Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad Rodrigo
The Diocese of Ciudad Rodrigo is a Roman Catholic diocese in Spain, located in the city of Ciudad Rodrigo in the ecclesiastical province of Valladolid. The origins of the diocese of Ciudad Rodrigo have been studied in depth in two papers by Fidel Fita, the exact date when the town was conquered is unknown, but it was purchased by the citizens of Salamanca about 1135. They controlled it until 1161, when it was annexed to the domain by king Ferdinand II. The move provoked hostility, the Salamancans revolted in 1162 and Portugal, threatened by a new royal fortress so near its border, invaded in 1163. When Ferdinand II founded the diocese in 1161, he claimed only to be re-establishing the ancient diocese of Caliabria, the king did not consult the pope, Alexander III, who showed he was displeased by the fuero in a bull of 1175. By that time it may have even allowed to lapse. It is uncertain how the first bishop, came into his office and he is not recorded in any document before 1168 and he was dead by 1172 or 1173.
Of the early bishops, only Pedro de Ponte is well known, Martín and Lombardo are known only from the witness lists of royal charters and from Martíns stint as a papal judge-delegate. The Almohads attacked the city in 1174, the year that a dispute over the boundary between the diocese of Ciudad Rodrigo and that of Salamanca was settled. The diocese was bounded to the north and east by the rivers Huebra and its southern frontier was desolate and extended to the diocese of Coria. Domingo Pedro de Ponte Martín Lombardo Miguel Pedro II Leonardo Domingo Martín Pedro III Antonio Alfonso Bernardo Juan I Juan II Alfonso III Rodrigo Gonçalo Gonçalves André Dias de Escobar, O. S. B. Alfonso V Sante Alfonso Sánchez de Valladolid Alfonso de Palenzuela Alfonso de Paradinas Pedro Beltrán Diego de Muros, Juan Ortega Bravo de la Laguna Diego de Peralta Valeriano Ordóñez Villaquirán Francisco Bobadilla. Alfonso Bernardo de los Ríos y Guzmán, O. SS. T, Juan de Andaya y Sotomayor Sebastián Catalán José González Blázquez, O. de M.
Francisco Manuel de Zúñiga Sotomayor y Mendoza, O. S. A. José Díez Santos de San Pedro Gregorio Tellez, O. F. M, clemente Comenge Avio Pedro Gómez de la Torre José Francisco Biguezal Cayetano Antonio Cuadrillero Mota Agustín de Alvarado y Castillo Ildefonso Molina y Santaella Benito de Uría y Valdés, O. S. B
Provinces of Spain
Spain and its autonomous communities are divided into fifty provinces. The layout of Spains provinces closely follows the pattern of the division of the country carried out in 1833. The only major change of provincial borders since that time has been the sub-division of the Canary Islands into two rather than one. Historically, the provinces served mainly as transmission belts for policies enacted in Madrid, the importance of the provinces has declined since the adoption of the system of autonomous communities in the period of the Spanish transition to democracy. They nevertheless remain electoral districts for national elections and as references, for instance in postal addresses. A small town would normally be identified as being in, Valladolid province rather than the community of Castile. The provinces were the building-blocks from which the communities were created. Consequently, no province is divided more than one of these communities. Only two capitals of autonomous communities—Mérida in Extremadura and Santiago de Compostela in Galicia—are not the capitals of provinces, seven of the autonomous communities comprise no more than one province each, Balearic Islands, Cantabria, La Rioja, Madrid and Navarra.
These are sometimes referred to as uniprovincial communities, the table below lists the provinces of Spain. For each, the city is given, together with an indication of the autonomous community to which it belongs. The names of the provinces and their capitals are ordered according to the form in which they appear in the main Wikipedia articles describing them. Unless otherwise indicated, their Spanish-language names are the same, locally valid names in Spains other co-official languages are indicated where they differ
Celts
The history of pre-Celtic Europe remains very uncertain. According to one theory, the root of the Celtic languages, the Proto-Celtic language, arose in the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture of Central Europe. Thus this area is called the Celtic homeland. The earliest undisputed examples of a Celtic language are the Lepontic inscriptions beginning in the 6th century BC. Continental Celtic languages are attested almost exclusively through inscriptions and place-names, Insular Celtic languages are attested beginning around the 4th century in Ogham inscriptions, although it was clearly being spoken much earlier. Celtic literary tradition begins with Old Irish texts around the 8th century, coherent texts of Early Irish literature, such as the Táin Bó Cúailnge, survive in 12th century recensions. Between the 5th and 8th centuries, the Celtic-speaking communities in these Atlantic regions emerged as a cohesive cultural entity. They had a linguistic and artistic heritage that distinguished them from the culture of the surrounding polities.
By the 6th century, the Continental Celtic languages were no longer in wide use, Insular Celtic culture diversified into that of the Gaels and the Celtic Britons of the medieval and modern periods. A modern Celtic identity was constructed as part of the Romanticist Celtic Revival in Great Britain, today, Scottish Gaelic and Breton are still spoken in parts of their historical territories, and Cornish and Manx are undergoing a revival. The first recorded use of the name of Celts – as Κελτοί – to refer to a group was by Hecataeus of Miletus, the Greek geographer, in 517 BC. In the fifth century BC Herodotus referred to Keltoi living around the head of the Danube, the etymology of the term Keltoi is unclear. Possible roots include Indo-European *kʲel ‘to hide’, IE *kʲel ‘to heat’ or *kel ‘to impel’, several authors have supposed it to be Celtic in origin, while others view it as a name coined by Greeks. Linguist Patrizia De Bernardo Stempel falls in the group. Yet he reports Celtic peoples in Iberia, and uses the ethnic names Celtiberi and Celtici for peoples there, as distinct from Lusitani, pliny the Elder cited the use of Celtici in Lusitania as a tribal surname, which epigraphic findings have confirmed.
Latin Gallus might stem from a Celtic ethnic or tribal name originally and its root may be the Proto-Celtic *galno, meaning “power, strength”, hence Old Irish gal “boldness, ferocity” and Welsh gallu “to be able, power”. The tribal names of Gallaeci and the Greek Γαλάται most probably have the same origin, the suffix -atai might be an Ancient Greek inflection. Proto-Germanic *walha is derived ultimately from the name of the Volcae and this means that English Gaul, despite its superficial similarity, is not actually derived from Latin Gallia, though it does refer to the same ancient region
Verraco
Over 400 verracos have been identified. The Spanish word verraco normally refers to boars, and the sculptures are sometimes called verracos de piedra to distinguish them from live animals, the stone verracos appear to represent not only pigs but other animals. Some have been identified as bulls, and the village of El Oso, Ávila and their dates range from the mid-4th to 1st centuries BC. There are some similar zoomorphic monument markers in lands of Poland from the period or older. Though they were not confined to a single usage, the verracos were an essential part of the landscape of the Vettones. The verracos are particularly numerous too in the vicinity of the walled Celtiberian communities that Romans had called oppida, the name has been taken to designate a red wine of the Douro district. Torre de Dona Chama Berroa Marvão Head of berrão, with right eye clearly visible, today in Municipal Museum in Marvão. One verraco, found in 2006 and placed in the Museum La Celestina, located in the Plaza de San Antonio and in almost perfect condition.
Known as «cabeza del moro» by be embedded in a wall, J. Leite de Vasconcelos, Religiões da Lusitânia, Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda, Lisbon
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic and military powers.
Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001.
The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic.
The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
Altarpiece
An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing behind the altar of a Christian church. Altarpieces were one of the most important products of Christian art especially from the late Middle Ages to the era of the Counter-Reformation. Large number of altarpieces are now removed from their settings, and often their elaborate sculpted frameworks. Altarpieces seem to have begun to be used during the 11th century, the reasons and forces that led to the development of altarpieces are not generally agreed upon. The habit of placing decorated reliquaries of saints on or behind the altar, as well as the tradition of decorating the front of the altar with sculptures or textiles, an elaborate example of such an early altarpiece is the Pala dOro in Venice. The appearance and development of these first altarpieces marked an important turning point both in the history of Christian art and Christian religious practice, the autonomous image now assumed a legitimate position at the centre of Christian worship.
Painted panel altars emerged in Italy during the 13th century, in the 13th century, it is not uncommon to find frescoed or mural altarpieces in Italy, mural paintings behind the altar function as visual complements for the liturgy. These altarpieces were influenced by Byzantine art, notably icons, which reached Western Europe in greater numbers following the conquest of Constantinople in 1204. During this time, altarpieces began to be decorated with an outer. Vigoroso da Sienas altarpiece from 1291 display such an altarpiece and this treatment of the altarpiece would eventually pave the way for the emergence, in the 14th century, of the polyptych. The sculpted elements in the emerging polyptychs often took inspiration from contemporary Gothic architecture, in Italy, they were still typically executed in wood and painted, while in northern Europe altarpieces were often made of stone. The early 14th century saw the emergence, in Germany, the Netherlands, the Baltic region, by hinging the outer panels to the central panel and painting them on both sides, the motif could be regulated by opening or closing the wings.
The pictures could thus be changed depending on liturgical demands, the earliest often displayed sculptures on the inner panels, i. e. displayed when open, and paintings on the back of the wings, displayed when closed. With the advent of winged altarpieces, a shift in imagery occurred, instead of being centred on a single holy figure, altarpieces began to portray more complex narratives linked to the Christian concept of salvation. As the Middle Ages progressed, altarpieces began to be commissioned more frequently, in Northern Europe, initially Lübeck and Antwerp would develop into veritable export centres for the production of altarpieces, exporting to Scandinavia and northern France. By the 15th century, altarpieces were often commissioned not only by churches but by individuals, guilds, the 15th century saw the birth of Early Netherlandish painting in the Low Countries, henceforth panel painting would dominate altarpiece production in the area. In Germany, sculpted wooden altarpieces were instead generally preferred, while in England alabaster was used to a large extent, in England, as well as in France, stone retables enjoyed general popularity.
In Italy both stone retables and wooden polyptychs were common, with painted panels and often with complex framing in the form of architectural compositions
Autonomous communities of Spain
Spain is not a federation, but a highly decentralized unitary state. Some scholars have referred to the system as a federal system in all. There are 17 autonomous communities and two cities that are collectively known as autonomies. The two autonomous cities have the right to become autonomous communities, but neither has yet used this right and this unique framework of territorial administration is known as the State of Autonomies. The autonomous communities are governed according to the constitution and their own organic laws known as Statutes of Autonomy, since devolution was intended to be asymmetrical in nature, the scope of competences vary for each community, but all have the same parliamentary structure. Spain is a country made up of different regions with varying economic and social structures, as well as different languages. While the entire Spanish territory was united under one crown by the 16th century, the constituent territories—be it crowns, principalities or dominions—retained much of their former institutional existence, including limited legislative, judicial or fiscal autonomy.
These territories exhibited a variety of customs, laws. From the 18th century onwards, the Bourbon kings and the government tried to establish a more centralized regime, leading figures of the Spanish Enlightenment advocated for the building of a Spanish nation beyond the internal territorial boundaries. This culminated in 1833, when Spain was divided into 49 provinces and these were the Basque Country and Catalonia. This gave rise to peripheral nationalisms along with Spanish nationalism, therefore and social changes that had produced a national cultural unification in France had the opposite effect in Spain. In a response to Catalan demands, limited autonomy was granted to Catalonia in 1913 and it was granted again in 1932 during the Second Spanish Republic, when the Generalitat, Catalonias mediaeval institution of government, was restored. During General Francos dictatorial regime, centralism was most forcefully enforced as a way of preserving the unity of the Spanish nation, peripheral nationalism, along with communism and atheism were regarded by his regime as the main threats.
When Franco died in 1975, Spain entered into a phase of transition towards democracy, the Prime Minister of Spain, Adolfo Suárez, met with Josep Tarradellas, president of the Generalitat of Catalonia in exile. An agreement was made so that the Generalitat would be restored and limited competencies would be transferred while the constitution was still being written. In the end, the constitution and ratified in 1979, found a balance in recognizing the existence of nationalities and regions in Spain, within the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation. The starting point in the organization of Spain was the second article of the constitution. In order to exercise this right, the established a open process whereby the nationalities
Province of Salamanca
Salamanca is a province of western Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Zamora, Valladolid, Ávila and it has an area of 12,349 km ² and in 2014 had a population of 342,459 people. It is divided into 362 municipalities,11 comarcas,32 mancomunidades, of the 362 municipalities, more than half are villages with fewer than 300 people. The Vettones occupied the areas of the current Spanish provinces of Salamanca and Ávila, as well as parts of Cáceres and they were a pre-Roman people of Celtic culture. Their numerous archaeological sites exist throughout the province, and several locality names have Vettone origin and this is the case of Salamanca and Ciudad Rodrigo. Vettone villages were established on the banks of rivers or on mountains. The area between La Armuña and Salamanca marked the border between Vettones and Vaccaei, the other people of the province. They were situated in the northeast area of the province, Salamanca Province is situated in western Spain, in the western part of Castile and León.
Also of note is the Sierra de Francia mountain range, the Salamanca hydrographic network is mainly formed by the Duero basin. The most important rivers are the Duero, Tormes, Águeda, Huebra, of particular note is the Almendra Dam, five kilometres from the village of Almendra. Constructed between 1964 and 1970, the dam forms part of the system known as the Duero Drops, along with the Castro, Saucelle. It is one of the largest reservoirs in Spain with an area of 86.5 square kilometres and 2.5 billion cubic metres of water. The dam itself is more than half a wide and, at a height of 202 metres. There are Roman Catholic cathedrals at Salamanca and Ciudad Rodrigo, the Old Cathedral of Salamanca was founded by Bishop Jerome of Périgord, in the 12th century and completed in Romanesque/Gothic style in the 14th century. It is dedicated to Santa Maria de la Sede, the New Cathedral of Salamanca was constructed between the 16th and 18th centuries in the Late Gothic and Baroque styles. Building began in 1513 and the cathedral was consecrated in 1733 and it was commissioned by Ferdinand V of Castile of Spain.
It was declared a monument by royal decree in 1887. List of municipalities in Salamanca Kingdom of León Media related to Province of Salamanca at Wikimedia Commons
Spain
Castile and León
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– Aveiro, Portugal[7]
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 402.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). 
