History of Gibraltar
The history of Gibraltar, a small peninsula on the southern Iberian coast near the entrance of the Mediterranean Sea, spans over 2,900 years. The peninsula has evolved from a place of reverence in ancient times into "one of the most densely fortified and fought-over places in Europe", as one historian has put it. Gibraltar's location has given it an outsized significance in the history of Europe and its fortified town, established in medieval times, has hosted garrisons that sustained numerous sieges and battles over the centuries. Gibraltar was first inhabited over 50,000 years ago by Neanderthals and may have been one of their last places of habitation before they died out around 24,000 years ago. Gibraltar's recorded history began around 950 BC with the Phoenicians; the Carthaginians and Romans worshipped Hercules in shrines said to have been built on the Rock of Gibraltar, which they called Mons Calpe, the "Hollow Mountain", which they regarded as one of the twin Pillars of Hercules. Gibraltar became part of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania following the collapse of the Roman Empire and came under Muslim Moorish rule in 711 AD.
It was permanently settled for the first time by the Moors and was renamed Jebel Tariq – the Mount of Tariq corrupted into Gibraltar. The Christian Crown of Castile annexed it in 1309, lost it again to the Moors in 1333 and regained it in 1462. Gibraltar became part of the unified Kingdom of Spain and remained under Spanish rule until 1704, it was captured during the War of the Spanish Succession by an Anglo-Dutch fleet in the name of Charles VI of Austria, the Habsburg contender to the Spanish throne. At the war's end, Spain ceded the territory to Britain under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. Spain tried to regain control of Gibraltar, which Britain had declared a Crown colony, through military and economic pressure. Gibraltar was besieged and bombarded during three wars between Britain and Spain but the attacks were repulsed on each occasion. By the end of the last siege, in the late 18th century, Gibraltar had faced fourteen sieges in 500 years. In the years after Trafalgar, Gibraltar became a major base in the Peninsular War.
The colony grew during the 19th and early 20th centuries, becoming a key British possession in the Mediterranean. It was a key stopping point for vessels en route to India via the Suez Canal. A large British naval base was constructed there at great expense at the end of the 19th century and became the backbone of Gibraltar's economy. British control of Gibraltar enabled the Allies to control the entrance to the Mediterranean during the Second World War, it was attacked on several occasions by German and Vichy French forces, though without causing much damage. The Spanish dictator General Francisco Franco declined to join a Nazi plan to occupy Gibraltar but revived Spain's claim to the territory after the war; as the territorial dispute intensified, Spain closed its border with Gibraltar between 1969 and 1985 and communications links were severed. Spain's position was supported by Latin American countries but was rejected by Britain and the Gibraltarians themselves, who vigorously asserted their right to self-determination.
Discussions of Gibraltar's status have continued between Britain and Spain but have not reached any conclusion. Since 1985, Gibraltar has undergone major changes as a result of reductions in Britain's overseas defence commitments. Most British forces have left the territory, no longer seen as a place of major military importance, its economy is now based on tourism, financial services and Internet gambling. Gibraltar is self-governed, with its own parliament and government, though the UK maintains responsibility for defence and foreign policy, its economic success has made it one of the wealthiest areas of the European Union. The history of Gibraltar has been driven by its strategic position near the entrance of the Mediterranean Sea, it is a narrow peninsula at the eastern side of the Bay of Gibraltar, 6 kilometres from the city of Algeciras. Gibraltar is on the far south coast of Spain at one of the narrowest points in the Mediterranean, only 24 kilometres from the coast of Morocco in North Africa.
Its position on the bay makes it an advantageous natural anchorage for ships. As one writer has put it, "whoever controls Gibraltar controls the movement of ships into and out of the Mediterranean. In terms of military and naval power, few places have a more strategic location than Gibraltar."The territory's area measures only 6.7 square kilometres. Most of the land area is occupied by the steeply sloping Rock of Gibraltar which reaches a height of 426 metres; the town of Gibraltar lies at the base of the Rock on the west side of the peninsula. A narrow, low-lying isthmus connects the peninsula to the Spanish mainland; the North Face of the Rock is a nearly vertical cliff 396 metres high overlooking the isthmus. Gibraltar's geography has thus given it considerable natural defensive advantages, it is impossible to scale the eastern or northern sides of the Rock, which are either vertical or nearly so. To the south, the flat area around Europa Point is surrounded by cliffs which are up to 30 metres high.
The western side is the only practicable area for a landing, but here the steep slopes on which the town is built work to the advantage of a defender. These factors have given it an enormous military significance over the centuries. Gibraltar's appearance in prehistory was different. Whereas today it is surrounded by sea, th
Province of Cádiz
Cádiz is a province of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is the southernmost part of mainland Spain, as well as the southernmost part of continental Europe, it is bordered by the Spanish provinces of Huelva, Málaga, as well as the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar and the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Its area is 7,385 square kilometers, its capital is the city of Cádiz, which has a population of more than 128,000. The largest city is Jerez de la Frontera with 208,896 inhabitants, another important city is Algeciras with just over 114,000 inhabitants; the entire province had a population of 1,240,175, of whom about 600,000 live in the Bay of Cádiz area. Its population density is 167.93 per square kilometer. The province encompasses 44 municipalities. According to a roster developed by the Council of Tourism and Sport of Andalusia on 27 March 2003, there are six traditional or touristic comarcas in the Province of Cádiz: Bahía de Cádiz Campiña de Jerez Campo de Gibraltar Bajo Guadalquivir La Janda Sierra de Cádiz This area comprises towns and cities on the shores of the Bay of Cádiz on the west-central coast of the province: Cádiz Chiclana El Puerto de Santa María Puerto Real San Fernando This fertile area only includes two municipalities, both large in area: Jerez de la Frontera San José del Valle The towns that extend into the rural hinterlands north of Gibraltar are: Algeciras Jimena de la Frontera Castellar de la Frontera San Roque La Línea de la Concepción Los Barrios Tarifa The towns of this area called the "Bajo Guadalquivir", are: Chipiona Rota Sanlúcar de Barrameda Trebujena Towns included in La Janda, an area in the southwestern part of the province, are: Alcalá de los Gazules Barbate Benalup-Casas Viejas Conil de la Frontera Medina Sidonia Paterna de Rivera Vejer de la Frontera Towns included in the Cádiz Mountains area, in the northeastern part of the province, include: Alcalá del Valle Algar Algodonales Arcos de la Frontera Benaocaz Bornos El Bosque El Gastor Espera Grazalema Olvera Prado del Rey Puerto Serrano Setenil de las Bodegas Torre Alháquime Ubrique Villaluenga del Rosario Villamartín Zahara de la Sierra The entire province of Cádiz has a Mediterranean climate, but with large differences in summer temperatures between the three official stations in Cádiz and Tarifa depending on position relative to the coastline.
Tarifa is exceptionally cool for such a southerly parallel in Europe, but winter temperatures are mild throughout the province with less difference between localities than in summer. Average yearly rainfall is 521 mm in Cádiz, 573 mm in Jerez, 603 mm in Tarifa; this is comparable to much cloudier climates further north in Europe, in spite of the high number of sunshine hours in the province. The Cádiz region is much wetter than the arid Almería province further east in Andalusia. In 2014 the unemployment rate was the highest in the country; the main industry is tourism from non-coastal Spanish cities and the UK. Its once-important shipbuilding industry is now in crisis due to competition from South Korea and China. There are factories of Delphi, it exports sherry as well as alimentary products. Sherry production John Harvey & Sons in Jerez de la Frontera Gonzalez Byass Olive groves Fishing Ports, as in Cádiz and Algeciras. Cork products from the Alcornocales cork-oak forests Navantia Airbus CASA Delphi Ford Cepsa Lufthansa CityLine Endesa Acerinox The province of Cádiz has many kilometers of beaches and the highest number of Blue Flags of all coastal provinces in Europe.
Some of these beaches are wild and far from big urban areas. One of the attractions of the area is its contrast to the mass tourism on the Mediterranean coast. There are extensive nature reserves in the region and the unspoilt feel of the area is heightened by the presence of wild animals including cows and horses on many stretches of beach; the Costa de la Luz has traditionally been a popular destination for Spaniards wanting to enjoy the beach while avoiding the stifling heat of the Mediterranean Coast, although until this unspoilt Atlantic coastline was little known to foreign visitors. One of the factors that brought the region to the attention of foreign holidaymakers was the growing realisation that its Southern reaches are one of the world's best locations for wind sports. Tarifa, located on the Strait of Gibraltar at the southernmost point of mainland Europe, has become Europe's foremost kitesurfing destination due to the area's unique wind phenomena, reliably sunny summer weather and the variety of beaches at locations such as Los Canos de Meca, Punta Paloma and, most famously, Playa de Los Lances where in the summer months you will see over 1,000 kites in the air.
The local economy has benefited from the wind sport explosion: there are more than 50 kite schools in Tarifa and hundreds of shops and hotels serving the many thousands of kitesurfers who visit every year. Notable beaches: Playa La Barrosa in Chiclana de la Frontera Playa La Victoria in Cádiz Playa de Levante in El Puerto de Santa María Playa de Bolonia in Tarifa Playa de Camposoto in San Fernando Los Canos de Meca Playa de Los Lances in Tarifa Carnival of Cádiz Feria de Jerez Semana Santa in all municipalities of the Province Horse racing in Sanlúcar de Barrameda Circuito Permanente de Jerez White T
Great Siege of Gibraltar
The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the American War of Independence. The British garrison under George Augustus Eliott were blockaded from June 1779 by the Spanish alone, led by Martín Álvarez de Sotomayor; the blockade failed because two relief convoys entered unmolested—the first under Admiral George Rodney in 1780 and the second under Admiral George Darby in 1781—despite the presence of the Spanish fleets. The same year, a major assault was planned by the Spanish, but the Gibraltar garrison sortied in November and destroyed much of the forward batteries. With the siege going nowhere and constant Spanish failures, the besiegers were reinforced by French forces under de Crillon, who took over command in early 1782. After a lull in the siege, during which the allied force gathered more guns and troops, a "Grand Assault" was launched on 18 September 1782; this involved huge numbers—60,000 men, 49 ships of the line and ten specially designed, newly invented floating batteries—against the 5,000 defenders.
The assault was a disastrous failure. The siege settled down again to more of a blockade, but the final defeat for the allies came when a crucial British relief convoy under Admiral Richard Howe slipped through the blockading fleet and arrived at the garrison in October 1782; the siege was lifted on 7 February 1783 and was a decisive victory for the British forces, being a vital factor in the Peace of Paris, negotiated towards the end of the siege. This was the largest action fought during the war in terms of numbers the "Grand Assault". At three years and seven months, it is the longest siege endured by the British Armed Forces and one of the longest sieges in history. In 1738 a dispute between Spain and Great Britain arose over commerce between Europe and the Americas. Both sides intended to sign an agreement at the Spanish Royal Palace of El Pardo, but in January of the following year, the British Parliament rejected the advice of Foreign Minister Robert Walpole, a supporter of the agreement with Spain.
A short time the War of Jenkins' Ear began, both countries declared war on 23 October 1739, each side drawing up plans to establish trenches near Gibraltar. Seeing these first movements, Britain ordered Admiral Vernon to sail from Portobello and strengthen the squadron of Admiral Haddock, stationed in the Bay of Gibraltar; the passage of years failed to break the hostilities in the region. On 9 July 1746, King Philip V of Spain died in Madrid, his successor, Ferdinand VI, soon began negotiations with Britain on trade. The British Parliament was amenable to such negotiations, looked favourably upon lifting the British embargo on Spain and ceding Gibraltar; the neutrality adopted by Ferdinand VI ended with his death in 1759. The new king, Charles III, was less willing to negotiate with Great Britain. Instead, he signed a Family Compact with Louis XV of France on 15 August 1761. At that time France was at war with Britain, so Britain responded by declaring war on Spain and capturing the Spanish colonial capitals of Manila and Havana.
Two years after cessation of hostilities, Spain recovered Manila and Havana in exchange for Spanish holdings in Florida as part of the 1763 Treaty of Paris. In the years of peace that followed both France and Spain hoped for an opportunity to launch a war against Britain on more favourable terms and recover their lost colonial possessions. Following the outbreak of the American War of Independence, both states supplied funding and arms to the American rebels, drew up a strategy to intervene on the American side and defeat Britain. In October 1778 France entered the war and on 12 April 1779, both France and Spain signed the Treaty of Aranjuez wherein they agreed to aid one another in recovering lost territory from Britain. France and Spain sought to secure Gibraltar, a key link in Britain's control of the Mediterranean Sea, expected its capture to be quick—a precursor to a Franco-Spanish invasion of Great Britain; the Spanish blockade was to be directed by Martín Álvarez de Sotomayor. Spanish ground forces were composed of 16 infantry battalions, which included the Royal Guards and the Walloon Guards, along with artillery and 12 squadrons of cavalry.
This yielded a total of about 14,000 men in all. The artillery was commanded by Rudesindo Tilly, while the cavalry and the French dragoons were headed by the Marquis of Arellano. Antonio Barceló commanded the maritime forces responsible for blockading the bay, he established his base with a fleet of several xebecs and gunboats. A fleet of 11 ships of the line and two frigates were placed in the Gulf of Cadiz under the command of Luis de Córdova y Córdova to block the passage of British reinforcements; the British garrison in 1778 consisted of 5,382 soldiers. All the defences were strengthened; the most prominent new work was the King's Bastion designed by Sir William Green and built by the Soldier Artificer Company on the main waterfront of the town in Gibraltar. The King's Bastion comprised a stone battery holding 26 heavy guns and mortars, with barracks and casemates to house a full battalion of foot; the Grand Battery protected the Land Port Gate, the main entrance to Gibraltar from the isthmus connecting to the Spanish mainland.
Other fortifications and batteries crowded on the Rock. Eliott began a programme of increasin
Government of the United Kingdom
The Government of the United Kingdom, formally referred to as Her Majesty's Government, is the central government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is commonly referred to as the UK Government or the British Government; the government is led by the Prime Minister. The prime minister and the other most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, known as the Cabinet; the government ministers all sit in Parliament, are accountable to it. The government is dependent on Parliament to make primary legislation, since the Fixed-terms Parliaments Act 2011, general elections are held every five years to elect a new House of Commons, unless there is a successful vote of no confidence in the government or a two-thirds vote for a snap election in the House of Commons, in which case an election may be held sooner. After an election, the monarch selects as prime minister the leader of the party most to command the confidence of the House of Commons by possessing a majority of MPs.
Under the uncodified British constitution, executive authority lies with the monarch, although this authority is exercised only by, or on the advice of, the prime minister and the cabinet. The Cabinet members advise the monarch as members of the Privy Council. In most cases they exercise power directly as leaders of the Government Departments, though some Cabinet positions are sinecures to a greater or lesser degree; the current prime minister is Theresa May, who took office on 13 July 2016. She is the leader of the Conservative Party, which won a majority of seats in the House of Commons in the general election on 7 May 2015, when David Cameron was the party leader. Prior to this and the Conservatives led a coalition from 2010 to 2015 with the Liberal Democrats, in which Cameron was prime minister; the Government is referred to with the metonym Westminster, due to that being where many of the offices of the government are situated by members in the Government of Scotland, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive in order to differentiate it from their own.
A key principle of the British Constitution is. This is called responsible government; the United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy in which the reigning monarch does not make any open political decisions. All political decisions are taken by Parliament; this constitutional state of affairs is the result of a long history of constraining and reducing the political power of the monarch, beginning with Magna Carta in 1215. Parliament is split into the House of Commons; the House of Commons is the more powerful. The House of Lords is the upper house and although it can vote to amend proposed laws, the House of Commons can vote to overrule its amendments. Although the House of Lords can introduce bills, most important laws are introduced in the House of Commons – and most of those are introduced by the government, which schedules the vast majority of parliamentary time in the Commons. Parliamentary time is essential for bills to be passed into law, because they must pass through a number of readings before becoming law.
Prior to introducing a bill, the government may run a public consultation to solicit feedback from the public and businesses, may have introduced and discussed the policy in the Queen's Speech, or in an election manifesto or party platform. Ministers of the Crown are responsible to the House. For most senior ministers this is the elected House of Commons rather than the House of Lords. There have been some recent exceptions to this: for example, cabinet ministers Lord Mandelson and Lord Adonis sat in the Lords and were responsible to that House during the government of Gordon Brown. Since the start of Edward VII's reign in 1901, the prime minister has always been an elected member of Parliament and therefore directly accountable to the House of Commons. A similar convention applies to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it would be politically unacceptable for the budget speech to be given in the Lords, with MPs unable to directly question the Chancellor now that the Lords have limited powers in relation to money bills.
The last Chancellor of the Exchequer to be a member of the House of Lords was Lord Denman, who served as interim Chancellor of the Exchequer for one month in 1834. Under the British system, the government is required by convention and for practical reasons to maintain the confidence of the House of Commons, it requires the support of the House of Commons for the maintenance of supply and to pass primary legislation. By convention, if a government loses the confidence of the House of Commons it must either resign or a General Election is held; the support of the Lords, while useful to the government in getting its legislation passed without delay, is not vital. A government is not required to resign if it loses the confidence of the Lords and is defeated in key votes in that House; the House of Commons is thus the Responsible house. The prime minister is held to account during Prime Minister's Questions which provides an opportunity for MPs from all parties to question the PM on any subject
San Roque, Cádiz
San Roque is a small town and municipality in the south of Spain. It is part of the province of Cádiz. San Roque is situated a short way inland of the north side of the Bay of Gibraltar, just to the north of the Gibraltar peninsula; the municipality has a total surface of 145 km² with a population of 25,500 people, as of 2005. Its name is Spanish for Saint Roch, a Christian saint, revered in a shrine dating back to 1508 that predates the foundation of the town; the area around San Roque has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The oldest known settlement within the municipality is the ruined town of Carteia, founded by the Phoenicians, it became a Phoenician tradepost and evolved into a Carthaginian town by 228 BCE. Its major trade was in garum or salazón, a fish-based sauce. Carteia was captured by Rome in 206 BCE. A few years in 171 BCE, Iberian-born children of Roman soldiers appeared before the Roman Senate to request a town to live in, were given Carteia, named Colonia Libertinorum Carteia.
After the fall of Rome, the Vandals established themselves in the area until 428 before they embarked on the conquest of North Africa, via an invasion fleet across the Strait of Gibraltar. The Visigoths replaced them around the 6th century; the Byzantine Empire made incursions into Andalusia between 554 and 626, occupying Carteia for a number of years, before being ejected by the Visigoths. In 711, Carteia and the surrounding area became the beachhead for the Umayyad conquest of the Iberian Peninsula led by Tariq ibn Ziyad. Alfonso XI of Castile took control of the territory by defeating a Muslim Merinid army in the 14th century. Over the next few centuries, the population was Hispanicised and Christianised. In 1649 a quarter of the Gibraltar population perished from epidemic disease. A number of residents retreated to the area of San Roque, survived the outbreak, believed to be typhoid; the modern settlement of San Roque was established by the former Spanish inhabitants of Gibraltar, after the majority fled following the takeover by Anglo-Dutch forces and their Spanish allies during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1704.
The establishment became a new town in 1706, addressed by King Philip V of Spain as "My city of Gibraltar resident in its Campo" and "My well beloved", because it remained loyal to his cause during the War of Succession. Gibraltar's City Council and records were moved there. San Roque official motto is "Very Noble and Very Loyal city of San Roque, where Gibraltar lives on". In 1873, during the Spanish First Republic, the town declared its independence as the Canton of San Roque for a few months; the New Saint Roch's Chapel was erected in 1801. Its style is neoclassical; the shrine houses a statue of Saint Roch. In the fourth week of April every year, a procession is held on the saint's honour, with people carrying his image on a float; the statue is taken from the temple to the Pinar del Rey pinewoods nearby and back. During the Spanish War of Independence, Saint Roch's Chapel was ransacked by the Napoleonic troops and the historic statue of the saint was destroyed; the image was replaced in 1833 by a new one donated by an army captain from San Roque called Juan Rojas, stationed in Seville.
At the time this city was suffering from cholera epidemics, so Captain Rojas vowed to make the effigy himself if he and his family recovered from the disease. This happened indeed and the new image of Saint Roch was donated to the church by Rojas; the parish church, Santa María La Coronada Church, is consecrated to Saint Mary the Crowned and it was declared a listed building in 1974. The main building dates from the 18th century and features Spanish-Tuscan architecture and Baroque artwork. Work began in 1735 on the construction of a church over the foundations of the 1508 Chapel of Saint Roch; the Governor's Palace, which houses the municipal art gallery "Luis Ortega Bru", is located in the same square. The oldest bar in the town is the Bar Torres, adjacent to the central square. Mathew Arnold's brother is buried in San Roque; the main economic activities are manufacturing. CEPSA Gibraltar-San Roque Refinery, built in 1967, is situated in Guadarranque Industrial Estate, it is the largest in the Iberian Peninsula, with a crude oil daily processing capacity of 240,000 barrels per day.
Local San Roque Club is an important source of tourism. Sotogrande is an exclusive golf resort located in the municipality; the beaches of Campamento and Puente Mayorga, although no longer so popular as in the sixties due to the nearby industrial activity, are close to San Roque town, facing the Bay of Gibraltar. The Feria Real de San Roque, is the city's main yearly Street fair, held on the second Tuesday of August; the fair begins with the coronation ceremony of the juvenile and child queens and their respective courts, although the stands and attractions located in the Fairground El Ejido do not open until Wednesday, the day of the inaugural cavalcade. The Royal Fair closes on a Sunday night with a fireworks show and at 7am on the Monday with the Running of the Bulls known locally as Toro del Aguardiente which has occurred yearly since 1649, named as terrified participants are given a shot of the strong alcoholic spirit ‘Aguardiente’ for courage, before running with the bulls to the San Roque bullring, marking the end of the fair.
Gabine Muguruza, Tennis Player, French Open Champion, 2016 Jose Cadalso, poet Alberto Casañal Shakery, poet. Carlos Pacheco, comic-book artist. Juan Luis Galiardo, actor
Crest (heraldry)
A crest is a component of a heraldic display, consisting of the device borne on top of the helm. Originating in the decorative sculptures worn by knights in tournaments and, to a lesser extent, crests became pictorial after the 16th century. A normal heraldic achievement consists of the shield, above, set the helm, on which sits the crest, its base encircled by a circlet of twisted cloth known as a torse; the use of the crest and torse independently from the rest of the achievement, a practice which became common in the era of paper heraldry, has led the term "crest" to be but erroneously used to refer to the arms displayed on the shield, or to the achievement as a whole. The word "crest" derives from the Latin crista, meaning "tuft" or "plume" related to crinis, "hair". Crests had existed in various forms since ancient times: Roman officers wore fans of feathers or horsehair, which were placed longitudinally or transversely depending on the wearer's rank, Viking helmets were adorned with wings and animal heads.
They first appeared in a heraldic context in the form of the metal fans worn by knights in the 12th and 13th centuries. These were decorative, but may have served a practical purpose by lessening or deflecting the blows of opponents' weapons; these fans were of one colour evolving to repeat all or part of the arms displayed on the shield. The fan crest was developed by cutting out the figure displayed on it, to form a metal outline; these were made of cloth, leather or paper over a wooden or wire framework, were in the form of an animal. These were worn only in tournaments, not battle: not only did they add to the considerable weight of the helm, they could have been used by opponents as a handle to pull the wearer's head down. Laces, straps, or rivets were used to affix the crest to the helm, with the join being covered by a circlet of twisted cloth known as a torse or wreath, or by a coronet in the case of high-ranking nobles. Torses did not come into regular use in Britain until the 15th century, are still uncommon on the Continent, where crests are depicted as continuing into the mantling.
Crests were sometimes mounted on a furred cap known as a chapeau, as in the royal crest of England. By the 16th century the age of tournaments had ended, physical crests disappeared, their illustrated equivalents began to be treated as two-dimensional pictures. Many crests from this period are physically impossible to bear on a helm, e.g. the crest granted to Sir Francis Drake in 1581, which consisted of a disembodied hand issuing from clouds and leading a ship around the globe. In the same period, different helms began to be used for different ranks: sovereigns' and knights' helms faced forwards, whereas those of peers and gentlemen faced to the right. In the medieval period crests would always have faced the same way as the helm, but as a result of these rules, the directions of the crest and the helm might be at variance: a knight whose crest was a lion statant, would have the lion depicted as looking over the side of the helm, rather than towards the viewer. Torses suffered artistically, being treated not as silken circlets, but as horizontal bars.
Heraldry in general underwent something of a renaissance in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many of the illogicalities of previous centuries were discarded. Crests are now not granted unless they could be used on a physical helm, the rules about directions of helms are no longer rigidly observed; the use of crests was once restricted to those of'tournament rank', i.e. knights and above, but in modern times nearly all personal arms include crests. They are not used by women and clergymen, as they did not participate in war or tournaments and thus would not have helms on which to wear them; some heraldists are of the opinion that crests, as personal devices, are not suited for use by corporate bodies, but this is not observed. In continental Europe Germany, crests have a far greater significance than in Britain, it is common for one person to display multiple crests with his arms; this practice did not exist in Britain until the modern era, arms with more than one crest are still rare.
In contrast to Continental practice, where a crest is never detached from its helm, a Briton with more than one crest may choose to display only one crested helm, have the other crests floating in space. Though adopted through marriage to an heiress, examples exist of secondary crests being granted as augmentations: after defeating the Americans at the Battle of Bladensburg, Robert Ross was granted, in addition to his original crest, the crest of an arm holding the US flag with a broken flagstaff. After the 16th century, it became common for armigers to detach the crest and wreath from the helm, use them in the manner of a badge, displayed on crockery, carriage doors, etc; this led to the erroneous use of the term "crest" to mean "arms", which has become widespread in recent years. Unlike a badge, which can be used by any amount of relatives and retainers, a crest is personal to the armiger, its use by others is considered usurpation. In Scotland, however, a member of a clan or house is entitled to use a "crest-badge", which consists of th
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I reigned as Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death. Her marriage to Ferdinand II of Aragon became the basis for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V. After a struggle to claim her right to the throne, she reorganized the governmental system, brought the crime rate to the lowest it had been in years, unburdened the kingdom of the enormous debt her brother had left behind, her reforms and those she made with her husband had an influence that extended well beyond the borders of their united kingdoms. Isabella and Ferdinand are known for completing the Reconquista, ordering conversion or exile of their Muslim and Jewish subjects, for supporting and financing Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage that led to the opening of the New World and to the establishment of Spain as the first global power which dominated Europe and much of the world for more than a century. Isabella, granted together with her husband the title "the Catholic" by Pope Alexander VI, was recognized as a Servant of God by the Catholic Church in 1974.
Isabella was born in Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Ávila, to John II of Castile and his second wife, Isabella of Portugal on 22 April 1451. At the time of her birth, she was second in line to the throne after her older half-brother Henry IV of Castile. Henry childless, her younger brother Alfonso of Castile was born two years on 17 November 1453, lowering her position to third in line. When her father died in 1454, her half-brother ascended to the throne as King Henry IV of Castile. Isabella and her brother Alfonso were left in King Henry's care. She, her mother, Alfonso moved to Arévalo; these were times of turmoil for Isabella. The living conditions at their castle in Arévalo were poor, they suffered from a shortage of money. Although her father arranged in his will for his children to be financially well taken care of, King Henry did not comply with their father's wishes, either from a desire to keep his half-siblings restricted, or from ineptitude. Though living conditions were difficult, under the careful eye of her mother, Isabella was instructed in lessons of practical piety and in a deep reverence for religion.
When the King's wife, Joan of Portugal, was about to give birth to their daughter Joanna and her brother Alfonso were summoned to court in Segovia to come under the direct supervision of the King and to finish their education. Alfonso was placed in the care of a tutor; some of Isabella's living conditions improved in Segovia. She always had food and clothing and lived in a castle, adorned with gold and silver. Isabella's basic education consisted of reading, writing, mathematics, chess, embroidery and religious instruction, she and her ladies-in-waiting entertained themselves with art and music. She lived a relaxed lifestyle, but she left Segovia since King Henry forbade this, her half-brother was keeping her from the political turmoils going on in the kingdom, though Isabella had full knowledge of what was going on and of her role in the feuds. The noblemen, anxious for power, confronted King Henry, demanding that his younger half-brother Infante Alfonso be named his successor, they went so far as to ask Alfonso to seize the throne.
The nobles, now in control of Alfonso and claiming that he was the true heir, clashed with King Henry's forces at the Second Battle of Olmedo in 1467. The battle was a draw. King Henry agreed to recognize Alfonso as his heir presumptive, provided that he would marry his daughter, Princess Joanna la Beltraneja. Soon after he was named Prince of Asturias, Isabella's younger brother Alfonso died in July 1468 of the plague; the nobles who had supported him suspected poisoning. As she had been named in her brother's will as his successor, the nobles asked Isabella to take his place as champion of the rebellion. However, support for the rebels had begun to wane, Isabella preferred a negotiated settlement to continuing the war, she met with her elder brother Henry at Toros de Guisando and they reached a compromise: the war would stop, King Henry would name Isabella his heir-presumptive instead of his daughter Joanna, Isabella would not marry without her brother's consent, but he would not be able to force her to marry against her will.
Isabella's side came out with most of what the nobles desired, though they did not go so far as to depose King Henry. The question of Isabella's marriage was not a new one, she had made her debut in the matrimonial market at the age of six with a betrothal to Ferdinand, the younger son of John II of Navarre. At that time, the two kings and John, were eager to show their mutual love and confidence and they believed that this double alliance would make their eternal friendship obvious to the world; this arrangement, did not last long. Ferdinand's uncle Alfonso V of Aragon died in 1458. All of Alfonso's Spanish territories, as well as the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, were left to his brother John II. John now had a stronger position than before and no longer needed the security of Henry's friendship. Henry was now in need of a new alliance, he saw the chance for this much needed new friendship in Charles of John's elder son. Charles was at odds with his father, because of this, he secretly entered into an alliance with Henry IV of Castile.
A major part of the alliance was
