Re: Ferdinand and Isabella's capital

On 13 Jan 2006 07:00:14 -0800, "Antonio" <abasto@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>
>atsarisborn@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>> Their capital was wherever they happened to be.
>>
>> Spain's traditional capital was Toledo -- it had been the capital for
>> the Vizigoths, and the kings who captured it, Alfonso VI and his
>> grandson Alfonso VII (or VIII), took the style "Emperor of Spain" upon
>> its conquest, meaning they were re-establishing the unity of the
>> peninsula.
>>
>> (The Counts of Portugal and Barcelona protested, and the Kings of
>> Portugal did so again when Ferdinand and Isabella began to call
>> themselves "King and Queen of Spain" -- Spain was a Roman geographical
>> term, not previously a national term, ever. Portugal felt it was part
>> of Spain but not of Castille. Nowadays Iberia occupies the position
>> Hispania used to hold as the geographical term.)
>>
>> Each king resided in whatever city he preferred, and the court and the
>> cortes and the chancery followed him around. Often it was a recent
>> conquest -- Alfonso XI and Pedro had their capital in Seville, which
>> they had just taken from the Moors (where Pedro's Moorish palace still
>> stands). Enrique IV loved Segovia above all other cities, and hated to
>> leave it. Isabella's capital was Granada after 1492. Ferdinand's
>> capital, of course, was Barcelona (but also Saragossa and Valencia --
>> and Palermo) after his father's death in 1479. They were in Barcelona
>> when Columbus returned because they wanted the cortes of that state to
>> acknowledge their heir. (Aragon had different rules from Castille.)
>>
>> The idea of having one capital city was Philip II's, and he put it in
>> Madrid for two reasons: (1) it was central to the peninsula, and (2) it
>> was nowheresville, had never been of any importance, had no local power
>> to frustrate his authority -- unlike Toledo, Segovia, Seville,
>> Saragossa, Granada, etc. He could do what he liked with it.
>>
>> The confusion in Wikipedia -- typical -- is with Philip V. By the time
>> he came to the throne, Madrid was far too powerful, and he resented it.
>> He tried to move the capital to Valladolid, but by the end of his long
>> reign, he'd given up. Besides -- the ancient alcazar of Madrid burned
>> down, and he built the enormous new Oriente Palace to replace it, which
>> fixed the King's town residence from that day onward. His son, Fernando
>> VI, happened to adore Madrid (he and his wife are the only monarchs
>> buried there, rather than in Escorial), so Madrid kept on growing.
>>
>> Jean Coeur de Lapin
>
>If I am not mistaken (I will have to check that at home), the
>"Privilege" ganted to Miguel de Cervantes to have copyright over his
>masterpiece "Don Quixote" was a document signed joinly by Queen
>Isabella and King Fernando (I remember the formulas "Yo el Rey" "Yo la
>Reina"), and I recall that it was signed at Valladolid.
>
>While that does not make that city the capital, I recall reading
>somewhere else about the Court at the time of Fernando and Isabella,
>and Valladolid seemed to me to be at least a leading city.

>From a quick look through Townsend Miller's "The Castles and the
Crown", the court was a different times at

Barcelona
Zaragosa
Toledo
Madrid
Segovia
Valladolid
Salamanca
Valencia de Alcantara
Sevilla
Cordoba
Grenada

among many other places.

Isabel's children were all born in different places:

Isabel - Duenas
Juan - Sevilla
Juana - Toledo
Maria - Cordoba
Catalina - Alcala de Henares

--
Don Aitken
Mail to the From: address is not read.
To email me, substitute "clara.co.uk" for "freeuk.com"
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Ferdinand and Isabellas capital
    ... > Each king resided in whatever city he preferred, ... > to frustrate his authority -- unlike Toledo, Segovia, Seville, ... > he came to the throne, Madrid was far too powerful, and he resented it. ... and I recall that it was signed at Valladolid. ...
    (alt.talk.royalty)
  • Re: Ferdinand and Isabellas capital
    ... the Vizigoths, and the kings who captured it, Alfonso VI and his ... capital, of course, was Barcelona (but also Saragossa and Valencia -- ... Madrid for two reasons: it was central to the peninsula, ... to frustrate his authority -- unlike Toledo, Segovia, Seville, ...
    (alt.talk.royalty)
  • PE: Anaheim OKs Honda funding
    ... Anaheim OKs Honda funding KINGS RELOCATION: The city takes a big step ...
    (alt.sports.basketball.nba.la-lakers)
  • Re: Minoa
    ... What group of kings, in all history, only allowed the ... I aint like the Minoans could not ... There's a city scape fresco found at Thera. ... Kucha, and many other towns was protected by the desert. ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Minoa
    ... What group of kings, in all history, only allowed the ... I aint like the Minoans could not ... There's a city scape fresco found at Thera. ... Kucha, and many other towns was protected by the desert. ...
    (sci.archaeology)