfonso convened his court in Carrión de los Condes to allow the nobles to review and ratify the treaty. At that court, Alfonso knighted both Conrad and Alfonso IX of León, who would ultimately marry Berengaria, the younger Alfonso had come to seek the support and acknowledgement of his ascent to the throne of León from his older cousin
11.
Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile
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Eleanor of England, or Eleanor Plantaganet, was Queen of Castile and Toledo as wife of Alfonso VIII of Castile. She was the child and second daughter of Henry II, King of England. Her half-siblings were Marie and Alix of France, and her siblings were Henry the Young, Duchess Matilda, King Richard, Duke Geoffrey, Queen Joan. In 1174, when she was 12 years old, Eleanor married King Alfonso VIII of Castile in Burgos and her parents purpose in arranging the marriage was to secure Aquitaine’s Pyrenean border, while Alfonso was seeking an ally in his struggles with his uncle, Sancho VI of Navarre. In 1177, this led to Henry overseeing arbitration of the border dispute, around the year 1200, Alfonso began to claim that the duchy of Gascony was part of Eleanors dowry, but there is no documented foundation for that claim. It is highly unlikely that Henry II would have parted with so significant a portion of his domains, at most, Gascony may have been pledged as security for the full payment of his daughter’s dowry. Her husband went so far on this claim as to invade Gascony in her name in 1205, in 1206, her brother John, King of England granted her safe passage to visit him, perhaps to try opening peace negotiations. In 1208, Alfonso yielded on the claim, decades later, their great-grandson Alfonso X of Castile would claim the duchy on the grounds that her dowry had never been fully paid. Of all Eleanor of Aquitaine’s daughters, her namesake was the one who was enabled, by political circumstances. In her own marriage treaty, and in the first marriage treaty for her daughter Berengaria, Eleanor was given control of many lands, towns. It was she who persuaded him to marry their daughter Berengaria to Alfonso IX of León, troubadours and sages were regularly present in Alfonso VIII’s court due to Eleanor’s patronage. Eleanor took particular interest in supporting religious institutions, in 1179, she took responsibility to support and maintain a shrine to St. Thomas Becket in the cathedral of Toledo. She also created and supported the Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas, which served as a refuge and tomb for her family for generations, when Alfonso died, Eleanor was reportedly so devastated with grief that she was unable to preside over the burial. Their eldest daughter Berengaria instead performed these honours, Eleanor then took sick and died only twenty-eight days after her husband, and was buried at Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas. Eleanor was praised for her beauty and regal nature by the poet Ramón Vidal de Besalú after her death and her great-grandson Alfonso X referred to her as noble and much loved. Eleanor was played by Ida Norden in the silent film The Jewess of Toledo, cerda, José Manuel, La dot gasconne dAliénor dAngleterre. Entre royaume de Castille, royaume de France et royaume dAngleterre, Cahiers de civilisation médiévale, ISSN 0007-9731, Vol.54, Leonor Plantagenet y la consolidación castellana en el reinado de Alfonso VIII. Cerda, José Manuel, Matrimonio y patrimonio, La carta de arras de Leonor Plantagenet, reina consorte de Castilla, Anuario de Estudios Medievales, vol
12.
King of Castile
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See also List of Castilian consorts This is a list of kings and queens of the Kingdom and Crown of Castile. For their predecessors, see List of Castilian counts, the follow dynasts are descendants, in the male line, of Urracas first husband, Raymond of Burgundy. John of Gaunt a great grandson of Ferdinand III of Castile claimed the title of King of Castile and Léon by virtue of his marriage to Constance. He conducted several military actions, borrowing heavily from London merchants, to solidify his title, henry II was the illegitimate son of Alfonso XI. He was made count of Trastámara, the Crown of Castile existed on its own right within the Spanish crown and with its own law until the arrival of the Bourbon dynasty after the War of Spanish Succession. The Aristocracy in Twelfth-Century León and Castile, appendix I, The Counts of Twelfth Century León and Castile and Aragon, pp. 235–302. List of Castilian consorts Kingdom of Castile List of Aragonese monarchs List of Leonese monarchs List of Navarrese monarchs List of Spanish monarchs
13.
Kingdom of Castile
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The Kingdom of Castile was a large and powerful state on the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region and it began as the County of Castile, an eastern frontier lordship of the Kingdom of León in the 9th century. During the 10th century its counts increased their autonomy, but it was not until 1065 that it was separated from León, between 1072 and 1157 it was again united with León, and after 1230 this union became permanent. Throughout this period the Castilian kings made conquests in southern Iberia at the expense of the Islamic principalities. Castile and León, with their southern acquisitions, came to be known collectively as the Crown of Castile, according to the chronicles of Alfonso III of Asturias, the first reference to the name Castile can be found in a document written during AD800. The name reflects its origin as a march on the frontier of the Kingdom of Asturias, protected by castles. The County of Castile, bordered in the south by the northern reaches of the Spanish Sistema Central mountain system and it was re-populated by inhabitants of Cantabria, Asturias, Vasconia and Visigothic and Mozarab origins. It had its own Romance dialect and customary laws, the areas that they settled didnt extend far from the Cantabrian southeastern ridges, and not beyond the southern reaches of the high Ebro river valleys and canyon gores. Subsequently, the region was subdivided, separate counts being named to Alava, Burgos, Cerezo & Lantarón, the minority of Count García Sánchez led Castile to accept Sancho III of Navarre, married to the sister of Count García, as feudal overlord. García was assassinated in 1028 while in León to marry the princess Sancha, Sancho III, acting as feudal overlord, appointed his younger son Ferdinand as Count of Castile, marrying him to his uncles intended bride, Sancha of León. At the Battle of Tamarón Bermudo was killed, leaving no surviving offspring, in right of his wife, Ferdinand then assumed the royal title as king of León and Castile, for the first time associating the royal title with the rule of Castile. When Ferdinand I died in 1065, the territories were divided among his children, Sancho II became King of Castile, Alfonso VI, King of León and García, King of Galicia, while his daughters were given towns, Urraca, Zamora, and Elvira, Toro. Sancho II allied himself with Alfonso VI of León and together they conquered, Sancho later attacked Alfonso VI and invaded León with the help of El Cid, and drove his brother into exile, thereby reuniting the three kingdoms. Urraca permitted the greater part of the Leonese army to take refuge in the town of Zamora, Sancho laid siege to the town, but the Castilian king was assassinated in 1072 by Bellido Dolfos, a Galician nobleman. As a result, Alfonso VI recovered all his territory of León. This was the union of León and Castile, although the two kingdoms remained distinct entities joined only in a personal union. The sworn oath taken by El Cid before Alfonso VI in Santa Gadea de Burgos regarding the innocence of Alfonso in the matter of the murder of his brother is well known, under Alfonso VI, there was an approach to the rest of Europeans kingdoms, including France. He gave his daughters, Elvira, Urraca and Theresa, in marriage to Raymond of Toulouse, Raymond of Burgundy, in the Council of Burgos in 1080 the traditional Mozarabic rite was replaced by the Roman one
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Alfonso X of Castile
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Alfonso X, called the Wise, was the King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death. During the Imperial election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be King of the Romans on 1 April and he renounced his imperial claim in 1275, and in creating an alliance with England in 1254, his claim on Gascony as well. Alfonso X fostered the development of a court that encouraged learning. Jews, Muslims, and Christians had prominent roles in his court, Alfonso was a prolific author of Galician poetry, such as the Cantigas de Santa Maria, which are equally notable for their musical notation as for their literary merit. Alfonsos scientific interests—he is sometimes nicknamed the Astrologer —led him to sponsor the creation of the Alfonsine tables, as a legislator he introduced the first vernacular law code in Spain, the Siete Partidas. He created the Mesta, an association of farmers in the central plain. He fought a war with Portugal, but a less successful one with Granada. The end of his reign was marred by a war with his eldest surviving son, the future Sancho IV. Born in Toledo, Kingdom of Castile, Alfonso was the eldest son of Ferdinand III of Castile and his mother was the paternal cousin of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, to whom Alfonso is often compared. His maternal grandparents were Philip of Swabia and Irene Angelina, little is known about his upbringing, but he was most likely raised in Toledo. For the first nine years of his life Alfonso was only heir to Castile until his paternal grandfather king Alfonso IX of Leon died and his father united the kingdoms of Castile and Leon. He began his career as a soldier, under the command of his father, after the election of Theobald I as king of Navarre, his father tried to arrange a marriage for Alfonso with Theobalds daughter, Blanche of Navarre, but the move was unsuccessful. At the same time, he had a relationship with Mayor Guillén de Guzmán. In 1240, he married Mayor Guillén de Guzmán, but the marriage was later annulled, in the same period he conquered several Muslim strongholds in Al-Andalus alongside his father, such as Murcia, Alicante and Cadiz. In 1249, Alfonso married Violante of Aragon, the daughter of King James I of Aragon and Yolande of Hungary, Alfonso succeeded his father as King of Castile and León in 1252. The following year he invaded Portugal, capturing the region of the Algarve, King Afonso III of Portugal had to surrender, but he gained an agreement by which, after he consented to marry Alfonso Xs daughter Beatrice of Castile, the land would be returned to their heirs. In 1263 he returned Algarve to the King of Portugal and signed the Treaty of Badajoz, in 1254 Alfonso X signed a treaty of alliance with the King of England and Duke of Aquitaine, Henry III, supporting him in the war against Louis IX of France. In 1256, at the death of William II of Holland, Alfonsos descent from the Hohenstaufen through his mother, Alfonsos election as King of the Romans by the imperial prince-electors misled him into complicated schemes that involved excessive expense but never succeeded
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John II of Castile
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John II of Castile was King of Castile and León from 1406 to 1454. John was the son of King Henry III and his wife and his mother was the granddaughter of King Peter, who was ousted by Henry IIIs grandfather, King Henry II. John succeeded his father on 25 December 1406, and united in his person the claims of both Peter and Henry II and his mother and his uncle, King Ferdinand I of Aragon, were co-regents during his minority. When Ferdinand died in 1416, his mother governed alone until her death in 1418, John IIs reign, lasting 49 years, was one of the longest in Castilian history, but John himself was not a particularly capable monarch. He spent his time verse-making, hunting, and holding tournaments and his favourite, Álvaro de Luna, heavily influenced him until his second wife, Isabella of Portugal, obtained control of his feeble will. At her instigation, he dismissed his faithful and able servant, John IIs Regents declared the Valladolid laws in 1411, which restricted the social activity of Jews. Among the most notable of the provisions were outlining that Jews must wear distinctive clothes, in 1431 John placed Yusuf IV on the throne as the Sultan of Granada in the Moorish Emirate of Granada, in exchange for tribute and vassal status to Castile. This exchange is depicted in the ballad the Romance of Abenamar. He was all and handsome, fair-skinned and slightly ruddy and his hair was the color of a very mature hazelnut, the nose a little snub, the eyes between green and blue. He had very graceful legs and feet and hands, John II died on 20 July 1454, at Valladolid. In 1418, John married Maria of Aragon, the oldest daughter of his paternal uncle, Ferdinand I of Aragon
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Isabella I of Castile
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Isabella I was Queen of Castile. She was married to Ferdinand II of Aragon and their marriage became the basis for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Her reforms and those she made with her husband had an influence that extended well beyond the borders of their united kingdoms, Isabella was granted the title Servant of God by the Catholic Church in 1974. Isabella was born in Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Ávila, to John II of Castile, at the time of her birth, she was second in line to throne after her older half-brother Henry. Henry was 26 at that time and married but childless and her younger brother Alfonso was born two years later on 17 November 1453, lowering her position to third in line. When her father died in 1454, her half-brother ascended to the throne as Henry IV, Isabella and Alfonso were left in Henrys care. She, her mother and her brother Alfonso then moved to Arévalo and these were times of turmoil for Isabella. Living conditions in their castle in Arévalo were poor, and they suffered from a shortage of money, even though living conditions were lackluster, under the careful eye of her mother, Isabella was instructed in lessons of practical piety and in a deep reverence for religion. Alfonso was placed in the care of a tutor while Isabella became part of the Queens household, some of Isabellas living conditions improved in Segovia. She always had food and clothing and lived in a castle that was adorned with gold, Isabellas basic education consisted of reading, spelling, writing, grammar, mathematics, art, chess, dancing, embroidery, music, and religious instruction. She and her ladies-in-waiting entertained themselves with art, embroidery, and she lived a relaxed lifestyle, but she rarely left Segovia as Henry forbade this. Her half-brother was keeping her from the political turmoils going on in the kingdom, though Isabella had full knowledge of what was going on, the noblemen, anxious for power, confronted King Henry, demanding that his younger half brother Infante Alfonso be named his successor. They even went so far as to ask Alfonso to seize the throne, the nobles, now in control of Alfonso and claiming that he was the true heir, clashed with Henrys forces at the Second Battle of Olmedo in 1467. Henry agreed to recognise Alfonso as heir presumptive, provided that he would marry his daughter, soon after he was named Prince of Asturias, Alfonso died in July 1468, likely of the plague. The nobles who had supported him suspected poisoning, as she had been named in her brothers will as his successor, the nobles asked Isabella to take his place as champion of the rebellion. However, support for the rebels had begun to wane, the question of Isabellas marriage was not a new one. Indeed, she had made her debut in the market at the tender age of six, with a betrothal to Ferdinand. At that time, the two kings, Henry and John, were eager to show their love and confidence
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Henry IV of Castile
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Henry IV of Castile, King of the Crown of Castile, nicknamed the Impotent, was the last of the weak late medieval kings of Castile. During Henrys reign the nobles increased in power and the nation became less centralised and he was born in 1425 in the Casa de las Aldabas in Teresa Gil street of Valladolid. He was the son of John II of Castile and Maria of Aragon and he displaced his older sister, Eleanor, and became heir apparent to the Castilian throne as the Prince of Asturias. At the time of his birth, Castile was under control of Álvaro de Luna, Duke of Trujillo, the companions of his own age included Juan Pacheco, who became his closest confidant. The struggles, reconciliations and intrigues for power among the aristocracy, Álvaro de Luna, on 10 October 1444, he became the first and only prince of Jaén. In 1445 he won the First Battle of Olmedo, defeating the Infantes of Aragon, after the victory at Olmedo, Álvaro de Lunas power waned, and Prince Henry and Juan Pachecos influence grew. John II died on 20 July 1454, Henry was proclaimed king the following day. One of his first priorities was the alliance with Portugal and he achieved this by marrying a second time, to Joan of Portugal in 1455, and by meeting Afonso V of Portugal in Elvas in 1456. His other main concerns were the possibility of intervention from John II of Navarre, establishing peace with France and Aragon, Henry convened the Cuéllar Courts to launch an offensive against the Emirate of Granada. The campaigns of 1455 and 1458 developed into a war of attrition based on punitive raids and it was not popular with the aristocracy or the people. Juan Pacheco, the Marquis of Villena, and his brother Pedro Girón were put in charge of government decisions, the king also took other advisors, such as Beltrán de la Cueva, Miguel Lucas de Iranzo and Gómez de Cáceres to balance against their influence. In 1458, Alfonso V of Aragon died and was succeeded by his brother, John resumed his interference in Castillian politics, supporting the aristocratic opposition to Juan Pachecos ambitions. With the support of the king, Pacheco moved to seize Álvaro de Lunas assets and this process resulted in the formation of a League of Nobles in March 1460. They raised a number of noblemen, took control of expenditure, and gained the acceptance of Alfonso of Castille. To counteract John II of Aragons politicking Henry IV reacted by invading Navarre in support of Charles, Charles was heir to Navarre, and he revolted against his father in 1450 when he refused to cede the throne of Navarre. John II of Aragon was in conflict with the Principality of Catalonia, and on the death of Johns son, Charles of Viana, Henry IVs intervention was framed as a rivalry between him and John, making Catalonia an unstable point in the Crown of Aragon. But Henry IV was unsuccessful, and the Castillian economy would suffer from an enmity with France, Henry therefore agreed to a settlement in the Judgment of Bayonne, resulting in the abandonment of the Catalans. Prince Henry celebrated his marriage to the infanta Blanche in 1440, the cardinal Juan de Cervantes presided over the official ceremony
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Madrid, Spain
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Madrid is the capital city of the Kingdom of Spain and the largest municipality in both the Community of Madrid and Spain as a whole. The city has a population of almost 3.2 million with an area population of approximately 6.5 million. It is the third-largest city in the European Union after London and Berlin, the municipality itself covers an area of 604.3 km2. Madrid lies on the River Manzanares in the centre of both the country and the Community of Madrid, this community is bordered by the communities of Castile and León. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political, economic, the current mayor is Manuela Carmena from Ahora Madrid. Madrid is home to two football clubs, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid. Madrid is the 17th most liveable city in the according to Monocle magazine. Madrid organises fairs such as FITUR, ARCO, SIMO TCI, while Madrid possesses modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighbourhoods and streets. Cibeles Palace and Fountain have become one of the monument symbols of the city, the first documented reference of the city originates in Andalusan times as the Arabic مجريط Majrīṭ, which was retained in Medieval Spanish as Magerit. A wider number of theories have been formulated on possible earlier origins, according to legend, Madrid was founded by Ocno Bianor and was named Metragirta or Mantua Carpetana. The most ancient recorded name of the city Magerit comes from the name of a built on the Manzanares River in the 9th century AD. Nevertheless, it is speculated that the origin of the current name of the city comes from the 2nd century BC. The Roman Empire established a settlement on the banks of the Manzanares river, the name of this first village was Matrice. In the 8th century, the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula saw the changed to Mayrit, from the Arabic term ميرا Mayra. The modern Madrid evolved from the Mozarabic Matrit, which is still in the Madrilenian gentilic, after the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba, Madrid was integrated in the Taifa of Toledo. With the surrender of Toledo to Alfonso VI of León and Castile, the city was conquered by Christians in 1085, Christians replaced Muslims in the occupation of the centre of the city, while Muslims and Jews settled in the suburbs. The city was thriving and was given the title of Villa, since 1188, Madrid won the right to be a city with representation in the courts of Castile. In 1202, King Alfonso VIII of Castile gave Madrid its first charter to regulate the municipal council, which was expanded in 1222 by Ferdinand III of Castile
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Philip II of Spain
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Philip II of Spain, called the Prudent, was King of Spain, King of Portugal, King of Naples and Sicily, and jure uxoris King of England and Ireland. He was also Duke of Milan, from 1555, he was lord of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands. Known in Spain as Felipe el Prudente, his empire included territories on every continent then known to Europeans, during his reign, Spain reached the height of its influence and power. This is sometimes called the Golden Age, the expression, the empire on which the sun never sets, was coined during Philips time to reflect the extent of his dominion. During Philips reign there were separate state bankruptcies in 1557,1560,1569,1575 and this was partly the cause of the declaration of independence which created the Dutch Republic in 1581. The Ambassador went on to say He dresses very tastefully, the culture and courtly life of Spain were an important influence in his early life. He was tutored by Juan Martínez Siliceo – the future Archbishop of Toledo, Philip displayed reasonable aptitude in arms and letters alike. Later he would study with more illustrious tutors, including the humanist Juan Cristóbal Calvete de Estrella, Philip, though he had good command over Latin, Spanish and Portuguese, never managed to equal his father, Charles V, as a polyglot. Despite being also a German archduke from the House of Habsburg, Philip felt himself to be culturally Spanish, he had been born in Spain and raised in the Castilian court, his native tongue was Spanish, and he preferred to live in Spain. This would ultimately impede his succession to the imperial throne, Philip was also close to his two sisters, María and Juana, and to his two pages, the Portuguese nobleman Rui Gomes da Silva and Luis de Requesens, the son of his governor Juan de Zúñiga. These men would serve Philip throughout their lives, as would Antonio Pérez, Philips martial training was undertaken by his governor, Juan de Zúñiga, a Castilian nobleman who served as the commendador mayor of Castile. The practical lessons in warfare were overseen by the Duke of Alba during the Italian Wars, Philip was present at the Siege of Perpignan in 1542, but did not see action as the Spanish army under Alba decisively defeated the besieging French forces under the Dauphin of France. On his way back to Castile, Philip received the oath of allegiance of the Aragonese Cortes at Monzón. The king-emperors interactions with his son during his stay in Spain convinced him of Philips precocity in statesmanship, Philip, who had previously been made the Duke of Milan in 1540, began governing the most extensive empire in the world at the young age of sixteen. Charles left Philip with experienced advisors—notably the secretary Francisco de los Cobos, Philip was also left with extensive written instructions which emphasised piety, patience, modesty, and distrust. These principles of Charles were gradually assimilated by his son, who would grow up to become grave, self-possessed, personally, Philip spoke softly, and had an icy self-mastery, in the words of one of his ministers, he had a smile that cut like a sword. After living in the Netherlands in the years of his reign. Although sometimes described as a monarch, Philip faced many constitutional constraints on his authority
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Charles III of Spain
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Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. While he was the son of Philip V of Spain, he was the eldest son of Philips second wife. In 1731, the 15-year-old Charles became the Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I, following the death of his childless granduncle Antonio Farnese. In 1734, as Duke of Parma, he conquered the kingdoms of Naples and of Sicily, and was crowned king on 3 July 1735, reigning as Charles VII of Naples and Charles V of Sicily until 1759. In 1738 he married Princess Maria Amalia of Saxony, daughter of Polish king Augustus III, Charles and Maria Amalia resided in Naples for 19 years. Charles succeeded to the Spanish throne on 10 August 1759, after the death of his half-brother King Ferdinand VI of Spain who left no heirs. As King of Spain Charles III made far-reaching reforms such as promoting science and university research, facilitating trade and commerce and he also tried to reduce the influence of the Church and avoided costly wars. His previous experience as King of Naples and Sicily proved valuable as King of Spain and he did not achieve complete control over the States finances, and was sometimes obliged to borrow to meet expenses. Most of his reforms proved to be successful and his important legacy lives on to this day, historian Stanley Payne wrote that Charles III was probably the most successful European ruler of his generation. He had provided firm, consistent, intelligent leadership, personal life had won the respect of the people. In 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht concluded the War of the Spanish Succession and reduced the political and military power of Spain, which the House of Bourbon had ruled since 1700. Moreover, the House of Savoy gained the Kingdom of Sicily, and the Kingdom of Great Britain gained the island of Minorca, in 1700, Charles father, originally a French prince, became King of Spain as Philip V. For the remainder of his reign, he attempted to regain the ceded territories. Elisabeth and Philip married on 24 December 1714, she proved a domineering consort. On 20 January 1716, Elisabeth gave birth to the Infante Charles of Spain at the Real Alcázar of Madrid and he was fourth in line to the Spanish throne, after three elder half-brothers, the Infante Luis, Prince of Asturias, the Infante Felipe, and Ferdinand. Because the Duke Francesco of Parma and his heir were childless, Elisabeth sought the duchies of Parma and she also sought for him the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, because Gian Gastone de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany was also childless. He was a distant cousin of hers, related via her great-grandmother Margherita de Medici, the birth of Charles encouraged the Prime Minister Alberoni to start laying out grand plans for Europe. In 1717 he ordered the Spanish invasion of Sardinia, in 1718, Alberoni also ordered the invasion of Sicily, which was also ruled by the House of Savoy
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Alfonso XIII of Spain
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Alfonso XIII was King of Spain from 1886 until the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1931. Alfonso was monarch from birth as his father, Alfonso XII, had died the previous year, Alfonsos mother, Maria Christina of Austria, served as regent until he assumed full powers on his sixteenth birthday in 1902. With the political failure of the dictatorship, Alfonso impelled a return to the democratic normality with the intention of regenerating the regime, nevertheless, it was abandoned by all political classes, as they felt betrayed by the kings support of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. He left Spain voluntarily after the elections of April 1931. In exile, he retained his claim to the throne until 1941. Buried in Rome, his remains were not transferred until 1980 to the Pantheon of the Kings in the monastery of El Escorial, Alfonso was born in Madrid on 17 May 1886. He was the son of Alfonso XII of Spain, who had died in November 1885. The French newspaper Le Figaro described the king in 1889 as the happiest. His mother, Maria Christina of Austria, served as his regent until his 16th birthday, during the regency, in 1898, Spain lost its colonial rule over Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the United States as a result of the Spanish–American War. When he came of age in May 1902, the week of his majority was marked by festivities, bullfights, balls, by 1905, Alfonso was looking for a suitable consort. On a state visit to the United Kingdom, he stayed at Buckingham Palace with King Edward VII, there he met Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, the Scottish-born daughter of Edwards youngest sister Princess Beatrice, and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. He found her attractive, and she returned his interest, there were obstacles to the marriage. Victoria was a Protestant, and would have to become a Catholic, Victorias brother Leopold was a haemophiliac, so there was a 50 percent chance that Victoria was a carrier of the trait. Victoria was willing to change her religion, and her being a carrier was only a possibility. Maria Christina was eventually persuaded to drop her opposition, in January 1906 she wrote an official letter to Princess Beatrice proposing the match. Victoria met Maria Christina and Alfonso in Biarritz, France, later that month, in May, diplomats of both kingdoms officially executed the agreement of marriage. Alfonso and Victoria were married at the Royal Monastery of San Jerónimo in Madrid on 31 May 1906, with British royalty in attendance, including Victorias cousins the Prince, the wedding was marred by an assassination attempt on Alfonso and Victoria by Catalan anarchist Mateu Morral. As the wedding procession returned to the palace, he threw a bomb from a window which killed or injured several bystanders and members of the procession, on 10 May 1907, the couples first child, Alfonso, Prince of Asturias, was born
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Pelagius of Asturias
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Pelagius was a Visigothic nobleman who founded the Kingdom of Asturias, ruling it from 718 until his death. Through his victory at the Battle of Covadonga, he is credited with beginning the Reconquista and he established an independent Christian state in opposition to Moorish hegemony. The chief sources for Pelagiuss life and career are two Latin chronicles written in the ninth century in the kingdom he founded. The first is the Chronica Albeldensia, written at Albelda towards 881, the only likely earlier written sources from which these chroniclers could derive information are regnal lists. Pelagius was a Visigoth nobleman, the son of Fafila, the Chronica Albeldensis says that this Fafila was a dux of Gallaecia, who was killed by Wittiza. The Chronicle of Alfonso III identifies Pelagius as a grandson of Chindasuinth and says that his father was blinded in Córdoba, Wittiza is also said to have exiled Pelagius from Toledo upon assuming the crown in 702. In the opinion of Collins, all of this is a late tradition, if Munuzas seat is identified with Gijón, it may be inferred that the Arabs had established their rule in the Asturias and that Pelagius was not the leader of a local resistance to Arab conquest. At some point Pelagius is said to have rebelled, but for what reasons is unknown, a Muslim army was sent against him under the command of Alkama and the Christian bishop of Seville, Oppa. That Alkama was the general and that there was a bishop of Seville named Oppa among his ranks is generally accepted, a battle was fought near Covadonga in which Alkama was killed and Oppa captured. Moorish chronicles of the event describe Pelagius and his force as thirty wild donkeys. The battle is dated to 718 or 719, between the governorships of al-Hurr and as-Sham, though some have dated it as late as 722. After his election as princeps of the Asturians by the magnates in the Visigothic manner. The Chronica Rotensis says about this election, His kingdom, firstly centred on the eastern Asturias and he married his daughter Ermesinda to the future king Alfonso I, son of Pelagius eastern neighbour, Duke Peter of Cantabria. Pelagius reigned for eighteen or nineteen years until his death in 737 and he was buried in the church of Santa Eulalia de Abamia, located in the surroundings of the village of Corao, near Cangas de Onís. His remains were transferred by King Alfonso X of Castile to the Holy Cave of Covadonga, as were those of his wife Gaudiosa and his sister. He left, in addition to his son and successor Fafila, a daughter, Ermesinda, further reading Díaz y Díaz, Manuel C. Asturias en el siglo VIII, La cultura literaria, media related to Pelayo I of Asturias at Wikimedia Commons
23.
Juana la Loca
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Joanna of Castile, called the Mad, was queen of Castile from 1504 and of Aragon from 1516. From the union of two crowns modern Spain evolved. Joanna married Philip the Handsome on 20 October 1496, Philip was crowned King of Castile in 1506, initiating the rule of the Habsburgs in Spain. After Philips death that year, Joanna was deemed mentally ill and was confined to a nunnery for the rest of her life. Though she remained the legal queen of Castile throughout this time, her father, Ferdinand II of Aragon, was regent until his death, from 1517, her son, Charles, ruled as king, while she nominally remained co-monarch. Joanna was born in the city of Toledo, the capital of the Kingdom of Castile and she was the third child and second daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon of the royal House of Trastámara. Joanna was a clever and diligent child and an excellent student, Queen Isabella ensured that Joanna, along with her three sisters Isabella, Maria, and Catherine, received a fine education. Her academic education consisted of canon and civil law, genealogy and heraldry, grammar, history, languages, mathematics, philosophy, reading, spelling, and writing. In the Castilian court her main tutors were the Dominican priest Andrés de Miranda, the respected educator Beatriz Galindo who was a member of the queens court, and her mother the queen. Joanna developed feminine accomplishments in court etiquette, dancing, drawing, equestrian skills, good manners, music, and the arts of embroidery, needlepoint. She excelled in all of the Iberian Romance languages, Castilian, Leonese, Galician-Portuguese, Joanna was given instruction in religious studies and she learned outdoor pursuits such as hawking and hunting. Praise was given to her for being a dancer and a talented musician, she played the clavichord, the guitar. As an infanta she was not expected to be heiress to the throne of either Castile or Aragon and she had a fair complexion, blue eyes and her hair colour was between strawberry-blonde and auburn, like her mother and sister Catherine. Already in 1495 Joanna showed signs of religious skepticism and little devotion to worship and this alarmed her mother, who ordered it to be kept secret. English ambassadors at Valencia on 23 June 1505 attempted to give a description of her appearance according to fifteen criteria. In 1496, Joanna, at the age of sixteen, was betrothed to Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy, Philips parents were Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and his first wife, Duchess Mary of Burgundy. The marriage was one of a set of alliances between the Habsburgs and the Trastámaras designed to strengthen both against growing French power. Joanna entered a marriage at the Palacio de los Vivero in the city of Valladolid
24.
Camelot (film)
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Camelot is a 1967 American musical drama film directed by Joshua Logan and starring Richard Harris as King Arthur, Vanessa Redgrave as Guenevere, and Franco Nero as Lancelot. The film is an adaptation of the musical by Alan Jay Lerner. In the opening scene, King Arthur is preparing for a battle against his friend, Sir Lancelot. Arthur reflects on the sad circumstances which have led him to this situation, Merlyn appears to him and tells Arthur to think back. Arthur thinks back to the night of his marriage to his now-estranged wife and it is an arranged marriage, and he has never met her before. He is understandably afraid of what lies ahead and his solitude is broken by Guenevere and her entourage. Guenevere is also worried about marrying a man she has never met, like Arthur, she flees from her entourage to reflect on her future. Arthur accidentally falls out of the tree in which he is hiding and he and Guenevere converse, as she does not know his true identity, and realize they have things in common. Arthur tells her what a wonderful place his kingdom is and they almost kiss, the kings identity is revealed, and although Arthur gives Guenevere the chance to leave she gladly goes back with him to be married. The plot shifts to five years later, knights are shown gathering from all over England. The plot shifts another five years, and word of Arthurs Round Table spreads to France, inspired by Arthur’s ideas, the self-righteous French knight Lancelot makes his way to England with his squire Dep, boasting of his superior virtues. Lancelots prowess impresses Arthur and they become friends, but many of the knights despise Lancelot for his self-righteousness. Guenevere also dislikes Lancelot at first, and, to Arthurs chagrin, however, the plan goes awry as Lancelot easily defeats all three, almost killing Sir Dinadan. A horrified Lancelot pleads for Sir Dinadan to live, and as he lays hands on him, Guenevere is so impressed that her feelings for Lancelot begin to change. Soon afterwards, it is revealed that, despite his vows of celibacy, Lancelot is in love with Guenevere, leading to the love triangle involving Arthur, Guenevere. Guenevere knows it is wrong and tries to get Lancelot out of her life, Arthur realizes something is going on between Lancelot and Guenevere but cannot bring himself to alienate either of them, and so turns a blind eye. All this takes its toll on Arthurs disposition, and Guenevere tries, mordred cunningly convinces Arthur to stay out hunting all night as a test, knowing Lancelot will visit Guenevere in her bedchamber. Guenevere admits her feelings for Lancelot but still feels guilty, mordred rouses several knights and they catch the lovers together, as he planned
25.
JSTOR
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JSTOR is a digital library founded in 1995. Originally containing digitized back issues of journals, it now also includes books and primary sources. It provides full-text searches of almost 2,000 journals, more than 8,000 institutions in more than 160 countries have access to JSTOR, most access is by subscription, but some older public domain content is freely available to anyone. William G. Bowen, president of Princeton University from 1972 to 1988, JSTOR originally was conceived as a solution to one of the problems faced by libraries, especially research and university libraries, due to the increasing number of academic journals in existence. Most libraries found it prohibitively expensive in terms of cost and space to maintain a collection of journals. By digitizing many journal titles, JSTOR allowed libraries to outsource the storage of journals with the confidence that they would remain available long-term, online access and full-text search ability improved access dramatically. Bowen initially considered using CD-ROMs for distribution, JSTOR was initiated in 1995 at seven different library sites, and originally encompassed ten economics and history journals. JSTOR access improved based on feedback from its sites. Special software was put in place to make pictures and graphs clear, with the success of this limited project, Bowen and Kevin Guthrie, then-president of JSTOR, wanted to expand the number of participating journals. They met with representatives of the Royal Society of London and an agreement was made to digitize the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society dating from its beginning in 1665, the work of adding these volumes to JSTOR was completed by December 2000. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation funded JSTOR initially, until January 2009 JSTOR operated as an independent, self-sustaining nonprofit organization with offices in New York City and in Ann Arbor, Michigan. JSTOR content is provided by more than 900 publishers, the database contains more than 1,900 journal titles, in more than 50 disciplines. Each object is identified by an integer value, starting at 1. In addition to the site, the JSTOR labs group operates an open service that allows access to the contents of the archives for the purposes of corpus analysis at its Data for Research service. This site offers a facility with graphical indication of the article coverage. Users may create focused sets of articles and then request a dataset containing word and n-gram frequencies and they are notified when the dataset is ready and may download it in either XML or CSV formats. The service does not offer full-text, although academics may request that from JSTOR, JSTOR Plant Science is available in addition to the main site. The materials on JSTOR Plant Science are contributed through the Global Plants Initiative and are only to JSTOR
26.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
27.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
28.
Royal Palace of Madrid
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The Royal Palace of Madrid is the official residence of the Spanish Royal Family at the city of Madrid, but it is only used for state ceremonies. King Felipe VI and the Royal Family do not reside in the palace, the palace is owned by the Spanish State and administered by the Patrimonio Nacional, a public agency of the Ministry of the Presidency. The palace is located on Calle de Bailén in the part of downtown Madrid, east of the Manzanares River. Several rooms in the palace are open to the public except during state functions. An admission fee of €11 is required, after Madrid fell to Alfonso VI of Castile in 1083, the edifice was only rarely used by the kings of Castile. In 1329, King Alfonso XI of Castile convened the cortes of Madrid for the first time, Philip II moved his court to Madrid in 1561. The old Alcázar was built on the location in the 16th century, after it burned 24 December 1734, King Philip V ordered a new palace built on the same site. Charles III first occupied the new palace in 1764, the last monarch who lived continuously in the palace was Alfonso XIII, although Manuel Azaña, president of the Second Republic, also inhabited it, making him the last head of state to do so. During that period the palace was known as Palacio Nacional, there is still a room next to the Real Capilla, which is known by the name Office of Azaña. The palace has 135,000 square metres of floor space and it is the largest royal palace in Europe by floor area. The interior of the palace is notable for its wealth of art and the use of types of fine materials in the construction. These include paintings by such as Caravaggio, Francisco de Goya, and Velázquez, and frescoes by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Juan de Flandes, Corrado Giaquinto. Muhammad I, Umayyad Emir of Cordoba, between 860 and 880, after the Moors were driven out of Toledo in the 11th century, the castle retained its defensive function. Henry III of Castile added several towers and his son John II used it as a royal residence. However, during the War of the Castilian Succession the troops of Joanna la Beltraneja were besieged in the Alcázar, the only drawing of the castle from the Middle Ages is one made in 1534 by Cornelius Vermeyen. Habsburg Emperor Charles V extended and renovated the castle in 1537, using the architects Alonso de Covarrubias, Philip II made Madrid his capital in 1561 and added a continued the renovations. Philip III added a southern facade between 1610 and 1636. Philip V of Bourbon renovated the apartments in 1700
29.
El Escorial
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It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, basilica, royal palace, pantheon, library, museum, university and hospital. It is situated 2.06 km up the valley from the town of El Escorial, El Escorial was, at once, a monastery and a Spanish royal palace. Originally a property of the Hieronymite monks, it is now a monastery of the Order of Saint Augustine and it is also a boarding school. Philip engaged the Spanish architect, Juan Bautista de Toledo, to be his collaborator in the design of El Escorial, Philip appointed him architect-royal in 1559, and together they designed El Escorial as a monument to Spains role as a center of the Christian world. On 2 November 1984, UNESCO declared The Royal Seat of San Lorenzo of El Escorial a World Heritage Site and it is a popular tourist attraction, often visited by day-trippers from Madrid – more than 500,000 visitors come to El Escorial every year. El Escorial is situated at the foot of Mt. Abantos in the Sierra de Guadarrama, Quentin in Picardy against Henry II, king of France. He also intended the complex to serve as a necropolis for the interment of the remains of his parents, Charles I and Isabella of Portugal, himself, in addition, Philip envisioned El Escorial as a center for studies in aid of the Counter-Reformation cause. The buildings cornerstone was laid on 23 April 1563, the design and construction were overseen by Juan Bautista de Toledo, who did not live to see the completion of the project. With Toledos death in 1567, direction passed to his apprentice, Juan de Herrera, under whom the building was completed in 1584, to this day, la obra de El Escorial is a proverbial expression for a thing that takes a long time to finish. Since then, El Escorial has been the site for most of the Spanish kings of the last five centuries. Two Bourbon kings, Philip V and Ferdinand VI, as well as King Amadeus, are not buried in the monastery, the floor plan of the building is in the form of a gridiron. The traditional belief is that design was chosen in honor of St. Lawrence. St. Lawrence’s feast day is 10 August, the date as the 1557 Battle of St. Quentin. In fact, however, the origin of the layout is quite controversial. The grill-like shape, which did not fully emerge until Herrera eliminated from the conception the six interior towers of the facade, was, by no means. In fact, palaces of this design were commonplace in the Byzantine. Statues of David and Solomon on either side of the entrance to the basilica of El Escorial lend further weight to the theory that this is the origin of the design. A more personal connection can be drawn between the David-warrior figure, representing Charles V, and his son, the stolid and solomonically prudent Philip II
30.
Royal Palace of El Pardo
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The Royal Palace of El Pardo is a historic building near Madrid, Spain, in the present-day district of Fuencarral-El Pardo. It is owned by the Spanish state and administered by the Patrimonio Nacional agency, the palace began as a royal hunting lodge. It became a residence of the kings of Spain until the reign of Alfonso XII. King Enrique III of Castile ordered the building of the pavilion in 1406, on Mount El Pardo, later, in the time of Emperor Carlos V, it was transformed into a palace by the architect Luis de Vega. On 13 March 1604, a fire destroyed many of the paintings. King Carlos III renovated the building in the 18th century, appointing his architect Francesco Sabatini to undertake the job and it was newly transformed in the 20th century, doubling in size with the construction of an identical copy of the original structure to the east. The interior decoration includes a ceiling frescoed by Gaspar Becerra, and paintings by Vincenzo Carducci, in 1739 the palace hosted talks between the governments of Britain and Spain, who eventually agreed to the Convention of Pardo in a bid to avert a war. However, the Convention failed to prevent war breaking out shortly afterwards, generalissimo Francisco Franco lived in the palace after the Spanish Civil War. Since Francos death, it has used as a residence for visiting heads of state. The Palace of Zarzuela forms part of the complex of residences at the site, casita del Principe Ward of El Pardo Media related to Royal Palace of El Pardo at Wikimedia Commons Patrimonio Nacional | Royal Palace of El Pardo
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Palace of Zarzuela
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The Palace of Zarzuela is the residence of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia and their family. The palace is on the outskirts of Madrid, near the Royal Palace of El Pardo, the complex also houses the official residence of the current King and his family in a nearby mansion. The palace is owned by the Spanish State and administered by an agency named the Patrimonio Nacional. During the 17th century, King Philip IV ordered a palace or hunting lodge to be built at La Zarzuela near Madrid. The name Zarzuela is thought to be derived from the word zarzas meaning brambles and it was a rectangular, slate-roofed building with two lateral arcades. Carlos IV had the building altered to adapt it to 18th century fashion, juan Carlos and his wife have lived in the palace since their marriage during 1962. The Royal Palace in the centre of Madrid, the principal residence of the Spanish kings, is the official residence of the King. During summer 2002, Felipe VI, then Prince of Asturias, relocated into a new residence, the palace theatre was the place of origin of the Spanish operetta style, zarzuela. Official webpage of the Spanish Monarchy
32.
Royal Palace of Aranjuez
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The Royal Palace of Aranjuez is a residence of the King of Spain, located in the town of Aranjuez, in the Community of Madrid, Spain. The palace is open to the public as one of the Spanish royal sites, also died here the Ferdinand VII the Felons first wife Maria Antonia of Naples, the second wife Maria Isabel of Portugal and third wife Maria Josepha Amalia of Saxony. In 1931, during the Second Spanish Republic declared the Royal Site a Artistic Historical Monument and this building is part of the Aranjuez Cultural Landscape declared in 2001 a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO Most days, Patrimonio Nacional does not allow photos of its interior. It is in the 12th century when the Order of Santiago settled in the due to its verdant landscape and mild climate that is beneficiary of Tagus. In 1523, Aranjuez became a royal property, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor was the one who gave this orders former possessions the dignity of Real Bosque y Casa de Aranjuez, in order to enjoy in them huntings good days. In 1551 he destined a facilities for botanical garden, which serve to catalog new species brought from the Americas, but the emperors purposes barely met. Wars, his stays in Europe and health setbacks prevented him seize the property as much as anticipated. It did his son Philip II, after granting Aranjuez the designation of Royal Site in 1561, aware of how fertile place, he devoted a portion of land to farm. In the adjacent plot, the King began construction of the first palace and he hired for this services Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera, responsibles for the El Escorials works. On the Philip IIs death in 1598, the works were still to finish, in addition to the royal apartments, only they had built the chapel at the base of the south tower and part of the facades of noon and sunset. Then, the 17th century economic and political crisis and the lack of interest for the place of the last Habsburgs resulted in stoppage of work, was Philip V the Bourbon dynastys first king, who decided to resume the work and tried to make Aranjuez his particular Versailles. Subsequently, this condition would inherit La Granja de San Ildefonso, with Philip V rose a new north tower, completed the west facade and charted the structure that would shape the current palace. In 1748, a fire destroyed almost all of his work. After the fire, Ferdinand VI Philip Vs son, rebuilds the palace, the new project, although he respected the original buildings foundations, was due entirely to aesthetic and the 18th centurys thought. That is, a construction, and refined lines in the exterior. As a tribute to its history, it were included in the facade the statues of its main promoters, Philip II, Philip V. The imposing building that has reached today is due to Charles III in his reforming work for Madrid. The architect was Italian Francesco Sabatini who designed the two wings of the west, laterally limiting the cour dhonneur, at one end of the ensemble was located the chapel, and on opposite side should built a theater that never came up
33.
Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso
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The palace is in a restrained Baroque style, surrounded by extensive gardens in the formal Jardin à la française style with sculptural fountains. It is now open to the public as a museum, the area was a favourite hunting grounds for many Castilian kings, due to its location on the forested northern slopes of the Sierra de Guadarrama. In the 15th century, Henry IV of Castile built the first hunting lodge on the site, along with a shrine dedicated to San Ildefonso. Isabella I of Castile granted both buildings to the monks of the Santa Maria del Parral monastery in Segovia, who built an almshouse and developed a granja alongside the lodge and shrine. The site was purchased from the monks in 1719 by King Philip V and he was the first Spanish king from the French Bourbon dynasty. Beginning in 1721, Philip began building a new palace and gardens modeled on Versailles, built by his grandfather, like Versailles, La Granja began as a retreat from the court but became a centre of royal government. When the King decided to abdicate in 1724, his intention was to retire to La Granja, unfortunately Philips heir, King Louis I, died that same year, and Philip had to return to the throne. Consequently, a designed for leisure and quiet retreat thus became an important meeting place for the King, his ministers. The town of San Ildefonso expanded to provide housing and services to the courtiers who wanted a place near the kings favourite residence, military barracks, a collegiate church, and even a royal glass factory were built to provide for the palace. The best glass of Venetian type produced in the dates from the last quarter of the 18th century. As La Granja de San Ildefonso, the glassworks continue today as a subsidiary of Saint Gobain, the church was selected as his burial site by Philip, marking a break with his Habsburg predecessors. The frescoes by Giambattista Tiepolo, completed by Francisco Bayeu, were damaged in a fire of 1918. Philips successor Ferdinand VI bequeathed the site of San Ildefonso, with all it contained, to his fathers second wife. At her death in 1766, it reverted to the Crown in the person of Charles III. For the next two hundred years, La Granja was the main summer palace, and many royal weddings and burials, state treaties. Currently the royal site is part the Patrimonio Nacional of Spain, extending over 1,500 acres, the gardens around the palace are one of the best examples of 18th-century European garden design in the Jardin à la française style in Spain. Sculptors arrived from Paris to execute designs on the site, all of the fountains represent themes from classical mythology, including Greek deities, allegories and scenes from myths. They are cast in lead to prevent corrosion, and painted over to simulate bronze, bruno Pons noted in the sculptural vases an almost excessively brilliant style, quite distinct from French royal taste and showing an undeniably superior understanding of ornament
34.
Royal Palace of La Almudaina
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The Royal Palace of La Almudaina, spanish Palacio Real de La Almudaina, is the Alcázar of Palma, the capital city of the Island of Majorca, Spain. Having been built as an Arabian Fort, it was claimed as official residence in the early 14th century. Inside it has many empty rooms, however, when King James II began restoration, his plan included the encompassing of the small. It stands opposite the dramatic Palma Cathedral with commanding views over the Bay of Palma and it belongs to and is administered by the public Patrimonio Nacional which administers the assets of the State for the Crown. Nowadays the Royal Family uses it as residence for ceremonies and State receptions. Media related to Royal Palace of La Almudaina at Wikimedia Commons Patrimonio Nacional | Royal Palace of La Almudaina Almudaina Palace, NorthSouthGuides Royal Almudaina Palace, Mallorca
35.
Convent of Las Descalzas Reales
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For the monastery in Valladolid, see Convent of Las Descalzas Reales. The Convent of Las Descalzas Reales is a monastery situated in Madrid, Spain. The Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales, literally the Monastery of the Royal Barefooted, resides in the palace of King Charles I of Spain. Their daughter, Joanna of Austria, founded this convent of nuns of the Poor Clare order in 1559, throughout the remainder of the 16th century and into the 17th century, the convent attracted young widowed or spinster noblewomen. Each woman brought with her a dowry, the riches quickly piled up, and the convent became one of the richest convents in all of Europe. Tomás Luis de Victoria, Spains finest Renaissance composer, worked at the convent from 1587 to the end of his life in 1611, the demographics of the convent slowly changed over time, and by the 20th century, all of the sisters were in poverty. The convent maintained the riches of its past, but it was forbidden to any of the items off or spend any of the money it received from the dowries. The state intervened when it saw that the sisters were poor, alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz is buried in the Chapel of Saint John the Baptist next to his elder son Francisco de Asís. Alfonsos younger brother Gonzalo is buried in the Chapel of Saint Sebastian, while in the past, the treasures of the monastery were not visible, today the monastery houses only a few nuns, and the site is a well-visited national monument. The noblewomens dowries were often invested into relics and their bejeweled exhibition pieces, among the many relics on display are putatively pieces from Christs cross and the bones of Saint Sebastian. Among the priceless art masterpieces are Titians Caesars Money, tapestries woven to designs by Rubens, portraits of the son and daughter of King Sigismund of Poland were painted by Martin Kober in 1596 and were sent as a gift to King Philip III of Spain. The original architect of the church was Antonio Sillero, the facade was designed by Juan Bautista de Toledo in 1559, who also helped in the roofing of the church. Parts of the altar, choir, and sacristy, were designed by Juan Gómez de Mora in 1612, gaspar Becerra in 1562 completed the main retablo of the altar, which was considered his master work. Unfortunately, this retablo was destroyed by fire in 1862, along many of the paintings. In 1863 the altar was replaced by one commissioned in 1716 by Philip V of Spain to commemorate the beatification of the French Jesuit John Francis Regis and it has a sculpted relief of the Apotheosis of Juan Francisco Régis, by Camillo Rusconi. The lateral panels were sculpted by Jose Bellver, the recumbent statue of the Jesuit was sculpted by Agostino Cornacchini. A chapel contains the statue of Joanna of Austria at prayer. Convent of Las Descalzas Reales Frommers - Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales
36.
Casita del Infante
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The Casita del Infante is a historic building in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain, constructed as a private home for the Infante Gabriel of Spain, hence its name. The small residence was built during the late 18th century during the reign of his father Charles III of Spain. The Casita was built in an era where it was popular for nobles and Royalty to have a hideaway to entertain informally. The Casita was built near the Renaissance monastery-palace of El Escorial between 1771 and 1773, the building was designed in Neoclassical style by the prominent architect Juan de Villanueva whose best-known building is the Museo del Prado in Madrid. Villanueva also designed the Casita del Príncipe, the residence of Gabriels older brother Infante Charles. The two casitas form a pair, with the Casita del Infante having the name of the Casita de Arriba indicating its position relative to the Casita del Principe. Patrimonial Nacional, the agency for Spanish royal sites, is responsible for managing the property. The gardens of the building were designed in the Italian style, sadly, the original decoration has been lost, one ceiling can still be seen and was painted by Vicente Gómez, the ceiling shows the Four Seasons. Infante Gabriel as well as his wife caught smallpox in 1788, the couple, as well as the Infante Carlos, were buried at the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial which can be seen from the Casita with beautiful views. The information on this page was taken from the Spanish Casita del Infante article
37.
Convent of San Pascual
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The Convento de San Pascual is a royal monastery in Aranjuez, in the Community of Madrid, Spain, founded by King Charles III of Spain as a Franciscan monastery and built from 1765 to 1770. Under the reign of Isabel II of Spain, it was assigned to the Conceptionist nuns, the architect was the Italian Francesco Sabatini. The main altar has a painting by Anton Raphael Mengs and it was declared Bien de Interés Cultural in 1999
38.
Alhambra
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The Alhambra, the complete Arabic form of which was Qalat Al-Hamra, is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It was converted into a palace in 1333 by Yusuf I. After the conclusion of the Christian Reconquista in 1492, the became the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella. Alhambras late flowering of Islamic palaces were built for the last Muslim emirs in Spain during the decline of the Nasrid dynasty who were subject to the Christian Kings of Castile. The Alhambra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the inspiration for many songs, Moorish poets described it as a pearl set in emeralds, an allusion to the colour of its buildings and the woods around them. The palace complex was designed with the site in mind. The park has a multitude of nightingales and is filled with the sound of running water from several fountains. These are supplied through a conduit 8 km long, which is connected with the Darro at the monastery of Jesus del Valle above Granada, Alhambra was extended by the different Muslim rulers who lived in the complex. However, each new section that was added followed the consistent theme of paradise on earth, column arcades, fountains with running water, and reflecting pools were used to add to the aesthetic and functional complexity. In every case, the exterior was plain and austere. Sun and wind were freely admitted, blue, red, and a golden yellow, all somewhat faded through lapse of time and exposure, are the colors chiefly employed. Much of this ornament is carved stucco rather than stone, tile mosaics, with complicated mathematical patterns, are largely used as panelling for the lower part. Similar designs are displayed on wooden ceilings, muqarnas are the main elements for vaulting with stucco, and some of the most accomplished dome examples of this kind are in the Court of the Lions halls. It is a place where artists and intellectuals had taken refuge as the Reconquista by Spanish Christians won victories over Al Andalus, the literal translation of Alhambra, the red, reflects the color of the red clay of the surroundings of which the fort is made. The buildings of the Alhambra were originally whitewashed, however, the buildings as seen today are reddish. Another possible origin of the name is the designation of the Nasrid Dynasty, known as the Banu al-Ahmar Arabic, Sons of the Red. One of the early Nasrid ancestors was nicknamed Yusuf Al Ahmar, the first reference to the Qal‘at al-Ḥamra was during the battles between the Arabs and the Muladies during the rule of the ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad. According to surviving documents from the era, the red castle was quite small, Ibn Nasr, the founder of the Nasrid Dynasty, was forced to flee to Jaén to avoid persecution by King Ferdinand III of Castile and the Reconquista supporters working to end Spains Moorish rule
39.
Buen Retiro Palace
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Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid was a large palace complex designed by the architect Alonso Carbonell and built on the orders of Philip IV of Spain as a secondary residence and place of recreation. It was built in what was then the limits of the city of Madrid. Today what little remains of its buildings and gardens forms the Retiro Park, Philip IV used to stay occasionally in some rooms annexed to the monastery of San Jerónimo el Real (close to the current location of the Prado Museum, which received the name of the Royal Quarters. The building of the palace was not something planned from the start, once finished, the palace consisted of more than 20 buildings and two large open squares used for court entertainments and various other acts. The palace complex was surrounded by an expanse of gardens and ponds. The lack of paintings in the market led to the commission of a series of paintings from Rome and Naples. For the Salón de Reinos a commemorative series of Spanish military triumphs was commissioned, other paintings of the series are due to Francisco Zurbarán, Antonio de Pereda, Juan Bautista Maíno and Vicente Carducho. The palace remained a residence until the late 18th century. Due to its hasty design and construction, the building of the palace was low-quality, including the materials used, during the Peninsular War, in 1808 French troops stationed in Madrid used the palace and its annexes as barracks. Powder kegs were stored in the gardens and a bunker was built for them, furthermore, the buildings were seriously damaged, so much so that when Isabella II tried to begin its restoration, it was decided that nothing could be done but to demolish it almost totally. The main remaining trace of the Palace complex is the gardens of Retiro Park, although these have no resemblance to the design of the gardens. The Salón de Baile, now known as the Casón del Buen Retiro, once housing the 19th century Prado collections, list of missing landmarks in Spain El Real Sitio del Buen Retiro El Palacio del Buen Retiro
40.
Bellver Castle
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Bellver Castle is a Gothic style castle on a hill 3 km to the west of the center of Palma on the Island of Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain. It was built in the 14th century for King James II of Majorca and they are attached while the principal one is coupled to the complex by a high bridge over the surrounding moat. Rock from the hill where the castle sits was used for the building, the castle has only fallen once in its history into enemy hands, in 1521 after an assault during the Majorcan seconds Revolt of the Brotherhoods. The castle was governed by a Lord Warden. In 1408, King Martin I of Aragon gave the lordship of Bellver to the Charterhouse of Jesus of Nazareth in Valldemossa, during the War of Spanish Succession it was used to imprison first supporters of Phillippe dAnjou, and after the Bourbon victory, Maulets. Having been founded as a seat for the court of James the raker of Mallorca. The most notable feature in its structure is its circular shape, both its surrounding wall and the inner yard are so-shaped, and so are the three minor towers and the donjon. A moat is found surrounding the castle and its donjon, the circular inner yard must be highlighted. It has a well in the middle of it, which there is a cistern underneath. The palace itself is structured as a building around the central yard. All its dependencies face this yard through a gallery of gothic semi-circular arches, in 1931, the Spanish Second Republic gave the castle to the city of Palma, along with the forest surrounding it. It became a museum in 1932, being restored in 1976 to become the citys History museum, thanks to the parking lot and road built next to the castle, it currently welcomes a great number of visitors. The main yard is the seat to many different public ceremonies, such as protocollary and cultural acts, due to its location and visibility from the sea or any other point of the city, it has become one the citys symbols. The surrounding forest encloses the stables of the citys Mounted Peelers, there is also a chapel dedicated to Saint Alphonsis Rodriguez, built between 1879 and 1885. The Sunday following Easter Sunday, the citizens gather at the forest and the castle for the celebration of the Diumenge de lÀngel. org
Media related to Alcázar of Segovia at Wikimedia Commons
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