Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which a small group of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars. Guerrilla groups are a type of violent non-state actor; the Spanish word "guerrilla" is the diminutive form of "guerra". The term became popular during the early-19th century Peninsular War, when the Spanish and Portuguese people rose against the Napoleonic troops and fought against a superior army using the guerrilla strategy. In correct Spanish usage, a person, a member of a "guerrilla" unit is a "guerrillero" if male, or a "guerrillera" if female; the term "guerrilla" was used in English as early as 1809 to refer to the fighters, to denote a group or band of such fighters. However, in most languages guerrilla still denotes the specific style of warfare; the use of the diminutive evokes the differences in number and scope between the guerrilla army and the formal, professional army of the state. Guerrilla warfare is a type of asymmetric warfare: competition between opponents of unequal strength.
It is a type of irregular warfare: that is, it aims not to defeat an enemy, but to win popular support and political influence, to the enemy's cost. Accordingly, guerrilla strategy aims to magnify the impact of a small, mobile force on a larger, more-cumbersome one. If successful, guerrillas weaken their enemy by attrition forcing them to withdraw. Tactically, guerrillas avoid confrontation with large units and formations of enemy troops, but seek and attack small groups of enemy personnel and resources to deplete the opposing force while minimizing their own losses; the guerrilla prizes mobility and surprise, organizing in small units and taking advantage of terrain, difficult for larger units to use. For example, Mao Zedong summarized basic guerrilla tactics at the beginning of the Chinese "Second Revolutionary Civil War" as:"The enemy advances, we retreat. At least one author credits the ancient Chinese work The Art of War with inspiring Mao's tactics. In the 20th century, other communist leaders, including North Vietnamese Ho Chi Minh used and developed guerrilla warfare tactics, which provided a model for their use elsewhere, leading to the Cuban "foco" theory and the anti-Soviet Mujahadeen in Afghanistan.
In addition to traditional military methods, guerrilla groups may rely on destroying infrastructure, using improvised explosive devices, for example. They also rely on logistical and political support from the local population and foreign backers, are embedded within it, many guerrilla groups are adept at public persuasion through propaganda. Many guerrilla movements today rely on children as combatants, porters, informants, in other roles, which has drawn international condemnation. There is no accepted definition of "terrorism", the term is used as a political tactic by belligerents to denounce opponents whose status as terrorists is disputed. Contrary to some terrorist groups, guerrillas work in open positions as armed units, try to hold and seize land, do not refrain from fighting enemy military force in battle and apply pressure to control or dominate territory and population. While the primary concern of guerrillas is the enemy's active military units, terrorists are concerned with non-military agents and target civilians.
Guerrilla forces principally fight in accordance with the law of war. In this sense, they respect the rights of innocent civilians by refraining from targeting them. According to the Ankara Center for Crisis and Policy Studies, terrorists do not limit their actions and terrorise civilians by putting fear in people's hearts and kill innocent foreigners in the country. Irregular warfare, based on elements characteristic of modern guerrilla warfare, has existed throughout the battles of many ancient civilizations; the growth of guerrilla warfare in the 20th century was inspired in part by theoretical works on guerrilla warfare, starting with the Manual de Guerra de Guerrillas by Matías Ramón Mella written in the 19th century and, more Mao Zedong's On Guerrilla Warfare, Che Guevara's Guerrilla Warfare, Lenin's text of the same name, all written after the successful revolutions carried by them in China and Russia, respectively. Those texts characterized the tactic of guerrilla warfare as, according to Che Guevara's text, being"used by the side, supported by a majority but which possesses a much smaller number of arms for use in defense against oppression".
The Chinese general and strategist Sun Tzu, in his The Art of War or 600 BC to 501 BC, was the earliest to propose the use of guerrilla warfare. This directly inspired the development of modern guerrilla warfare. Guerrilla tactics were employed by prehistoric tribal warriors against enemy tribes. Evidence of conventional warfare, on the other hand, did not emerge until 3100 BC in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Since the Enlightenment, ideologies such as nationalism, liberalism and religious fundamentalism have played an important role in shaping insurgencies and guerrilla warfare; the Moroccan national hero Mohamed ben Abdelkrim el-Khattabi, along with his father, unified the Moroccan
Cephalonia
Cephalonia or Kefalonia also known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia, is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece after Crete, Lesbos and Chios. It is a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, the only municipality of the regional unit, it was a former Latin Catholic diocese Kefalonia–Zakynthos and short-lived titular see as just Kefalonia. The capital of Cephalonia is Argostoli. An aition explaining the name of Cephallenia and reinforcing its cultural connections with Athens associates the island with the mythological figure of Cephalus, who helped Amphitryon of Mycenae in a war against the Taphians and Teleboans, he was rewarded with the island of Same. Cephalonia has been suggested as the Homeric Ithaca, the home of Odysseus, rather than the smaller island bearing this name today. Robert Bittlestone, in his book Odysseus Unbound, has suggested that Paliki, now a peninsula of Cephalonia, was a separate island during the late Bronze Age, it may be this which Homer was referring to when he described Ithaca.
A project which started in the Summer of 2007 and lasted three years has examined this possibility. Cephalonia is referenced in relation to the goddess Britomartis, as the location where she is said to have'received divine honours from the inhabitants under the name of Laphria'. During the Middle Ages, the island was the center of the Byzantine theme of Cephallenia until 1185. After 1185 it became part of the County palatine of Kephalonia and Zakynthos under the Kingdom of Sicily until its last Count Leonardo III Tocco was defeated and the island conquered by the Ottomans in 1479; the Turkish rule lasted only until 1500, when Cephalonia was captured by a Spanish-Venetian army, a rare Venetian success in the Second Ottoman–Venetian War. From on Cephalonia and Ithaca remained part of the Stato da Mar of the Venetian Republic until its end, following the fate of the Ionian islands, completed by the capture of Lefkas from the Turks in 1684; the Treaty of Campoformio dismantling the Venetian Republic awarded the Ionian Islands to France, a French expeditionary force with boats captured in Venice taking control of the islands in June 1797.
Because of the liberal situation on the island, the Venetian governor Marc'Antonio Giustiniani printed Hebrew books and exported them to the whole eastern mediterranean. In 1596 the Venetians built one of Cephalonia's main tourist attractions today. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, the island was one of the largest exporters of currants in the world with Zakynthos, owned a large shipping fleet commissioning ships from the Danzig shipyard, its towns and villages were built high on hilltops, to prevent attacks from raiding parties of pirates that sailed the Ionian Sea during the 1820s. Venice was conquered by France in 1797 and Cephalonia, along with the other Ionian Islands, became part of the French département of Ithaque. In the following year, 1798, the French were forced to yield the Ionian Islands to a combined Russian and Turkish fleet. From 1799 to 1807, Cephalonia was part of the Septinsular Republic, nominally under the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire, but protected by Russia. By the Tilsit Treaty in 1807, the Ionian Islands were ceded back to France, which remained in control until 1809.
In 1809 Great Britain mounted a blockade on the Ionian Islands as part of the war against Napoleon, in September of that year they hoisted the British flag above the castle of Zakynthos. Cephalonia and Ithaca soon surrendered, the British installed provisional governments; the treaty of Paris in 1815 recognised the United States of the Ionian Islands and decreed that it become a British protectorate. Colonel Charles Philippe de Bosset became provisional governor between 1810 and 1814. During this period he was credited with achieving many public works, including the Drapano Bridge. A few years resistance groups started to form. Although their energy in the early years was directed to supporting the Greeks in the revolution against the Turks, it soon started to turn towards the British. By 1848 the resistance movement was gaining strength and there were skirmishes with the British Army in Argostoli and Lixouri, which led to some relaxation in the laws and to freedom of the press. Union with Greece was now a declared aim, by 1849, a growing restlessness resulted in more skirmishes.
The twenty-one instigators were hanged, another 34 were jailed and 87 whipped. Cephalonia, along with the other islands, were transferred to Greece in 1864 as a gesture of goodwill when the British-backed Prince William of Denmark became King George the First of the Hellenes. In 1864, together with all the other Ionian Islands, became a full member of the Greek state. In World War II, the island was occupied by Axis powers; until late 1943, the occupying force was predominantly Italian – the 33rd Infantry Division Acqui plus Navy personnel totalled 12,000 men – but about 2,000 troops from Germany were present. The island was spared the fighting, until the armistice with Italy concluded by the Allies in September 1943. Confusion followed on the island, as the Italians were hoping to return home, but German forces did not want the Italians' munitions to be used against them; as German reinforcements headed to the island the Italians dug in and after a referendum among the soldiers as to surrender or battle, they fought against the new German invasion.
The fighting came to a head at the siege of Argostoli. The Germans prevailed
Italian War of 1499–1504
The Second Italian War, sometimes known as Louis XII's Italian War or the War over Naples, was the second of the Italian Wars. In the aftermath of the First Italian War, Louis was determined to press his claim on the thrones of Milan and Naples, and in 1499, Louis XII invaded Lombardy and seized Milan, to which he had a claim in right of his paternal grandmother Valentina Visconti, Duchess of Orléans. In response to threats from the Republic of Venice and the Kingdom of Naples, Ludovico Sforza the duke of Milan had invited France and Spain into Italy to protect Milan from her enemies. In answer to this request for aid, King Charles VIII of France came to Sforza's assistance by invading Italy in the first Italian Wars. However, in the first battle of that first Italian war—the battle of Fornovo on 6 July 1495—Ludovico Sforza and unexpectedly changed sides—thus, joining the Venetians and the Kingdom of Naples against the French and Spanish. Charles VIII was followed to the throne by Louis XII of France.
King Louis concluded an alliance with the Republic of Venice and obtained some Swiss mercenaries and invaded the Duchy of Milan under the condition that the Lombardian territories be split between Venice and France. Papal support was given for the campaign in exchange for Louis XII's military support for Cesare Borgia's Romagna campaigns. Ludovico Sforza, having hired an army of Swiss mercenaries, returned to Milan only to find it occupied by Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, who had joined the French. Following the final overthrow of Sforza, the Duchy of Milan would serve, for the next twelve years, as a French stronghold and as a springboard for further French military adventures in Italy; as the summer campaign season of the year 1500 neared, Louis XII became worried about the intentions of newly unified Spain to his west if he moved into Italy to the east. The Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella were known to be fearful of a new rapprochement between Louis XII and the Italian powers, they might invade France from the west, while Louis XII had his armies in Italy, thus involve Louis in a war on two fronts.
To avoid this prospect, Louis signed an agreement with Spain that divided the spoils of Naples between France and Spain when Naples was conquered. This was the Treaty of Granada signed on 11 November 1500; the Treaty of Granada was a watershed document accepted by Pope Alexander VI. Spanish influence would grow and haunt Louis and his successors to the throne of France. In his claim to Milan, King Louis XII asserted a family inheritance to support his claim to the Duchy of Milan. However, in the case of Naples, Louis had no inheritance to claim. Instead, Louis XII's claim to Naples rested on Charles VIII's claim and his temporary occupation of the Naples; this was called the "Angevin inheritance." The Angevin inheritance came to Charles VIII as early as 1481 and was the basis of Charles' military campaign against Naples in 1495. Louis XII claimed the Angevin inheritance only because he was the successor of Charles VIII to the throne of France; the present king of Naples, Frederick IV, claimed the throne of Naples upon the death of his nephew, Ferdinand II, in 1496.
Ferdinand II was the son of Alfonso II of Naples. Alfonso II had abdicated the throne of Naples to Charles VIII in 1495. Thus, both Ferdinand and his uncle, Frederick IV, were considered illegitimate inheritors and usurpers of the Neapolitan title that rightly belonged to the king of France, now Louis XII. Louis XII and Isabel & Fernando, monarchs of Spain, had agreed to these terms on 11 November 1500 in the Treaty of Granada, Pope Alexander VI, nominal overlord of the Kingdom of Naples, approved this deal on 25 June 1501. Pursuant to the Treaty of Granada and Spanish armies seized Naples on 2 August 1501. Although it was agreed that Louis XII should assume the throne of Naples and the monarchs of Spain soon quarreled over the division of the rest of the spoils. Soon war broke out again between Spain; when the conflict broke out again in the second half of 1502, Don Gonzalo de Cordoba lacked numeric superiority, but was able to apply the lessons learned in 1495 against the Helvetic infantry.
Cordoba avoided encounter with the enemy at first. The conflict became characterized by short skirmishes. During this campaign, a French knight, il La Motte, was captured by Spanish forces and used as an hostage to declare his famous Challenge of Barletta on 13 February 1503. Chronic in-fighting between the Italian and French knights, as well as a better supply-line guaranteed by the Spanish navy, gave Cordoba and his Spanish Knights the upper hand against the French, who suffered defeat at Cerignola on 28 April 1503 and Garigliano on 29 December 1503. Louis XII, on 2 January 1504, left Naples to withdraw to Lombardy. In the secret pact, the Treaty of Granada of 11 November 1500, Louis XII of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon agreed to divide the Mezzogiorno between themselves after removing Frederick IV of Naples from the Neapolitan throne, their plans were realized on 25 June 1501. On 25 July 1501, Frederick IV of Naples, hoping to avoid another military conflict between the two national monarchies on Italian soil, abdicated as ruler of Naples and Campania in favour of the French King.
Francesco Guicciardini points out in the Discorso di Logrogno
Charles VIII of France
Charles VIII, called the Affable, was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498, the seventh from the House of Valois. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13, his elder sister Anne acted as regent jointly with her husband Peter II, Duke of Bourbon until 1491 when the young king turned 21 years of age. During Anne's regency, the great lords rebelled against royal centralisation efforts in a conflict known as the Mad War, which resulted in a victory for the royal government. In a remarkable stroke of audacity, Charles married Anne of Brittany in 1491 after she had been married by proxy to the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I in a ceremony of questionable validity. Preoccupied by the problematic succession in the Kingdom of Hungary, Maximilian failed to press his claim. Upon his marriage, Charles became administrator of Brittany and established a personal union that enabled France to avoid total encirclement by Habsburg territories. To secure his rights to the Neapolitan throne that René of Anjou had left to his father, Charles made a series of concessions to neighbouring monarchs and conquered the Italian peninsula without much opposition.
A coalition formed against the French invasion of 1494-98 drove out Charles' army, but Italian Wars would dominate Western European politics for over 50 years. Charles died in 1498 after accidentally striking his head on the lintel of a door at the Château d'Amboise, his place of birth. Since he had no male heir, he was succeeded by his cousin Louis XII of France from the Orléans cadet branch of the House of Valois. Charles was born at the Château d'Amboise in France, the only surviving son of King Louis XI by his second wife Charlotte of Savoy, his godparents were Charles II, Duke of Bourbon, Joan of Valois, Duchess of Bourbon, the teenage Edward of Westminster, the son of Henry VI of England, living in France since the deposition of his father by Edward IV. Charles succeeded to the throne on 30 August 1483 at the age of 13, his health was poor. He was regarded by his contemporaries as possessing a pleasant disposition, but as foolish and unsuited for the business of the state. In accordance with the wishes of Louis XI, the regency of the kingdom was granted to Charles' elder sister Anne, a formidably intelligent and shrewd woman described by her father as "the least foolish woman in France."
She would rule as regent, together with her husband Peter of Bourbon, until 1491. Charles was betrothed on 22 July 1483 to the 3-year-old Margaret of Austria, daughter of the Archduke Maximilian of Austria and Mary, Duchess of Burgundy; the marriage was arranged by Louis XI, the Estates of the Low Countries as part of the 1482 Peace of Arras between France and the Duchy of Burgundy. Margaret brought the Counties of Artois and Burgundy to France as her dowry, she was raised in the French court as a prospective Queen consort. In 1488, Francis II, Duke of Brittany, died in a riding accident, leaving his 11-year-old daughter Anne as his heir. Anne, who feared for the independence of her duchy against the ambitions of France, arranged a marriage in 1490 between herself and the widower Maximilian, thus making Anne a stepmother to Margaret of Austria; the regent Anne of France and her husband Peter refused to countenance such a marriage, since it would place Maximilian and his family, the Habsburgs, on two French borders.
The French army invaded Brittany, taking advantage of the preoccupation of Frederick III and his son with the disputed succession to Mathias Corvinus, King of Hungary. Anne of Brittany was forced to agree to be married to Charles VIII instead. In December 1491, in an elaborate ceremony at the Château de Langeais and Anne of Brittany were married; the 14-year-old Duchess Anne, not happy with the arranged marriage, arrived for her wedding with her entourage carrying two beds. However, Charles's marriage brought him independence from his relatives and thereafter he managed affairs according to his own inclinations. Queen Anne lived at the Clos Lucé in Amboise. There still remained the matter of the young Margaret of Austria. Although the cancellation of her betrothal meant that she by rights should have been returned to her family, Charles did not do so, intending to marry her usefully elsewhere in France, it was a difficult situation for Margaret, who informed her father in her letters that she was so determined to escape that she would flee Paris in her nightgown if it gave her freedom.
In 1493, she was returned to her family, together with her dowry – though the Duchy of Burgundy was retained in the Treaty of Senlis. Around the king there was a circle of court poets, the most memorable being the Italian humanist Publio Fausto Andrelini from Forlì, who spread the New Learning in France. During a pilgrimage to pay respects to his father's remains, Charles observed Mont Aiguille and ordered Antoine de Ville to ascend to the summit in an early technical alpine climb alluded to by Rabelais. To secure France against invasions, Charles made treaties with Maximilian I of Austria and England, buying their neutrality with large concessions; the English monarch Henry VII had forced Charles to abandon his support for the pretender Perkin Warbeck by despatching an expedition which laid siege to Boulogne. He devoted France's resources to building up a large army, including one of Europe's first siege trains with artillery. In 1489, Pope Innocent VIII being at odds with Ferdi
Mateo Inurria
Mateo Inurria Lainosa was a Spanish sculptor. His began his artistic studies in his father's workshop; until 1883, he attended the "Escuela Provincial de Bellas Artes" under Rafael Romero Barros. From 1883 to 1885, he studied at Escultura y Grabado" in Madrid, his academic achievements were noted by members of the "Diputación Provincial de Córdoba" who granted him a scholarship so he could continue his studies at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando until 1890, when he had his first showing at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts with "The Castaway", done so realistically that some jurors suspected it of having been cast from life. Between 1891 and 1901, he lived in the countryside, oblivious to critics and the public, becoming established as a teacher and art restorer, his many projects included the Mosque -- Cathedral of the Medina Azahara. During these years, his work took on greater simplicity and he always spoke of himself as having been self-taught, he produced religious and commemorative sculptures, in Córdoba and Madrid, receiving many commissions to create monuments for local and national celebrities, many of which were not erected.
He became a Professor of modelling and figure drawing at the "Escuela Municipal de Artes y Oficios" in Córdoba and, in 1901, was appointed Director. From 1905, he was a member of the jury at the National Exhibition. In 1911, he was named Professor of modelling and casting at the "Escuela de Artes y Oficios" in Madrid. Now that he was in the capital, he was able to make more connections to promote his work and he concentrated on his preferred theme, he obtained the Gold Medal at the National Exhibition in 1920 and, two years became an Academician at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. He died in 1924. An art school and a major street in Córdoba have been named after him. Monument to Lope de Vega, 1902, Madrid. Group representing the Spanish Navy for the Monument to Alfonso XII, 1905, Madrid. Monument to Eduardo Rosales, 1922, Madrid. Monument to the "Gran Capitán", 1923, Córdoba. Bernardino de Pantorba, El escultor Mateo Inurria. Ensayo biográfico crítico, Córdoba, Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros, 1968.
"The Castaway" @ Panoramio "Monument to Eduardo Rosales" @ Panoramio Escuela de Artes y Oficios Mateo Inurria @ Córdobapedia
Madrid
Madrid is the capital of Spain and the largest municipality in both the Community of Madrid and Spain as a whole. The city has 3.3 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 6.5 million. It is the third-largest city in the European Union, smaller than only London and Berlin, its monocentric metropolitan area is the third-largest in the EU, smaller only than those of London and Paris; the municipality covers 604.3 km2. Madrid lies on the River Manzanares in the Community of Madrid; as the capital city of Spain, seat of government, residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is the political and cultural centre of the country. The current mayor is Manuela Carmena from the party Ahora Madrid; the Madrid urban agglomeration has the third-largest GDP in the European Union and its influence in politics, entertainment, media, science and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. Madrid is home to Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid. Due to its economic output, high standard of living, market size, Madrid is considered the leading economic hub of the Iberian Peninsula and of Southern Europe.
It hosts the head offices of the vast majority of major Spanish companies, such as Telefónica, IAG or Repsol. Madrid is the 10th most liveable city in the world according to Monocle magazine, in its 2017 index. Madrid houses the headquarters of the World Tourism Organization, belonging to the United Nations Organization, the Ibero-American General Secretariat, the Organization of Ibero-American States, the Public Interest Oversight Board, it hosts major international regulators and promoters of the Spanish language: the Standing Committee of the Association of Spanish Language Academies, headquarters of the Royal Spanish Academy, the Cervantes Institute and the Foundation of Urgent Spanish. Madrid organises fairs such as ARCO, SIMO TCI and the Madrid Fashion Week. While Madrid possesses modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighbourhoods and streets, its landmarks include the Royal Palace of Madrid. Cibeles Palace and Fountain have become one of the monument symbols of the city.
مجريط Majrīṭ is the first documented reference to the city. It is recorded in Andalusi Arabic during the al-Andalus period; the name Magerit was retained in Medieval Spanish. The most ancient recorded name of the city "Magerit" comes from the name of a fortress built on the Manzanares River in the 9th century AD, means "Place of abundant water" in Arabic. A wider number of theories have been formulated on possible earlier origins. According to legend, Madrid was founded by Ocno Bianor and was named "Metragirta" or "Mantua Carpetana". Others contend that the original name of the city was "Ursaria", because of the many bears that were to be found in the nearby forests, together with the strawberry tree, have been the emblem of the city since the Middle Ages, it is speculated that the origin of the current name of the city comes from the 2nd century BC. The Roman Empire established a settlement on the banks of the Manzanares river; the name of this first village was "Matrice". Following the invasions carried out by the Germanic Sueves and Vandals, as well as the Sarmatic Alans during the 5th century AD, the Roman Empire no longer had the military presence required to defend its territories on the Iberian Peninsula, as a consequence, these territories were soon occupied by the Vandals, who were in turn dispelled by the Visigoths, who ruled Hispania in the name of the Roman emperor taking control of "Matrice".
In the 8th century, the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula saw the name changed to "Mayrit", from the Arabic term ميرا Mayra and the Ibero-Roman suffix it that means'place'. The modern "Madrid" evolved from the Mozarabic "Matrit", still in the Madrilenian gentilic. Although the site of modern-day Madrid has been occupied since prehistoric times, there are archaeological remains of Carpetani settlement, Roman villas, a Visigoth basilica near the church of Santa María de la Almudena and three Visigoth necropoleis near Casa de Campo, Tetúan and Vicálvaro, the first historical document about the existence of an established settlement in Madrid dates from the Muslim age. At the second half of the 9th century, Emir Muhammad I of Córdoba built a fortress on a headland near the river Manzanares, as one of the many fortresses he ordered to be built on the border between Al-Andalus and the kingdoms of León and Castile, with the objective of protecting Toledo from the Christian invasions and as a starting point for Muslim offensives.
After the disintegration of t
Joanna la Beltraneja
Joanna la Beltraneja was a claimant to the throne of Castile, Queen of Portugal as the wife of King Afonso V, her uncle. King Henry IV of Castile married Joan of Portugal, the daughter of King Duarte of Portugal and the youngest sister of King Afonso V of Portugal, on May 21, 1455. Seven years Joanna la Beltraneja was born at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid. Joanna's father, King Henry IV, had been married to Blanche of Navarre. After thirteen years, that marriage was annulled on the grounds; this was attributed to a curse. Joanna's father was rumoured to be impotent. Whether true or not, it was circulated by King Henry's opponents that the little infanta was the child of Beltrán de la Cueva, a royal favourite at court, created The 1st Duke of Alburquerque in 1464, they called a mocking reference to her supposed illegitimacy. Joanna's mother, Joan of Portugal, was banished to Bishop Fonseca's castle where she fell in love with Fonseca's nephew and became pregnant, her father Henry divorced her mother in 1468.
On 9 May 1462, Joanna was proclaimed heir to the throne of Castile and created Princess of Asturias. Henry had the nobles of Castile swear allegiance to her and promise that they would support her as monarch. Many of the more prominent nobles, seeking to increase their own power, refused to recognise Joanna, preferring that Henry would have named as heir his younger half-brother, Infante Alfonso. Armed conflict broke out and in 1464 the league of nobles forced Henry to repudiate Joanna and recognise Infante Alfonso as his heir. Alfonso became Prince of Asturias, a title traditionally held by the heir apparent. Henry agreed to this compromise with the stipulation that Infante Alfonso would marry Joanna, to ensure that they both would receive the crown, but in 1468, Infante Alfonso died, Henry divorced Joanna's mother. This resulted in Joanna's displacement in the succession, her half-aunt, Infanta Isabella, was placed before her in the succession, although Joanna was considered the heir after Isabella.
Joanna was held in custody by the Mendoza family in 1465–1470, by Juan, Marqués de Villena, his family in 1470–1475. There were many negotiations for her marriage to someone. On 26 October 1470, she was betrothed and married by proxy to Charles, Duke of Guienne, brother of Louis XI of France, again proclaimed as legitimate heir to the throne, but Charles died in 1472. After a few unsettled arrangements, which included French and Burgundian princes, Joanna was promised in marriage to her maternal uncle, King Afonso V of Portugal and the Algarves, who swore to defend her rights to the Crown of Castile; when Henry died in 1474, she was recognized as queen by some noble factions, while others recognized her half-aunt Isabella as queen. This began the four-year War of the Castilian Succession. In addition to the King of Portugal, Joanna was supported by some of the high Castilian nobility and by descendants of Portuguese families that had settled in Castile after 1396: the Archbishop of Toledo. On the other hand, Isabella was supported by Ferdinand of Aragon, by most of the Castilian nobility and clergy: the powerful House of Mendoza.
On 10 May 1475, King Afonso V of Portugal invaded Castile and married Joanna in Plasencia, 15 days later. Joanna thus became Queen of Portugal. Joanna and Afonso V held court at Toro, she was considered a promising ruler by her courtiers, though too young. Joanna sent a letter to the cities of Castile, expounding the wish of her father King Henry IV that she should rule, proposed that the cities vote for which succession they wished should be recognized. However, Joanna found fewer supporters than expected. Shortly, Isabella I's husband King Ferdinand II led her forces against the armies of Joanna and her husband Afonso V. Both armies met at Toro. King Afonso V was beaten by the left and center of King Ferdinand’s army, fled from the battlefield, his son John II of Portugal defeated the Castilian right wing, recovered the lost Portuguese Royal standard, held the field, but overall the battle was indecisive. So, the prestige of Joanna and Afonso V dissolved because Ferdinand II sent messages to all the cities of Castile and to several other kingdoms informing them about a huge victory where the Portuguese were crushed.
Faced with this news, the party of Joanna la Beltraneja, under siege at the Royal Alcazar, was terminated, the Portuguese were forced to return to their kingdom. "That is the battle of Toro. The Portuguese army had not been defeated, it made sense that for the Castilians, Toro was considered as divine retribution, the compensation willed by God for the terrible disaster of Aljubarrota, still alive in the Castilian memory." After this, Joanna's husband Afonso tried without success to form an alliance with Louis XI of France. In 1478, the marriage of Joanna and Afonso V was annulled by Pope Sixtus IV on grounds of consanguinity, endin
Spain
_04a.jpg)
