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 CASTILE

411

CASTILE

which flows through the south-east, rises in the moun- tains of Cuenca. The climate is not so cold as that of Old Castile, and the soil not so fertile, there being a scarcity of water, especially in La. Mancha. Its pres- ent limits comprise an area of 28,017 square miles, with a population of 1,777,506, and is divided into the five provinces of Madrid, Toledo, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, and Guadalajara. The principal cities are: Madrid, population 518,442, the capital of Spain since the time of Philip II, noted for ils royal palace, pic- ture gallery, containing specimens of Velasquez, Murillo, etc., and armoury (Museo de la Real Armerfa) ; Toledo, population 20,239, ancient capital of the kingdom of the Visigoths, honoured by Charles I with the title of "Imperial", and noted for its cathedral, one of the finest monuments of Spain, and the see of the cardinal primate, as well as for its military school; Guadalajara, which has a military school for engineers; Aranjuez, where one of the favourite coun- try residences of the Spanish royal family is situated; and AlcahS, the seat of the university founded by Cisneros, which has since been transferred to Madrid. The Escorial, near Madrid, contains the famous mausoleum of Philip II, and is one of the historic monuments of New Castile.

History. — (1) The Countship (Condado) of Cas- tile. — The territory of Old .Castile began to be recon- quered in the time of the first three Alfonsos, who en- trusted to several counts the repopulation and de- fence of these cities; thus Ordono I entrusted the re- population of Amaya, on the Pisuerga, to Rodrigo, a Goth by extraction, and his son, Diego Porcellos, for- tified and repopulated Burgos under the orders of Alfonso III. Nuno Nunez de Roa, Gonzalo Tellez de Osma, and Fernan Gonzalez de Sepulveda appear also in the same role. In 910 a Count of Castile, Nuno Fernandez, assisted the sons of Alfonso III in their rebellion against their father, and Ordono II of Leon (924) was defeated by the troops of AbdeVraman in Valdejunquera because the Counts of Castile did not come to his assistance; in punishment of their disloyalty, Ordono had them imprisoned and exe- cuted in Leon. Tradition hands down the names of these counts as Nuno Fernandez, Abolmondar el Blanco, his son Diego, and Fernando Ansurez. Further on mention is made of the judges of Castile, Lain Calvo and Nuno Rasura, established to facilitate the administration of justice, but who fostered the spirit of independence. The hero of this movement was Count Ferndn Gonzalez, to whom legendary lore has attributed all manner of heroic achievements. It is, however, known that, after having fought with Raniiro II against the Arabs, and after the battle of Simancas and the retreat of Abderraman, this count, dissatisfied, as it appears, because the King of Leon distributed his troops in the frontier towns, rose in rebellion against him. He was, however, van- quished and made prisoner. He became reconciled with his sovereign, giving his daughter Urraca in marriage to the king's son, OrdoBo.who afterwards became Ordono III. Notwithstanding this alliance, Fernan Gonzalez continued to foment trouble and discord in Leon, aiming to secure his independence. He successively aided Sancho against his brother, Ordono I II. and < >rdoiio,son of Alfonso [V (the Monk), against Sancho the Fat (d Graso). After the death of Fenian Gonzalez (970) there followed the cam- paigns of Almanzor. in which all the reconquered territory was at stake. In 995 the King of Navarre and Gania Fernandez, the son of Fenian Gonzalez, made an attempt to oppose him, but were defeated .ii Alcocer. Sancho Garcia, grandson of Fernan i«m- zalez, took part in the victory of Calataflazor, which put an end to the campaigns of the victorious .Moslem h&jib (1002). I iii^ Count Sancho Garcfa was called /.'/./, losFuero (literally, "He of the Rights", or "of the Charters"), because of the rights or charters

which he granted to the various cities. His son, Garcfa Sanchez, gave one of his sisters, Elvira, in mar- riage to Sancho the Great of Navarre, and another, Jimena, to Bermudo III of Leon, and was himself about to marry Sancha, Bermudo's sister, when he was assassinated by the Velas, Counts of Alava. At his death Sancho of Navarre reclaimed the countship of Castile, and took possession of it, notwithstanding the resistance of Bermudo III.

(2) The Kingdom of Castile. — Sancho the Great divided his possessions among his sons. Castile, with the title of king, was given to Ferdinand, who had married Sancha, the sister of Bermudo, who was to have married Garcia Sanchez, the last independent count. Ferdinand I, of Castile, united Castile and Leon, the latter having fallen to his wife upon the death of her brother, Bermudo III. Thus reinforced, Ferdinand extended his conquests as far as Coimbra; but he committed the fatal error of dividing his pos- sessions among his three sons and two daughters. Sancho, who inherited the Kingdom of Castile, began encroaching upon the rights of his brothers, but was assassinated at the siege of Zamora, which he was try- ing to take from his sister Urraca, and was succeeded by Alfonso VI. This monarch began to reunite the estates of his father, and carried the war of reconquest beyond the mountain chain of the Carpentano- Vetonica, capturing Madrid and Toledo, and thus lay- ing the foundations of New Castile. He gave his daughter Teresa in marriage to Henry of Burgundy, forming for them, with the western territory recon- quered from the Moors, the Countship of Portugal, which was the beginning of the Portuguese monarchy. His daughter Urraca succeeded him, the first queen to reign in the kingdom where Isabella the Catholic was later to hold the sceptre. Alfonso VII bore the title of emperor, and extended his conquests as far as Almeria, but he, also, at his death in 1 157, divided his possessions among his children, giving Leon to Ferdi- nand II, and Castile to Sancho, in whose short reign the Military Order of Alcantara was founded. Alfonso VIII (1158-1214) conquered Cuenca and defeated the Almohades in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), which definitively freed New Castile from the Mussulman yoke. This decisive victory is annually commemorated by the Church in Spain on the 16th of July, under the title "El Triumfo de la Santa Cruz" (The Triumph of the Holy Cross). After the brief reigns of Henry I and Dona Berengaria, Castile and Leon were definitively united under St. Ferdi- nand III (1219-52), who conquered the greater part of Andalusia (Jaen, Cordova, and Seville, 1248), leav- ing the Mohammedans only the Kingdom of Granada. The cathedral of Burgos occupies the first place among the monuments of his greatness. His succes- sors failed to carry on the reconquest. Alfonso X, "The Wise" (elSabio), was too much taken up with his vain pretensions to the imperial crown of Ger- many, Sancho the Brave (1218-95) and Ferdinand

IV, "the Cited" [el Empla ado), with their domestic struggles. In the time of Sancho IV the celebrated defence of Tarifa took place, giving to Alonzo Perez de Guzman, to whom it was entrusted, the title of "The Good " (el Bue.no). Ufonso XI (1310 50) in

the battle of Salado annihilated the last of the Mus- sulmans who attempted the reconquesl of Spain. The irregularity of his private life, however, paved the way for the disorders and cruel! ies of the reign of

his son Pedro, the Cruel, who tnel death al the hands

of his bastard brother, Henry II (1369-79). Ber-

trand du Guesclin, with his famous companies, was

the ally of Henry II. John I attempted to obtain possession of Portugal, but was defeated by the Por- tuguese at Aljubarrota (1385), and his grandson John II, turned over the government to his favourite,

Alvaro de I. una. whom he afterwards caused to be decapitated (145:i>. Henry IV. "The Impotent",