1.
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
2.
Castilian Kingdom of Toledo
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The Kingdom of Toledo, was a realm in the Iberian Peninsula, created after Alfonso VI of Leóns capture of Toledo in 1085. It continued in existence until 1833, its region currently is within Spain, in April 1065 Emir Al-Muqtadir of Zaragoza besieged Barbastro, aided by 500 Sevillian knights. At around the same time Emir Al-Muqtadir broke off relationships with Castile, despite being a tributary of Castile, emir Al-Mamun of Toledo led a force in support of his son-in-law, Emir Abd al-Malik. Mamun subsequently dethroned Abd al-Malik and incorporated Valencia into the Kingdom of Toledo, Ferdinand fell dangerously ill and retired from the field. Ferdinand died in December 1065, and his empire was divided between his three sons, Sancho II in Castile, Alfonso VI in León, and García in Galicia. The former taifa lands remained subject to a struggle with its Muslim neighbors, at least until the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. The Muslim-led Kingdom of Toledo became a subordinate Christian-led southern realm of the Crown of Castille, having its own court and rulers. As the lands became more homogeneous, by the 18th century the territory was denominated New Castile, the old Kingdom of Toledo was disestablished in 1833, and its lands compose portions of several provinces of modern Spain
3.
Henry I of Castile
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Henry I of Castile was king of Castile. He was the son of Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England, in 1211 Henry became heir to the throne when his older brother Ferdinand suddenly died. When his father died in 1214 Henry was just 10 years old so the regency was assumed by Henrys older sister Berengaria of Castile, in 1215 Henry married Mafalda of Portugal, daughter of Sancho I of Portugal. As he was young, the marriage was not consummated. In the same year, Henry became betrothed to his second cousin Sancha, Henry died in Palencia in 1217 at the age of 13, killed by a tile coming off a roof. His sister Berengaria succeeded him, before renouncing the throne in favour of her son Ferdinand III and his body was interred at Las Huelgas monastery in Burgos. Charles William Previté-Orton, The shorter Cambridge Medieval History, Cambridge University Press,1952, taylor, Craig, Debating the Hundred Years War, Cambridge University Press,2006
4.
Ferdinand III of Castile
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Ferdinand III, called the Saint, was King of Castile from 1217 and King of León from 1230 as well as King of Galicia from 1231. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile, through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale. Ferdinand was canonized in 1671 by Pope Clement X and, in Spanish, he is known as Fernando el Santo, the exact date of Ferdinands birth is unclear. It has been proposed to have been as early as 1199 or even 1198, Ferdinand was born at the Monastery of Valparaíso. Ferdinand has other royal ancestors from his paternal grandmother Urraca of Portugal and his maternal grandmother Eleanor of England a daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. From his birth to 1204 Ferdinand was designated heir to his fathers kingdom of Leon with the support of his mother and the kingdom of Castile despite the fact that he was Alfonso IXs second son. Alfonso IX already had a son and two daughters from his first marriage to Teresa of Portugal but at the time he never acknowledge his first son as his heir, however, the Castilians saw the elder Ferdinand as a potential rival and threat to Berengarias son. The marriage of Ferdinands parents was annulled by order of Pope Innocent III in 1204, Berengaria then took their children, including Ferdinand, to the court of her father, King Alfonso VIII of Castile. In 1217, her brother, Henry I, died and she succeeded him on the Castilian throne with Ferdinand as her heir. When Ferdinands father, Alfonso IX of León, died in 1230, his will delivered the kingdom to his older daughters Sancha and Dulce, but Ferdinand contested the will, and claimed the inheritance for himself. Ferdinand thus became the first sovereign of both kingdoms since the death of Alfonso VII in 1157, early in his reign, Ferdinand had to deal with a rebellion of the House of Lara. Since the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 halted the advance of the Almohads in Spain, a series of truces had kept Castile and the Almohad dominions of al-Andalus more-or-less at peace. However, a crisis of succession in the Almohad Caliphate after the death of Yusuf II in 1224 opened to Ferdinand III an opportunity for intervention, al-Adils rebellious cousin, Abdallah al-Bayyasi, appealed to Ferdinand III for military assistance against the usurper. In 1225, a Castilian army accompanied al-Bayyasi in a campaign, ravaging the regions of Jaén, vega de Granada and, in payment, al-Bayyasi gave Ferdinand the strategic frontier strongholds of Baños de la Encina, Salvatierra and Capilla. When al-Bayyasi was rejected and killed by an uprising in Cordoba shortly after. The crisis in the Almohad Caliphate, however, remained unresolved, in 1228, a new Almohad pretender, Abd al-Ala Idris I al-Mamun, decided to abandon Spain, and left with the last remnant of the Almohad forces for Morocco. Al-Andalus was left fragmented in the hands of local strongmen, only led by Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Hud al-Judhami. There were no great battle encounters - Ibn Huds makeshift Andalusian army was destroyed early on, the Christian armies romped through the south virtually unopposed in the field
5.
Burgos
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Burgos is a city in northern Spain and the historic capital of Castile. It is situated on the confluence of the Arlanzón river tributaries and it has about 180,000 inhabitants in the actual city and another 20,000 in the metropolitan area. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the community of Castile. A large number of churches, palaces and other buildings from the medieval age remain, the city is surrounded by the Fuentes Blancas and the Paseo de la Isla parks. The city forms the principal crossroad of northern Spain along the Camino de Santiago and it has a well-developed transportation system, forming the main communication node in northern Spain. In 2008, the international Burgos Airport started to offer commercial flights, furthermore, AVE high speed trains are planned to start service in the near future, stopping at the newly-built Rosa de Lima train station. The Museum of Human Evolution was opened in 2010, unique in its kind across the world, the museum features the first Europeans, which lived in this area 800,000 years ago. Burgos was selected as the Spanish Gastronomy Capital of 2013, there are several possible origins for the toponymy. When the city was founded, the inhabitants of the country moved into the fortified village. The city began to be called Caput Castellae, early humans occupied sites around Burgos as early as 800,000 years ago. When the Romans took possession of what is now the province of Burgos, in Roman times, it belonged to Hispania Citerior and then to Hispania Tarraconensis. The region came to be known as Castile, i. e. land of castles, the city began to be called Caput Castellae. The county of Burgos, subject to the Kings of León, continued to be governed by counts and was extended, one of these counts, Fernán González. In the 11th century, the city became the see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burgos, throughout the 13th and 14th centuries, Burgos was a favourite seat of the kings of León and Castile and a favoured burial site. In 1285, Sancho IV added a new body to the consejo which came to dominate it, the jurado in charge of collecting taxes and overseeing public works, the alguacil was the royal official instituted to judge disagreements. On 9 June 1345, sweeping aside the city government, Alfonso XI established direct rule of Burgos through the Regimiento of sixteen appointed men. In 1574, Pope Gregory XIII made the bishopric a Metropolitan archbishorpic, Burgos has been the scene of many wars, with the Moors, the struggles between León and Navarre, and between Castile and Aragon. In the Peninsular War against Napoleonic France, the siege of Burgos was a scene of a withdrawal for Arthur Wellesley, again in the 19th-century Carlist civil wars of the Spanish succession Burgos was the scene of a battle
6.
Alfonso of Molina
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Alfonso of León, Lord of Molina was an infante of León and Castile, the son of King Alfonso IX of León and his second wife Queen Berengaria of Castile. He was the brother of King Ferdinand III of Castile and León and he became Lord of Molina and Mesa after his first marriage to Mafalda González de Lara, the heiress of those lands. Alfonso was the son of King Alfonso IX of León and his second wife, on his fathers side he was the grandson of King Ferdinand II of León and his first wife, Urraca of Portugal. On his mothers side his grandparents were King Alfonso VIII of Castile and his wife and his siblings included King Ferdinand III of Castile and León, Berengaria, Constance, and Eleanor. Alfonso was born near the city of León in 1202, as the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berengaria of Castile, he witnessed the bad relations between the two kingdoms during his childhood, after the annulment of his parents marriage. At the Battle of Navas de Tolosa, his father and the King of Portugal were the kings from the Iberian Peninsula who did not take part, in contrast to those of Castile, Aragon. In fact, Alfonso IX took advantage of the absence of his cousin Alfonso VIII to invade Castile, in 1222 Ferdinand III found himself at odds with Gonzalo Pérez de Lara, Lord of Molina, due to the latters support of Alfonso IX. But the two managed to come to terms, ratifying the Treaty of Zafra in 1223. Berengaria played a role in the negotiations. The aim of Gonzalos martial actions, including the devastation of some villages near Medinaceli, was to foment an uprising of Castilian nobles against Ferdinand in support of his father. Ferdinand was now opposed to the autonomy enjoyed by the Gonzalo and his family. He laid siege to the Castle of Zafra, where Gonzalo took refuge with his retainers, Gonzalo ultimately surrendered and accepted the conditions imposed on him. Thus the Crown would establish control over the Lordship of Molina, in 1240 he expanded the privileges of Molina, and in 1272, on his death, his daughter Blanca did so again. According to contemporary chroniclers, Alfonso of Molina was a man possessed of considerable virtues as well as a calm temperament. In 1230, on the death of his father Alfonso IX, he could have sought the throne of León, since Alfonso IX did not wish to bequeath it to his other son Ferdinand III, who was already King of Castile. In fact Alfonso IX named as his heirs his two daughters, Princesses Sancha and Dulce, Alfonso of Molina, who had previously refused the throne, was rewarded by the king with his favor, with distinctions, and with many gifts, lands, and privileges. He accompanied his brother on most of his campaigns and was closely identified with the cause of the Reconquista as well as whatever enterprises the king might undertake. Nevertheless, various historians have indicated that the Prince Alfonso to which contemporary chronicles refer was not the kings son, from Salamanca, and passing through Toledo where they were joined by 40 knights, they made their way toward Andújar
7.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
8.
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
9.
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
10.
Castilian language
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Spanish —also called Castilian —is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain, with hundreds of millions of native speakers around the world. It is usually considered the worlds second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese and it is one of the few languages to use inverted question and exclamation marks. Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages, which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Beginning in the early 16th century, Spanish was taken to the colonies of the Spanish Empire, most notably to the Americas, as well as territories in Africa, Oceania, around 75% of modern Spanish is derived from Latin. Greek has also contributed substantially to Spanish vocabulary, especially through Latin, Spanish vocabulary has been in contact from an early date with Arabic, having developed during the Al-Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula. With around 8% of its vocabulary being Arabic in origin, this language is the second most important influence after Latin and it has also been influenced by Basque as well as by neighboring Ibero-Romance languages. It also adopted words from languages such as Gothic language from the Visigoths in which many Spanish names and surnames have a Visigothic origin. Spanish is one of the six languages of the United Nations. It is the language in the world by the number of people who speak it as a mother tongue, after Mandarin Chinese. It is estimated more than 437 million people speak Spanish as a native language. Spanish is the official or national language in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, speakers in the Americas total some 418 million. In the European Union, Spanish is the tongue of 8% of the population. Spanish is the most popular second language learned in the United States, in 2011 it was estimated by the American Community Survey that of the 55 million Hispanic United States residents who are five years of age and over,38 million speak Spanish at home. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the language of the whole Spanish State in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas. Article III reads as follows, El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado, las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas. Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State, the other Spanish languages as well shall be official in their respective Autonomous Communities. The Spanish Royal Academy, on the hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. Two etymologies for español have been suggested, the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary derives the term from the Provençal word espaignol, and that in turn from the Medieval Latin word Hispaniolus, from—or pertaining to—Hispania
11.
Queen regnant
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An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire. A queen regnant possesses and exercises sovereign powers, a queen consort shares her husbands rank and titles, but does not share the sovereignty of her husband. The husband of a queen regnant traditionally does not share his wifes rank, however, the concept of a king consort is not unheard of in contemporary or classical periods. A queen dowager is the widow of a king, a queen mother is a queen dowager who is also the mother of a reigning sovereign. The Byzantine Empress Irene sometimes called herself basileus, emperor, rather than basilissa, empress and Jadwiga of Poland was crowned as Rex Poloniae, King of Poland. Among the Davidic Monarchs of the Kingdom of Judah, there is mentioned a queen regnant, Athaliah. The much later Hasmonean Queen Salome Alexandra was highly popular, accession of a regnant occurs as a nations order of succession permits. The scope of succession may be matrilineal, patrilineal, or both, or, rarely, open to general election when necessary, the right of succession may be open to men and women, or limited to men only or women only. Historically, many realms forbade succession by women or through a line in obedience to the Salic law. No queen regnant ever ruled France, for example, only one woman, Maria Theresa, ruled Austria. As noted in the list below of widely known ruling queens, in the waning days of the 20th century and early days of the 21st, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Luxembourg and the UK amended their acts of succession to absolute primogeniture. In some cases the change does not take effect during the lifetimes of people already in the line of succession at the time the law was passed, in 2011, the 16 Realms of the Commonwealth agreed to remove the rule of male-preference primogeniture. Once the necessary legislation was passed, this means that had Prince William had a daughter first, in China, Wu Zetian became the Chinese empress regnant and established the Zhou Dynasty after dismissing her sons. It should be noted, however, that Empress Wu used the title huangdi and in many European sources, although the Chrysanthemum Throne of Japan is currently barred to women, this has not always been the case, throughout Japanese history there have been eight empresses regnant. Again, the Japanese language uses the term josei tennō for the position which would be empress regnant in English, monarch Order of succession Queen consort Rani Regent Salic law Sultana Monter, William. The Rise of Female Kings in Europe, 1300-1800, studies 30 women who exercised full sovereign authority in Europe
12.
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
13.
Queen consort
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A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. In Brunei, the wife of the Sultan is known as a Raja Isteri with prefix Pengiran Anak, equivalent with queen consort in English, a queen consort usually shares her husbands social rank and status. She holds the equivalent of the kings monarchical titles, but historically, she does not share the kings political. A queen regnant is a queen in her own right with all the powers of a monarch, where some title other than that of king is held by the sovereign, his wife is referred to by the feminine equivalent, such as princess consort or empress consort. In monarchies where polygamy has been practiced in the past, or is practiced today. In Morocco, King Mohammed VI has broken with tradition and given his wife, Lalla Salma, prior to the reign of King Mohammed VI, the Moroccan monarchy had no such title. In Thailand, the king and queen must both be of royal descent, the kings other consorts are accorded royal titles that confer status. Other cultures maintain different traditions on queenly status, a Zulu chieftain designates one of his wives Great Wife, which would be the equivalent to queen consort. Conversely, in Yorubaland, all of a chiefs princess consorts are essentially of equal rank, in general, the consorts of monarchs have no power per se, even when their position is constitutionally or statutorily recognized. In some cases, the queen consort has been the power behind her husbands throne, e. g. Maria Luisa of Parma. Past queens consort, Queen Jang, consort to Sukjong of Joseon
14.
Holy Roman Emperor
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The Holy Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. From an autocracy in Carolingian times the title evolved into an elected monarchy chosen by the Prince-electors, until the Reformation the Emperor elect was required to be crowned by the Pope before assuming the imperial title. The title was held in conjunction with the rule of the Kingdom of Germany, in theory, the Holy Roman Emperor was primus inter pares among the other Catholic monarchs, in practice, a Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances made him. Various royal houses of Europe, at different times, effectively became hereditary holders of the title, after the Reformation many of the subject states and most of those in Germany were Protestant while the Emperor continued to be Catholic. The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved by the last Emperor as a result of the collapse of the polity during the Napoleonic wars, from the time of Constantine I the Roman emperors had, with very few exceptions, taken on a role as promoters and defenders of Christianity. In the west, the title of Emperor was revived in 800, as the power of the papacy grew during the Middle Ages, popes and emperors came into conflict over church administration. The best-known and most bitter conflict was known as the Investiture Controversy. After Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III, no pope appointed an emperor again until the coronation of Otto the Great in 962. Under Otto and his successors, much of the former Carolingian kingdom of Eastern Francia fell within the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire, the various German princes elected one of their peers as King of the Germans, after which he would be crowned as emperor by the Pope. After Charles Vs coronation, all succeeding emperors were called elected Emperor due to the lack of papal coronation, the term sacrum in connection with the medieval Roman Empire was first used in 1157 under Frederick I Barbarossa. Charles V was the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned by the Pope, the final Holy Roman Emperor-elect, Francis II, abdicated in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars that saw the Empires final dissolution. The standard designation of the Holy Roman Emperor was August Emperor of the Romans, the word Holy had never been used as part of that title in official documents. In German-language historiography, the term Römisch-deutscher Kaiser is used to distinguish the title from that of Roman Emperor on one hand, the English term Holy Roman Emperor is a modern shorthand for emperor of the Holy Roman Empire not corresponding to the historical style or title. Successions to the kingship were controlled by a variety of complicated factors, elections meant the kingship of Germany was only partially hereditary, unlike the kingship of France, although sovereignty frequently remained in a dynasty until there were no more male successors. The Electoral council was set at seven princes by the Golden Bull of 1356, another elector was added in 1690, and the whole college was reshuffled in 1803, a mere three years before the dissolution of the Empire. After 1438, the Kings remained in the house of Habsburg and Habsburg-Lorraine, with the exception of Charles VII. Maximilian I and his successors no longer travelled to Rome to be crowned as Emperor by the Pope, Maximilian therefore named himself Elected Roman Emperor in 1508 with papal approval. This title was in use by all his uncrowned successors, of his successors only Charles V, the immediate one, received a papal coronation
15.
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
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Frederick I, also known as Frederick Barbarossa, was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and he became King of Italy in 1155 and was crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155. Two years later, the term sacrum first appeared in a document in connection with his Empire and he was later formally crowned King of Burgundy, at Arles on 30 June 1178. He was named Barbarossa by the northern Italian cities which he attempted to rule, Barbarossa means red beard in Italian, in German, he was known as Kaiser Rotbart, before his imperial election, Frederick was by inheritance Duke of Swabia. He was the son of Duke Frederick II of the Hohenstaufen dynasty and Judith, daughter of Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria, Frederick therefore descended from the two leading families in Germany, making him an acceptable choice for the Empires prince-electors. Historians consider him among the Holy Roman Empires greatest medieval emperors, in 1147 he became Duke of the southern German region of Swabia, and shortly afterwards made his first trip to the East, accompanied by his uncle, the German king Conrad III, on the Second Crusade. The expedition proved to be a disaster, but Frederick distinguished himself, when Conrad died in February 1152, only Frederick and the prince-bishop of Bamberg were at his deathbed. Frederick energetically pursued the crown and at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 the kingdoms princely electors designated him as the next German king and he was crowned King of the Romans at Aachen several days later, on 9 March 1152. Fredericks father was from the Hohenstaufen family, and his mother was from the Welf family, the Hohenstaufens were often called Ghibellines, which derives from the Italianized name for Waiblingen castle, the family seat in Swabia, the Welfs, in a similar Italianization, were called Guelfs. The reigns of Henry IV and Henry V left the status of the German empire in disarray, for a quarter of a century following the death of Henry V in 1125, the German monarchy was largely a nominal title with no real power. The king was chosen by the princes, was given no resources outside those of his own duchy, the royal title was furthermore passed from one family to another to preclude the development of any dynastic interest in the German crown. When Frederick I of Hohenstaufen was chosen as king in 1152, royal power had been in abeyance for over twenty-five years. The only real claim to lay in the rich cities of northern Italy. The Salian line had died out with the death of Henry V in 1125, one of the Hohenstaufens gained the throne as Conrad III of Germany. When Frederick Barbarossa succeeded his uncle in 1152, there seemed to be excellent prospects for ending the feud, the Welf duke of Saxony, Henry the Lion, would not be appeased, however, remaining an implacable enemy of the Hohenstaufen monarchy. Barbarossa had the duchies of Swabia and Franconia, the force of his own personality, the Germany that Frederick tried to unite was a patchwork of more than 1600 individual states, each with its own prince. A few of these, such as Bavaria and Saxony, were large, many were too small to pinpoint on a map. The titles afforded to the German king were Caesar, Augustus, by the time Frederick would assume these, they were little more than propaganda slogans with little other meaning
16.
Pope Innocent III
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Pope Innocent III reigned from 8 January 1198 to his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni, Pope Innocent was one of the most powerful and influential popes. He exerted an influence over the Christian states of Europe. Pope Innocent was central in supporting the Catholic Churchs reforms of ecclesiastical affairs through his decretals and this resulted in a considerable refinement of Western canon law. Pope Innocent is notable for using interdict and other censures to compel princes to obey his decisions, Innocent called for Christian crusades against Muslim Spain and the Holy Land, as well as the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars in southern France. One of Pope Innocents critical decisions was organizing the Fourth Crusade, originally intended to attack Jerusalem through Egypt, a series of unforeseen circumstances led the crusaders to Constantinople, where they ultimately sacked the city in 1204. Lotario de Conti was born in Gavignano, near Anagni and his father was Count Trasimund of Segni and was a member of a famous house, Conti, which produced nine Popes, including Gregory IX, Alexander IV and Innocent XIII. Lotario was the nephew of Pope Clement III, his mother, as Pope, Lotario was to play a major role in the shaping of canon law through conciliar canons and decretal letters. He subscribed the papal bulls between 7 December 1190 and 4 November 1197, as a cardinal, Lotario wrote De miseria humanae conditionis. The work was popular for centuries, surviving in more than 700 manuscripts. Although he never returned to the work he intended to write, On the Dignity of Human Nature. Celestine III died on 8 January 1198 and he was only thirty-seven years old at the time. He took the name Innocent III, maybe as a reference to his predecessor Innocent II, as pope, Innocent III began with a very wide sense of his responsibility and of his authority. The Muslim recapture of Jerusalem in 1187 was to him a divine judgment on the moral lapses of Christian princes and he was also determined to protect what he called the liberty of the Church from inroads by secular princes. The patrimonium was routinely threatened by Hohenstaufen German kings who, as Roman emperors, the early death of Henry VI left his 4-year-old son Frederick II as king. Henry VI’s widow Constance of Sicily ruled over Sicily for her son before he reached the age of majority. She was as eager to remove German power from the kingdom of Sicily as was Innocent III, before her death in 1198, she named Innocent as guardian of the young Frederick until he reached his maturity. In exchange, Innocent was also able to recover papal rights in Sicily that had been surrendered decades earlier to King William I of Sicily by Pope Adrian IV, the Pope invested the young Frederick II as King of Sicily in November 1198
17.
Regent
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A regent is a person appointed to administer a state because the monarch is a minor, is absent or is incapacitated. The rule of a regent or regents is called a regency, a regent or regency council may be formed ad hoc or in accordance with a constitutional rule. Regent is sometimes a formal title, if the formally appointed regent is unavailable or cannot serve on a temporary basis, a Regent ad interim may be appointed to fill the gap. In a monarchy, a regent usually governs due to one of these reasons and this was the case in the Kingdom of Finland and the Kingdom of Hungary, where the royal line was considered extinct in the aftermath of World War I. In Iceland, the regent represented the King of Denmark as sovereign of Iceland until the country became a republic in 1944, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, kings were elective, which often led to a fairly long interregnum. In the interim, it was the Roman Catholic Primate who served as the regent, in the small republic of San Marino, the two Captains Regent, or Capitani Reggenti, are elected semi-annually as joint heads of state and of government. Famous regency periods include that of the Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, giving rise to terms such as Regency era. Strictly this period lasted from 1811 to 1820, when his father George III was insane, as of 1 December 2016, Liechtenstein is the only country with an active regency. The term regent may refer to lower than the ruler of a country. The term may be used in the governance of organisations, typically as an equivalent of director, some university managers in North America are called regents and a management board for a college or university may be titled the Board of Regents. The term regent is used for members of governing bodies of institutions such as the national banks of France. This type of group portrait was popular in Dutch Golden Age painting during the 17th century, in the Dutch East Indies, a regent was a native prince allowed to rule de facto colonized state as a regentschap. Consequently, in the state of Indonesia, the term regent is used in English to mean a bupati. Again in Belgium and France, Regent is the title of a teacher in a lower secondary school. In the Philippines, specifically, the University of Santo Tomas, the Father Regent and they also form the Council of Regents that serves as the highest administrative council of the university. In the Society of Jesus, a regent is a training to be a Jesuit. A regent in the Jesuits is often assigned to teach in a school or some other academic institution as part of the formation toward final vows, list of regents Viceroy, an individual who, in a colony or province, exercised the power of a monarch on his behalf
18.
Reconquista
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The Reconquista ended just before the European discovery of the Americas—the New World—which ushered in the era of the Portuguese and Spanish colonial empires. The concept of a Christian reconquest of the peninsula first emerged, in tenuous form, a landmark was set by the Christian Chronica Prophetica, a document stressing the Christian and Muslim cultural and religious divide in Iberia and the necessity to drive the Muslims out. Nevertheless, the difference between Christian and Muslim kingdoms in early medieval Spain was not seen at the time as anything like the clear-cut opposition that later emerged, both Christian and Muslim rulers fought amongst themselves. Alliances between Muslims and Christians were not uncommon, blurring distinctions even further were the mercenaries from both sides who simply fought for whoever paid the most. The period is looked back upon today as one of religious tolerance. In fact previous documents from the 10th and 11th centuries are mute on any idea of reconquest and their rebellious pursuit was thus a Crusade for the restoration of Churchs unity, where Franco stood for both Pelagius of Asturias and El Cid. Many recent historians dispute the concept of Reconquista as a concept created a posteriori in the service of later political goals. A number of historians have called it a myth, One of the first Spanish intellectuals to question the idea of a reconquest that lasted for eight centuries was José Ortega y Gasset, writing in the first half of the 20th century. However, the term is widely in use. In 711, Muslim Moors, mainly North African Berber soldiers with some Arabs, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, from their stronghold of Narbonne, they launched raids into the Duchy of Aquitaine. At no point did the invading Islamic armies exceed 60,000 men and these armies established an Islamic rule that would last 300 years in much of the Iberian Peninsula and 770 years in Granada. After the establishment of a local Emirate, Caliph Al-Walid I, ruler of the Umayyad caliphate, tariq ibn Ziyad, the first governor of the newly conquered province of Al-Andalus, was recalled to Damascus and replaced with Musa bin Nusair, who had been his former superior. Musas son, Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa, apparently married Egilona, Roderics widow and he was suspected of being under the influence of his wife, accused of wanting to convert to Christianity, and of planning a secessionist rebellion. Apparently a concerned Al-Walid I ordered Abd al-Azizs assassination, Caliph Al-Walid I died in 715 and was succeeded by his brother Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik. Sulayman seems to have punished the surviving Musa bin Nusair, who soon died during a pilgrimage in 716. In the end Abd al-Aziz ibn Musas cousin, Ayyub ibn Habib al-Lakhmi became the emir of Al-Andalus, the conquering generals were necessarily acting very independently, due to the methods of communication available. Old rivalries and perhaps even full-fledged conspiracies between rival generals may have had influence over this development, in the end, the old successful generals were replaced by a younger generation considered more loyal by the government in Damascus. A serious weakness amongst the Muslim conquerors was the tension between Berbers and Arabs
19.
Seligenstadt
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Seligenstadt is a town in the Offenbach district in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Seligenstadt is one of Germany’s oldest towns and was already of importance in Carolingian times. Seligenstadt is one of 13 towns and communities in the Offenbach district, the town lies on the river Main’s left bank roughly 25 km southeast of Frankfurt am Main, directly neighbouring Bavaria. Seligenstadt’s Stadtteile are Seligenstadt, Klein-Welzheim and Froschhausen, Seligenstadt is located in the Hanau-Seligenstadt Basin, a Cenozoic subsidence basin between the local highlands of Spessart and Odenwald. Quaternary fluvial deposits of the river Main overlying Pliocene, lignite bearing sequences and Miocene sands, sometime about AD100, during the reign of Roman Emperor Trajan, a cohort castrum was built on what is now Seligenstadts marketplace and parts of its old town. Since the 16th century, this castrum has been referred to by the name Selgum, the 500 legionaries and auxiliary forces stationed there belonged to the Legio XXII Primigenia, based in Mogontiacum. The cohort was known by the name Cohors I Civium Romanorum equitata and was responsible for security along the stretch of the Limes Germanicus running along the Main. With the fall of the Limes as a result of raids by the Alamanni in about AD260, the castrum was abandoned, and the Romans withdrew farther behind the Rhine line. On the former castrum’s rubble and on what is now the area in a section of the Breitenbach valley arose the early mediaeval settlement of Mulinheim superior, or Obermühlheim. Seligenstadt had its first documentary mention on 11 January 815 in a donation document, the town was founded by Charlemagne’s biographer Einhard. After he had acquired the Frankish settlement of Obermulinheim from Louis the Pious in 815 as a donation, mentioned as an earlier owner is a Count Drogo. About 830, building began on the Einhard-Basilika, the current version of which is now the landmark of Seligenstadt. Einhard died in 840 and he and his partner, Imma, are buried in a chapel in the transept of the church. In 1028, a Roman Catholic synod was held, whose most important result was the introduction of ember days with their rules for fasting. In 1063, Emperor Heinrich IV confirmed to the Archbishop of Mainz the lawfulness of his ownership of the abbey, Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa held court in Seligenstadt in 1188. During his reign the community acquired town rights, until 1309, Seligenstadt was a freie Reichsstadt. At that point, it came to the Archbishop of Mainz who remained the ruler until 1803. In 1527, Archbishop Albert of Mainz brought in a new town order whereby the Seligenstadt townsmen’s rights were sharply limited, during the Thirty Years War, a Swedish commissary administered the abbey on King Gustav II Adolf’s behalf
20.
Hohenstaufen
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The Hohenstaufen, also called the Staufer or Staufen, were a dynasty of German kings during the Middle Ages. Besides Germany, they ruled the Kingdom of Sicily. In Italian historiography, they are known as the Svevi, since they were dukes of Swabia from 1079, three members of the dynasty—Frederick I, Henry VI and Frederick II—were crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The name Staufen derives from Stauf, meaning chalice, and was applied to conical hills in Swabia in the Middle Ages. The family derives its name from the castle which the first Swabian duke of the lineage built there in the half of the 11th century. Staufen castle was finally called Hohenstaufen by historians in the 19th century. The name of the dynasty followed, but in recent decades the trend in German historiography has been to prefer the name Staufer, the noble family first appeared in the late 10th century in the Swabian Riesgau region around the former Carolingian court of Nördlingen. A local count Frederick is mentioned as progenitor in a pedigree drawn up by Abbot Wibald of Stavelot at the behest of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1153. He held the office of a Swabian count palatine, his son Frederick of Buren married Hildegard of Egisheim-Dagsburg and their son Frederick I was appointed Duke of Swabia at Hohenstaufen Castle by the Salian king Henry IV of Germany in 1079. At the same time, Duke Frederick I was engaged to the kings approximately seventeen-year-old daughter, Fredericks brother Otto was elevated to the Strasbourg bishopric in 1082. Upon Fredericks death, he was succeeded by his son, Duke Frederick II, Frederick II remained a close ally of the Salians, he and his younger brother Conrad were named the kings representatives in Germany when the king was in Italy. Around 1120, Frederick II married Judith of Bavaria from the rival House of Welf, when the last male member of the Salian dynasty, Emperor Henry V, died without heirs in 1125, a controversy arose about the succession. A civil war between Fredericks dynasty and Lothairs ended with Fredericks submission in 1134, after Lothairs death in 1137, Fredericks brother Conrad was elected King as Conrad III. In 1147, Conrad heard Bernard of Clairvaux preach the Second Crusade at Speyer, conrads brother Duke Frederick II died in 1147, and was succeeded in Swabia by his son, Duke Frederick III. When King Conrad III died without heir in 1152, Frederick also succeeded him. As royal access to the resources of the church in Germany was much reduced and he was soon crowned emperor in Italy, but decades of warfare on the peninsula yielded scant results. The Papacy and the prosperous city-states of the Lombard League in northern Italy were traditional enemies, under the skilled leadership of Pope Alexander III, the alliance suffered many defeats but ultimately was able to deny the emperor a complete victory in Italy. During Fredericks long stays in Italy, the German princes became stronger, offers of reduced taxes and manorial duties enticed many Germans to settle in the east in the course of the Ostsiedlung
21.
Valladolid
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Valladolid is a city in Spain and the de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It has a population of 309,714 people, making it Spains 13th most populous municipality and its metropolitan area ranks 20th in Spain with a population of 414,244 people in 23 municipalities. The city is situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within five winegrowing regions, Ribera del Duero, Rueda, Toro, Tierra de León, Valladolid was originally settled in pre-Roman times by the Celtic Vaccaei people, and later the Romans themselves. It remained a settlement until being re-established by King Alfonso VI of Castile as a Lordship for the Count Pedro Ansúrez in 1072. The Catholic Monarchs, Isabel I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, married in Valladolid in 1469 and established it as the capital of the Kingdom of Castile and later of united Spain. Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid in 1506, while authors Francisco de Quevedo, the city was briefly the capital of Habsburg Spain under Phillip III between 1601 and 1606, before returning indefinitely to Madrid. The city then declined until the arrival of the railway in the 19th century, among the events that are held each year in the city there is Holy Week, Valladolid International Film Week, and the Theatre Festival and street arts. There is no evidence for the origin of the modern name of Valladolid. Another theory suggests that the name derives from the Arabic expression Ballad Al-Walid بلد الوليد, yet a third claims that it derives from Vallis Olivetum, meaning valley of the olives. In texts from the ages the town is called Vallisoletum, meaning sunny valley. The city is popularly called Pucela, a nickname whose origin is not clear. Another theory is that Pucela comes from the fact that Pozzolana cement was sold there, the Vaccaei was a Celtic tribe, the first people with stable presence on the sector of the middle valley of the River Duero documented in historical times. Remains of Celtiberian and of a Roman camp have been excavated near the city, the nucleus of the city was originally located in the area of the current San Miguel y el Rosarillo square, and was surrounded by a palisade. Archaeological proofs of the existence of three ancient lines of walls have been found, the area was captured from the Moors in the 10th century, and Valladolid was a village until King Alfonso VI of León and Castile donated it to Count Pedro Ansúrez in 1072. He built a palace for himself and his wife, Countess Eylo, the Collegiate of St. Mary, in 1469 Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon were married in the city, by the 15th century Valladolid was the residence of the kings of Castile. In 1506 Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid still convinced that he had reached the Indies in a house that is now a Museum dedicated to him and it was made the capital of the kingdom again between 1601 and 1606 by Philip III. The city was damaged by a flood of the rivers Pisuerga. Despite the damage to the old city by the 1960s economic boom, the Science Museum is next to the river Pisuerga
22.
Salamanca
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Salamanca is a city in northwestern Spain that is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the community of Castile and León. The city lies on several hills by the Tormes River and its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is one of the most important university cities in Spain, Salamanca attracts thousands of international students, generating a diverse environment. It is situated approximately 200 kilometres west of the Spanish capital Madrid and 80 km east of the Portuguese border, with its 30,000 students, the university is, together with tourism, a primary source of income in Salamanca. In the 3rd century BC, Hannibal laid siege to the city, with the fall of the Carthaginians to the Romans, the city of Helmantica, as it was known, began to take more importance as a commercial hub in the Roman Hispania due to its favorable location. Salamanca lay on a Roman road, known as the Vía de la Plata and its Roman bridge dates from the 1st century, and was a part of this road. With the fall of the Roman Empire, the Alans established in Lusitania, later the city was conquered by the Visigoths and included in their territory. The city was already an episcopal see, and signatures of bishops of Salamanca are found in the Councils of Toledo, Salamanca surrendered to the Moors, led by Musa bin Nusair, in the year 712 AD. For years, this area between the south of Duero River and the north of Tormes River, became the battlefield between the Christian kingdoms and the Muslim Al-Andalus rulers. The constant fighting of the Kingdom of León first, and the Kingdom of Castile and León later against the Caliphate depopulated Salamanca, after the battle of Simancas the Christians resettled this area. After the capture of Toledo by Alfonso VI of León and Castile in 1085, raymond of Burgundy, instructed by his father-in-law Alfonso VI of León, led a group of settlers of various origins in 1102. Soon it became one of the most significant and prestigious academic centres in Europe, during the 16th century, the city reached its height of splendour. During that period, the University of Salamanca hosted the most important intellectuals of the time, in 1551, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ordered an inquiry to find out if the science of Andreas Vesalius, physician and anatomist, was in line with Catholic doctrine. Vesalius came to Salamanca that same year to appear before the board and was acquitted, Salamanca suffered the general downturns of the Kingdom of Castile during the 17th century, but in the 18th century it experienced a rebirth. In this period, the new baroque Cathedral and main square were finished, the battle which raged that day is famous as a defining moment in military history, many thousands of men were slaughtered by cannon fire in the space of only a few short hours. During the devastating Spanish Civil War the city went over to the Nationalist side and was used as the de facto capital. The Nationalists soon moved most of the departments to Burgos. Like much of fervently Catholic and largely rural Leon and Old Castile regions, Salamanca was a supporter of the Nationalist side
23.
Castroverde
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Castroverde is a municipality in Lugo province, Spain. Castroverde is located in the mid-northeast of the community of Galicia. The main economic activity is milk and meat production, there are also a few rabbit and poultry farms. Rural tourism has some importance with a few rural hotels, because farming is increasingly automated, Castroverdes population shrank during the 20th century, and prospects say that this process will continue until the present century. Administrative subdivisions are called parishes, it has its origin in church organization and these 37 parishes are very rich in archeological vestiges, beautiful churches and chapels, waterwheels and pazos. Remains of an important Castle are also present in Castroverde, the territory is a transition zone between the plateau and the Sierras Eastern. The field is gaining height towards the east, Sierras de Moneiro, from O Mirador, from A Baqueriza with a height of 836 meters, numerous rivulets run down from these mountains. The rivers Guimaras, Azúmara, Romean, Outeiro and Tórdea are all tributaries of the Minho river, the climate is oceanic with continental nuances. It has a variation of up to 13 °C between low winter temperatures and mild summer. Rainfall measures at about 1,000 millimeters, the king Silo of Asturias, who reign from 774 until 783, overturn a rebellion of Galician nobles in the parish of Montecubeiro, Castroverde. Paco Pestana, Sculptor born in Peredo parish, Castroverde
24.
Castilian Spanish
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In English, Castilian Spanish usually refers to the variety of Peninsular Spanish spoken in northern and central Spain or as the language standard for radio and TV speakers. In Spanish, the term usually refers to the Spanish language as a whole, or to the medieval Old Spanish language. The term Castilian Spanish can be used in English for the dialects of Spanish spoken in north. Sometimes it is loosely used to denote the Spanish spoken in all of Spain as compared to Spanish spoken in Latin America. There are several different dialects of Spanish in the languages in Spain of which Castilian is only the most prominent. For Spanish speakers, castellano most often refers to the language as a whole, the Real Academia Española defines Castilian Spanish as a standard language, and many speakers accept RAE as the governing body of the language. Spanish grammar and to a lesser extent pronunciation can vary sometimes between variants, the term in Spanish for dialects spoken in Northern and Central Spanish would be español septentrional or castellano septentrional. Thus, in most variations of Spanish from Spain, cinco is pronounced /ˈθiŋko/ as opposed to /ˈsiŋko/ in Latin American Spanish, and similarly for zapato, cerdo, zorro, Zurbarán. Distinción also occurs in the area around Cusco, Peru, where survives in a few words like the numbers doce, trece and, with some people, additionally, all Latin-American dialects drop the non-formal vosotros verb form for the second person plural, using ustedes in all contexts. In Spain, ustedes is used only in a formal context, some other minor differences are, The widespread use of le instead of lo as the masculine direct object pronoun, especially referring to people. This morphological variation, known as leísmo is typical of a strip of land in central Spain which includes Madrid, a distinct phoneme for ll is still heard in the speech of older speakers in rural areas throughout Spain, but most Spanish-speaking adults and youngsters merge ll and y. In Latin America, ll remains different from y in traditional dialects along the Andes range, especially in the Peruvian highlands, all of Bolivia, in the Philippines, speakers of Spanish and Filipino employ the distinction between ll /ʎ/ and y /j/. In most of Latin America, usted is used more often than in mainland Spain, however, in Latin America, this tendency is less common among young people, especially in Caribbean dialects. In the Caribbean, Colombia, Venezuela, other parts of Latin America, characteristic of Spanish from Spain is the voiceless alveolar retracted sibilant, also called apico-alveolar or grave, which is often perceived as intermediate between a laminal/dental and. This sound is prevalent also in Colombian Paisa region, and Andean Spanish dialects, words containing these three letters together -atl- are pronounced in a different way in Castilian Spanish as compared to Latin American Spanish. In Spain, words like Atlántico and atleta are pronounced according to the syllabication At-lán-ti-co, instead, in Latin America, the pronunciation follows the syllabication A-tlán-ti-co and a-tle-ta. The meaning of words may differ greatly between both dialects of the language, carro refers to car in some Latin American dialects but to cart in Spain. Also, speakers of the second tend to use words and polite-set expressions that
25.
House of Lara
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The House of Lara, is a noble family from the medieval Kingdom of Castile. Two of its branches, those from the Duke of Nájera, the House of Lara were most prominent in the history of Castile and León from the 11th to the 14th century. For example, Álvaro Núñez de Lara served as regent for Henry I of Castile and they were dispossessed of much of their land by Peter the Cruel, but most was returned by Henry II. During the 12th through 15th centuries, members of the Lara family found themselves at different times either supporting of or opposing their monarch, in 1113, Pedro González de Lara supported Queen Urraca in her struggles against her former husband, King Alfonso I of Aragon. Pedro and his brother, Rodrigo, also confronted her son King Alfonso VII in 1130, Rodrigo later helped Alfonso counter the rise of the Almoravids. Manrique Pérez de Lara, Álvar Pérez and Nuño Pérez de Lara disputed the regency of King Alfonso VIII, Álvaro Núñez de Lara became regent of King Henry I. Nuño González de Lara served King Ferdinand III and King Alfonso X, juan Núñez I de Lara el Gordo, Señor de Albarracín, opposed the enthronement of King Sancho IV, and had to temporarily flee to France. Juan Núñez II de Lara headed various rebellions against King Alfonso XI, ultimately, the family suffered greatly after the victory of King Peter against his half-brother, King Henry II. The only branch of the family to survive the Middle Ages were the Manrique de Lara, in 1520, Emperor Charles V raised the House of Lara to the position of grandee, as dukes of Nájera and marquesses of Aguilar de Campoo. Members of the family were to serve the crown as viceroys, captain generals, ambassadors, the first Count of Paredes de Nava became Master of the Order of Santiago. The authors Gómez Manrique and Jorge Manrique belong to branch of the Lara. The original coat of arms is supposed to represent two cauldrons, which represent the ability of the family to many followers. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, CASTILE & LEÓN NOBILITY, LARA
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Palencia
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Palencia is a city south of Tierra de Campos, in north-northwest Spain, the capital of the province of Palencia in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The municipality had a population of 81,522 in 2011, Palencia is located approximately 190 km north of Madrid, and some 40 km north of the capital of Valladolid. Two hills surround the city in its north-east area, on the closest stands the 30 metre high statue of Christ known as the Cristo del Otero, the fourth tallest statue of Christ in the world. Palencia has a substantial forest of 1,438 hectares 6 km away on a plateau above the city and this park is a popular amusement area for the locals. The Canal de Castilla runs close to the city, Palencias municipality includes the village of Paredes de Monte,14 km away. Fogs are also frequent because of the Carrion river, summer tends to be warm with temperatures that consistently surpass 30 °C in July and that can rarely reach 38 °C. Due to Palencias altitude, nightly temperatures tend to be cooler, precipitation levels are moderated, but precipitation can be observed throughout the year. Summer and winter are the driest seasons, with most rainfall occurring in the autumn, the rain is very frequent in winter, and infrequent in summer. Rainfall is light but frequent during the months, and infrequent in summer with heavy thunderstorms. The snow is an unfrecuently and light phenomenon at the city and it usually falls some days per year, during December, January and February, but it´s common watching some snowfalls during November or March. The fortified Celtiberian settlement is mentioned as Pallantia by Strabo and Ptolemy and it was the chief town of the Vaccaei, although Strabo wrongly assigns it to the Arevaci. The city was starved into submission by the Romans in the 2nd century BCE and incorporated into the province of Hispania Tarraconensis, though the little Roman garrison city was an active mint, it was insignificant compared to the Roman villas of Late Antiquity in the surrounding territory. Archeologists have uncovered the remains of Roman villas at La Olmeda and at the Quintanilla de la Cueza, when the Visigoths conquered the territory, however, they retained the Roman rural villa system in establishing the Campos Góticos. The Catholic bishopric of Palencia was founded in the 3rd century or earlier, assuming that its bishop was among those assembled in the 3rd century to depose Basilides, the Priscillianists which originated in Egypt but came to Spain was declared a heresy by the emperor Gratian. It was mix of orthodox Catholic beliefs and Gnostic/Montanist teachings, priscillian was ordained priest and then consecrated bishop of Avila. The heresy was strongest in northwestern Spain, the declaration of it as a heresy was a political move by the Catholic usurper emperor Maximus to curry favor with the Catholic emperors Valentinian II and Theodosius I. After the establishment of effective Visigothic power Catholics disputed the bishopric of Palencia with the Arian Visigoths, maurila, an Arian bishop established in Palencia by Leovigild, followed King Reccareds conversion to Catholicism, and in 589 he assisted at the Third Council of Toledo. When the Moors arrived in the early 8th century, resistance was fragmented among bishops in control of the walled towns
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Elisabeth of Swabia
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Elisabeth of Swabia, was a German princess member of the House of Hohenstaufen and by marriage Queen consort of Castile and Leon. Born in Nürnberg, she was the daughter of Philip, Duke of Swabia and King of Germany. The marriage ceremony between Elisabeth and Ferdinand III was celebrated on 30 November 1219 in the city of Burgos, in Castile, she assumed the name Beatrice, probably in honour to both her eldest sister the Holy Roman Empress and the youngest one. In 1230, after the death of her father-in-law, King Alfonso IX of Leon, she became also in the Queen consort of that country, during her marriage, Elisabeth gave birth to ten children, King Alfonso X of Castile and Leon. Infante Frederick of Castile and Leon, infante Ferdinand of Castile and Leon. Infanta Eleanor of Castile and Leon, infanta Berengaria of Castile and Leon, a nun at the Cistercian monastery Santa María la Real at Las Huelgas since September 1243. Infante Henry of Castile and Leon, infante Philip of Castile and Leon. Infante Sancho of Castile and Leon, Archbishop of Toledo from 1251–1261, infante Manuel of Castile and Leon. Infanta Maria of Castile and Leon, Queen Beatrice died in Toro on 5 November 1235 aged 30. Her death was related to her last childbirth, or even died after giving birth. She was buried in the Royal Monastery of Huelgas de Burgos, later, her son Alfonso X transferred her body to Seville Cathedral in 1279, where that of her husband rested. Ed. Graves of the house of Castile. Lourdes Vaquero, Belen Castillo, Martha Black, ministry of Culture and Social Welfare. Ed. Pantheon Real de las Huelgas de Burgos, the tombs of the kings of León and Castile. Ed. s Pantheon Royal Huelgas de Burgos
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Philip of Swabia
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Philip of Swabia was a prince of the House of Hohenstaufen and King of Germany from 1198 to 1208. In the long-time struggle for the German throne upon the death of Emperor Henry VI between the Hohenstaufen and Welf dynasties, he was the first German king to be assassinated. Philips great uncle Conrad III was the first scion of the Swabian Hohenstaufen dynasty to be elected King of the Romans in 1138, the newborn was probably named after Fredericks valued ally and confidant Archbishop Philip of Cologne. In 1190 or 1191 Philip was elected Prince-bishop of Würzburg, though without being consecrated and his brother Henry had expanded the Hohenstaufen domains by marrying Queen Constance of Sicily in 1186, suspiciously eyed by the Roman Curia. In his retinue in Italy was the Minnesinger Bernger von Horheim, on 26 December 1194, Queen Constance finally gave birth to a son, the later Emperor Frederick II. To secure his succession, his father Henry had the two-year-old elected King of the Romans before he prepared for the Crusade of 1197, in early 1195, Philip was made Duke of Tuscany and received the disputed Matildine lands. His rule there earned him the enmity of Pope Celestine III, in 1196 his brother Conrad died and he succeeded him as Duke of Swabia. His marriage to Irene took place in 1197 near Augsburg, Philip enjoyed his brothers confidence to a very great extent, and appears to have been designated as guardian of Henrys minor son Frederick II, in case of his fathers early death. In September 1197 he had set out to fetch Frederick from Apulia for his coronation as German king, while staying in Montefiascone, he heard of the emperors sudden death in Messina and returned at once to Germany. He appears to have desired to protect the interests of his nephew and to quell the disorder which arose on Henrys death, but was overtaken by events. The hostility to the kingship of a child was growing, nevertheless, he knew that he had to settle the conflict with Otto and his supporters. A first attempt to mediate by the Mainz archbishop Conrad of Wittelsbach in 1199 was rejected by the Welf, both sides strived for the coronation as Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Innocent III. The pope himself acted tactically, trying to wrest the affirmation of the sovereignty of his Papal States, the pope began to work energetically in favour of Otto, who beforehand had solemnly renounced any intentions to affiliate the Sicilian kingdom with the Holy Roman Empire. The festival was rendered in a poem by Walther von der Vogelweide in order to spread the reputation of King Philip as a capable ruler. Again in Magdeburg Cathedral, Philip celebrated the elevation of Saint Cunigunde of Luxembourg on 9 September 1201, also in 1201, Philip was visited by his cousin Boniface of Montferrat, the leader of the Fourth Crusade. Although Bonifaces exact reasons for meeting with Philip are unknown, while at Philips court he also met Alexius Angelus, the two succeeding years were still more unfavourable to Philip. The Přemyslid ruler Ottokar I, though he had received the hereditary Bohemian regality, another former ally, Landgrave Hermann of Thuringia, drove him from northern Germany, thus compelling him to seek by abject concessions, but without success, reconciliation with Innocent. Philip was soon joined by Archbishop Adolph of Cologne, though against the will of the Cologne citizens, by Duke Henry of Brabant and even by Ottos brother Count Palatine Henry V
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Isaac II Angelos
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Isaac II Angelos or Angelus was Byzantine Emperor from 1185 to 1195, and again from 1203 to 1204. His father Andronikos Doukas Angelos was a leader in Asia Minor who married Euphrosyne Kastamonitissa. Andronikos Doukas Angelos was the son of Constantine Angelos and Theodora Komnene, thus Isaac was a member of the extended imperial clan of the Komnenoi. During the brief reign of Andronikos I Komnenos, Isaac was involved in the revolt of Nicaea, atypically, the Emperor did not punish him for this disloyalty, and Isaac remained at Constantinople. On September 11,1185, while Andronikos was absent from the capital, Isaac killed Hagiochristophorites and took refuge in the church of Hagia Sophia. Andronikos was a ruler in some ways but was hated for his cruelty. Isaac appealed to the populace, and a tumult arose that spread rapidly over the whole city, when Andronikos returned he found that he had lost popular support, and that Isaac had been proclaimed emperor. Andronikos attempted to flee by boat but was apprehended, Isaac handed him over to the people of the City, and he was killed on 12 September 1185. Isaac II Angelos strengthened his position as emperor with dynastic marriages in 1185 and 1186 and his niece Eudokia Angelina was married to Stefan, son of Stefan Nemanja of Serbia. Isaacs sister Theodora was married to the Italian marquis Conrad of Montferrat, in January 1186 Isaac himself married Margaret of Hungary, daughter of King Béla III. Isaac inaugurated his reign with a victory over the Norman King of Sicily, William II. William had invaded the Balkans with 80,000 men and 200 ships towards the end of Andronikos Is reign, elsewhere Isaacs policy was less successful. In late 1185, he sent a fleet of 80 galleys to liberate his brother Alexius III from Acre and he then sent a fleet of 70 ships, but it failed to recover Cyprus from the rebellious noble Isaac Komnenos, thanks to Norman interference. The oppressiveness of his taxes, increased to pay his armies and finance his marriage, the rebellion led to the establishment of the Second Bulgarian Empire under the Asen dynasty. Also in 1187 an agreement was made with Venice, in which the Venetian Republic would provide between 40 and 100 galleys at six months notice in exchange for favorable trading concessions. Because each Venetian galley was manned by 140 oarsmen, there were about 18,000 Venetians still in the Empire even after Manuel Is arrests, the Emperors attention was next demanded in the east, where several claimants to the throne successively rose and fell. In 1189 the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa sought and obtained permission to lead his troops on the Third Crusade through the Byzantine Empire and he had no sooner crossed the border than Isaac, who had meanwhile sought an alliance with Saladin, threw every impediment in his way. In retaliation Barbarossas army occupied the city of Philippopolis and defeated a Byzantine army of 3,000 men that attempted to recapture the city, thus compelled by force of arms, Isaac II was forced to fulfill his engagements in 1190
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