Province of BurgosThe Province of Burgos is a province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Palencia, Cantabria, Vizcaya, Álava, La Rioja, Soria, Segovia, and Valladolid. Its capital is the city of Burgos. The Cartularies of Valpuesta from the monastery Santa María de Valpuesta, in Burgos, are considered to be the oldest known documents containing words written in the Spanish language.
HispaniaHispania (Hispānia hɪsˈpaːnia, isˈpanja; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divided into two new provinces, Baetica and Lusitania, while Hispania Citerior was renamed Hispania Tarraconensis.
Andalusi RomanceAndalusi Romance, also called Mozarabic or Ajami, refers to the varieties of Ibero-Romance spoken in Al-Andalus, the parts of the medieval Iberian Peninsula under Islamic control. Romance, or vernacular Latin, was the common tongue for the majority of the population in the wake of the Umayyad conquest in the early eighth century. Over the following centuries, Andalusi Arabic gradually spread and eventually superseded Andalusi Romance as the main spoken language in the Muslim-controlled south.
TaifaThe taifas (singular taifa, from طائفة ṭā'ifa, plural طوائف ṭawā'if, a party, band or faction) were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), referred to by Muslims as al-Andalus, that emerged from the decline and fall of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba between 1009 and 1031. They were a recurring feature of al-Andalus history. The taifas were eventually incorporated by the Almoravid dynasty in the late 11th century and, on its collapse, many taifas re-appeared only to be incorporated by the Almohad Caliphate.
AlcaldeAlcalde (ælˈkældi; alˈkalde) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian cabildo (the municipal council) and judge of first instance of a town. Alcaldes were elected annually, without the right to reelection for two or three years, by the regidores (council members) of the municipal council. The office of the alcalde was signified by a staff of office, which they were to take with them when doing their business.
MadridMadrid (məˈdrɪd , maˈðɾið) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and its monocentric metropolitan area is the second-largest in the EU. The municipality covers geographical area. Madrid lies on the River Manzanares in the central part of the Iberian Peninsula.
Ferdinand II of AragonFerdinand II (Ferrando; Ferran; Errando; Fernando; 10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516) was King of Aragon from 1479 until his death in 1516. As the husband of Queen Isabella I of Castile, he was also King of Castile from 1475 to 1504 (as Ferdinand V). He reigned jointly with Isabella over a dynastically unified Spain; together they are known as the Catholic Monarchs. Ferdinand is considered the de facto first king of Spain, and was described as such during his reign, even though, legally, Castile and Aragon remained two separate kingdoms until they were formally united by the Nueva Planta decrees issued between 1707 and 1716.
Kingdom of AragonThe Kingdom of Aragon (Reino d'Aragón; Regne d'Aragó; Regnum Aragoniae; Reino de Aragón) was a medieval and early modern kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain. It should not be confused with the larger Crown of Aragon, which also included other territories—the Principality of Catalonia (which included the former Catalan Counties), the Kingdom of Valencia, the Kingdom of Majorca, and other possessions that are now part of France, Italy, and Greece—that were also under the rule of the King of Aragon, but were administered separately from the Kingdom of Aragon.
Catholic Monarchs of SpainThe Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the de facto unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being both descended from John I of Castile; to remove the obstacle that this consanguinity would otherwise have posed to their marriage under canon law, they were given a papal dispensation by Sixtus IV. They married on October 19, 1469, in the city of Valladolid; Isabella was 18 years old and Ferdinand a year younger.
EbroThe Ebro (Spanish and ˈeβɾo; Ebre ˈeβɾə) is a river of the north and northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain. It rises in Cantabria and flows , almost entirely in an east-southeast direction. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea forming a delta in the Province of Tarragona, in southern Catalonia. In the Iberian peninsula, it ranks second in length after the Tagus and second in discharge volume, and drainage basin, after the Douro. It is the longest river entirely within Spain; the other two mentioned flow into Portugal.
