John II of Castile
John II of Castile was King of Castile and León from 1406 to 1454. John was his wife, Catherine of Lancaster, his mother was the granddaughter of King Peter, ousted by Henry III's grandfather, King Henry II. John succeeded his father on 25 December 1406, united in his person the claims of both Peter and Henry II, his mother and his uncle, King Ferdinand I of Aragon, were co-regents during his minority. When Ferdinand I died in 1416, his mother governed alone until her death in 1418. John II's reign, lasting 48 years, was one of the longest in Castilian history, but John himself was not a capable monarch, he spent his time verse-making and holding tournaments. His favourite, Álvaro de Luna influenced him until his second wife, Isabella of Portugal, obtained control of his feeble will. At her instigation, he dismissed his faithful and able servant, an act, said to have caused him much remorse. John II's Regents declared the Valladolid laws in 1411, which restricted the social activity of Jews. Among the most notable of the provisions were outlining that Jews must wear distinctive clothes and banned them from holding administrative positions.
However, once John took control of the throne for himself in 1418, he reversed such ordinances, favoring instead a more tolerant attitude toward the battered Jewish population of Castile following the mass wave of conversions between 1391-1415. In 1431, John placed Yusuf IV on the throne as the Sultan of Granada in the Moorish Emirate of Granada, in exchange for tribute and vassal status to Castile; this exchange is depicted in the short ballad the Romance of Abenamar. He was "all and handsome, fair-skinned and ruddy... his hair was the color of a mature hazelnut, the nose a little snub, the eyes between green and blue... he had graceful legs and feet and hands."John II was the single largest contributor to the continuing construction of the Alcázar of Segovia and built the "New Tower" known today as the "Tower of John II". John II died on July 1454 at Valladolid. In 1418, John married Maria of Aragon, the oldest daughter of his paternal uncle, Ferdinand I of Aragon; the marriage produced four children: Catherine, Princess of Asturias, his heiress presumptive from her birth until her death Eleanor, Princess of Asturias, his heiress presumptive from the death of Catherine until the birth of Henry King Henry IV of Castile Infanta Maria Of all their children, only the future Henry IV of Castile survived infancy.
John was widowed in 1445 and remarried to Isabella of Portugal, daughter of Infante John of Portugal, with whom he had two children: Queen Isabella I of Castile Alfonso, Prince of Asturias This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed.. "John II. of Castile". Encyclopædia Britannica. 15. Cambridge University Press. P. 441
Medina-Sidonia
Medina-Sidonia is a city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, southern Spain. It is considered by some to be the oldest city in Europe, used as a military defense location due to its elevated location. Locals are known as Asidonenses; the city's name comes from Medina and Sidonia, meaning "City of Sidon". Medina-Sidonia was one of Spain's most important ducal seats in the 15th century; the title of Duque de Medina Sidonia was bestowed upon the family of Guzmán El Bueno for his valiant role in taking the town. The line continues and was led until March 2008 by the controversial socialist, Luisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo, 21st Duchess of Medina Sidonia; this city was most ancient Asido, an Iberian settlement which may have been founded by the Phoenicians, hence the name Sidonia reflecting its foundation by Sidon. Its earliest phase is known through its coinage and its 2nd and 1st centuries BC issues bear the Latin inscription Asido but Punic inscriptions such as'sdn or b'b'l, with Herakles and Dolphins being notable obverse and reverse designs.
The Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World equates this site with modern Medina Sidonia-lying within the ancient Roman province of Turdetania some 30 km inland from the southern Spanish coast, this site lay upon a hill c. 35 km to the east of Gades, 15 km to the west of the Besilus river. By the 3rd century BC the Romans had gained control over much of southern Spain. In 712 the town was conquered by the Muslim commander Musa ibn Nusair, became the capital of the cora of Sidonia in the emirate of Spain, it returned in Christian hands with Alfonso X of Castile, in 1264, becoming a stronghold along the frontier with the last Muslim country in the Iberian peninsula, the Kingdom of Granada. It was the seat of several military orders. In 1440 it became part of the lordship of the Dukes of Medina-Sidonia; the town is characterized by medieval walls and tidy narrow cobbled streets flanked by rows of reja-fronted houses. Sights include: The Castle Roman archaeological complex Town Hall La Alameda Ducal Stables Church of Saint Mary the Crowned Castle of Torrestrella Duke of Medina Sidonia
Andalusia
Andalusia is an autonomous community in southern Spain. It is the most populous, the second largest autonomous community in the country; the Andalusian autonomous community is recognised as a "historical nationality". The territory is divided into eight provinces: Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga and Seville, its capital is the city of Seville. Andalusia is located in the south of the Iberian peninsula, in south-western Europe south of the autonomous communities of Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha. Andalusia is the only European region with both Atlantic coastlines; the small British overseas territory of Gibraltar shares a three-quarter-mile land border with the Andalusian province of Cádiz at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar. The main mountain ranges of Andalusia are the Sierra Morena and the Baetic System, consisting of the Subbaetic and Penibaetic Mountains, separated by the Intrabaetic Basin. In the north, the Sierra Morena separates Andalusia from the plains of Extremadura and Castile–La Mancha on Spain's Meseta Central.
To the south the geographic subregion of Upper Andalusia lies within the Baetic System, while Lower Andalusia is in the Baetic Depression of the valley of the Guadalquivir. The name "Andalusia" is derived from the Arabic word Al-Andalus; the toponym al-Andalus is first attested by inscriptions on coins minted in 716 by the new Muslim government of Iberia. These coins, called dinars, were inscribed in both Arabic; the etymology of the name "al-Andalus" has traditionally been derived from the name of the Vandals. Halm in 1989 derived the name from a Gothic term, *landahlauts, in 2002, Bossong suggested its derivation from a pre-Roman substrate; the region's history and culture have been influenced by the native Iberians, Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths, Jews, Muslim Moors and the Castilian and other Christian North Iberian nationalities who reconquered and settled the area in the latter phases of the Reconquista. Andalusia has been a agricultural region, compared to the rest of Spain and the rest of Europe.
However, the growth of the community in the sectors of industry and services was above average in Spain and higher than many communities in the Eurozone. The region has a strong identity. Many cultural phenomena that are seen internationally as distinctively Spanish are or Andalusian in origin; these include flamenco and, to a lesser extent and Hispano-Moorish architectural styles, both of which are prevalent in other regions of Spain. Andalusia's hinterland is the hottest area of Europe, with cities like Córdoba and Seville averaging above 36 °C in summer high temperatures. Late evening temperatures can sometimes stay around 35 °C until close to midnight, with daytime highs of over 40 °C common. Seville has the highest average annual temperature in mainland Spain and mainland Europe followed by Almería, its present form is derived from the Arabic name for Muslim Iberia, "Al-Andalus". However, the etymology of the name "Al-Andalus" is disputed, the extent of Iberian territory encompassed by the name has changed over the centuries.
The Spanish place name Andalucía was introduced into the Spanish languages in the 13th century under the form el Andalucía. The name was adopted to refer to those territories still under Moorish rule, south of Castilla Nueva and Valencia, corresponding with the former Roman province hitherto called Baetica in Latin sources; this was a Castilianization of Al-Andalusiya, the adjectival form of the Arabic language al-Andalus, the name given by the Arabs to all of the Iberian territories under Muslim rule from 711 to 1492. The etymology of al-Andalus is itself somewhat debated, but in fact it entered the Arabic language before this area came under Muslim rule. Like the Arabic term al-Andalus, in historical contexts the Spanish term Andalucía or the English term Andalusia do not refer to the exact territory designated by these terms today; the term referred to territories under Muslim control. In the Estoria de España of Alfonso X of Castile, written in the second half of the 13th century, the term Andalucía is used with three different meanings: As a literal translation of the Arabic al-Ándalus when Arabic texts are quoted.
To designate the territories the Christians had regained by that time in the Guadalquivir valley and in the Kingdoms of Granada and Murcia. In a document from 1253, Alfonso X styled himself León y de toda Andalucía. To designate the territories the Christians had regained by that time in the Guadalquivir valley but not the Kingdom of Granada; this was the most common significance in Early modern period. From an administrative point of view, Granada remained separate for many years after the completion of the Reconquista due, above all, to its emblematic character as the last territory regained, as the seat of the important Real Chancillería de Granada, a court of last resort. Stil
José Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba
Don José Álvarez de Toledo Osorio y Gonzaga, 11th Marquis of Villafranca, Grandee of Spain, jure uxoris Duke of Alba de Tormes, Grandee of Spain was a patron of the artist Francisco Goya. Álvarez de Toledo was born in 1756 in Madrid. He became chamberlain, to King Charles IV of Spain, he Marquess of Villafranca, married his kinswoman Doña María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva y Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba, the legendary "Duchess of Alba" in Goya's paintings, thus becoming de jure uxoris Duke of Alba. Their marriage made them the wealthiest couple in the kingdom. A year after his marriage, he inherited the dukedom of Medina-Sidonia and joined two of the most important Houses of the Spanish nobility; the failed attempt of his friend Alejandro Malaspina to oust Queen María Luisa's favourite Manuel de Godoy in favour of the Duke of Alba put an early end to the political career of the progressive aristocrat. In 1796, Álvarez de Toledo y Gonzaga died on 9 June in Seville. In a famous portrait by Goya, the duke is clad in elegant riding clothes.
With an air of melancholy he looks up from the music book he is holding in his hands, including the "Four songs/with piano accompaniment/by Mr. Haydn"; the duke was a gifted musician himself. In his painting, Goya subtly combines the symbols of his model's passion for music and equestrian skills with the neoclassical interior of the ducal residence. 15th Duke of Medina Sidonia, Grandee of Spain 11th Marquis of Villafranca del Bierzo, Grandee of Spain 11th Marquis of los Vélez, Grandee of Spain 11th Duke of Montalto, Grandee of Spain 10th Duke of Bivona 8th Duke of Fernandina 8th Prince of Montalbán 14th Marquis of Molina 13th Marquis of Cazaza in Africa 8th Marquis of Martorell 6th Marquis of Villanueva de Valdueza 22nd Count of Niebla 18th Count of Caltabellotta 17th Count of Adernò 17th Count of Golisano The Most Excellent The Duke of Fernandina The Most Excellent The Marquis of Villafranca The Most Excellent The Duke of Alba
Leoncio Alonso González de Gregorio, 22nd Duke of Medina Sidonia
Leoncio Alonso González de Gregorio y Álvarez de Toledo, 22nd Duke of Medina Sidonia, GE is a Spanish aristocrat and historian. Born in Madrid, Medina Sidonia is the eldest son of Leoncio González de Gregorio y Martí and his wife Luisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo, 21st Duchess of Medina Sidonia; the Duke is Professor of History at the University of Castile-La Mancha and of the Diplomatic School of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Medina Sidonia married firstly his distant cousin María Montserrat Viñamata y Martorell, younger daughter of Luis Viñamata y Emmanueli and María de la Concepción Martorell, 23rd Countess of Alba de Liste, on 12 December 1983, divorced in 1998, they had two children: Don Alonso Enrique González de Gregorio y Viñamata Doña María de la Soledad González de Gregorio y Viñamata The Duke married secondly Pamela García Damián, of Venezuelan origin, daughter of Armando García Liceaga y Pérez de Viñaspre and María Pilar Damián Gracia, in 2001. 22nd Duke of Medina Sidonia, Grandee of Spain 18th Marquess of Villafranca del Bierzo, Grandee of Spain 17th Marquess of los Vélez, Grandee of Spain 26th Count of Niebla The Most Excellent The Count of Niebla The Most Excellent The Duke of Medina Sidonia Sourceswww.geneall.net Elenco de Grandezas y Títulos Nobiliarios Españoles, Hidalguía Editions, 2008
Pedro de Alcántara Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Marquis of Villafranca
Pedro de Alcántara Álvarez de Toledo y Palafox, 13th Marquis of Villafranca was Spanish Minister of Naval affairs, mid-19th century, reign of Isabella II of Spain counting amongst other political achievements the construction and launch in the Royal Dockyards of Ferrol, of Spain's first steam propelled ship in 1858. The ship was named after the Spanish monarch. Medina Sidonia was succeeded by his son José Joaquín Álvarez de Toledo, 18th Duke of Medina Sidonia
Tuna
A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary ranging from the bullet tuna up to the Atlantic bluefin tuna; the bluefin averages 2 m, is believed to live up to 50 years. Tuna and mackerel sharks are the only species of fish that can maintain a body temperature higher than that of the surrounding water. An active and agile predator, the tuna has a sleek, streamlined body, is among the fastest-swimming pelagic fish – the yellowfin tuna, for example, is capable of speeds of up to 75 km/h. Found in warm seas, it is extensively fished commercially, is popular as a game fish; as a result of overfishing, stocks of some tuna species, such as the southern bluefin tuna, are close to extinction. The term "tuna" derives from Thunnus, the Middle Latin form of the Ancient Greek: θύννος, translit. Lit.'tunny-fish' –, in turn derived from θύνω, "rush, dart along". However, the immediate source for the word tuna in English is American Spanish < Spanish atún < Andalusian Arabic at-tūn, assimilated from al-tūn التون:'tuna fish' < Greco-Latin thunnus mentioned above.
The Thunnini tribe is a monophyletic clade comprising 15 species in five genera: family Scombridae tribe Thunnini: the tunas genus Allothunnus: slender tunas genus Auxis: frigate tunas genus Euthynnus: little tunas genus Katsuwonus: skipjack tunas genus Thunnus: albacores, true tunas subgenus Thunnus: bluefin group subgenus Thunnus: yellowfin groupThe cladogram is a tool for visualizing and comparing the evolutionary relationships between taxa, is read left-to-right as if on a timeline. The following cladogram illustrates the relationship between the tunas and other tribes of the family Scombridae. For example, the cladogram illustrates that the skipjack tunas are more related to the true tunas than are the slender tunas, that the next nearest relatives of the tunas are the bonitos of the Sardini tribe; the "true" tunas are those. Until it was thought that there were seven Thunnus species, that Atlantic bluefin tuna and Pacific bluefin tuna were subspecies of a single species. In 1999, Collette established that based on both molecular and morphological considerations, they are in fact distinct species.
The genus Thunnus is further classified into two subgenera: Thunnus, Thunnus. The Thunnini tribe includes seven additional species of tuna across four genera, they are: The tuna is a sleek and streamlined fish, adapted for speed. It has two spaced dorsal fins on its back. Seven to ten yellow finlets run from the dorsal fins to the tail, lunate – curved like a crescent moon – and tapered to pointy tips; the caudal peduncle, to which the tail is attached, is quite thin, with three stabilizing horizontal keels on each side. The tuna's dorsal side is a metallic dark blue, while the ventral side, or underside, is silvery or whitish, for camouflage. Thunnus are but sparsely distributed throughout the oceans of the world in tropical and temperate waters at latitudes ranging between about 45° north and south of the equator. All tunas are able to maintain the temperature of certain parts of their body above the temperature of ambient seawater. For example, bluefin can maintain a core body temperature of 25–33 °C, in water as cold as 6 °C.
However, unlike "typical" endothermic creatures such as mammals and birds, tuna do not maintain temperature within a narrow range. Tunas achieve endothermy by conserving the heat generated through normal metabolism. In all tunas, the heart operates at ambient temperature, as it receives cooled blood, coronary circulation is directly from the gills; the rete mirabile, the intertwining of veins and arteries in the body's periphery, allows nearly all of the metabolic heat from venous blood to be "re-claimed" and transferred to the arterial blood via a counter-current exchange system, thus mitigating the effects of surface cooling. This allows the tuna to elevate the temperatures of the highly-aerobic tissues of the skeletal muscles and brain, which supports faster swimming speeds and reduced energy expenditure, which enables them to survive in cooler waters over a wider range of ocean environments than those of other fish. Unlike most fish, which have white flesh, the muscle tissue of tuna ranges from pink to dark red.
The red myotomal muscles derive their color from myoglobin, an oxygen-binding molecule, which tuna express in quantities far higher than most other fish. The oxygen-rich blood further enables energy delivery to their muscles. For powerful swimming animals like dolphins and tuna, cavitation may be detrimental, because it limits their maximum swimming speed. If they have the power to swim faster, dolphins may have to restrict their speed, because collapsing cavitation bubbles on their tail are too painful. Cavitation slows tuna, but for a different reason. Unlike dolphins, these fish do not feel the bubbles, because they have bony fins without nerve endings, they cannot swim faster because the cavitation bubbles create a vapor film around their fins that limits their speed. Lesions have been found on tuna. Tuna is an important commercial fish; the International Seafood Sustaina
