|
The History of Madrid
Although the site of Madrid has been occupied since prehistoric times, the first historical data we have from the city is from the middle of the IX Century, when Mohamed I ordered the construction of a small palace (in the same place that is occupied now by the Palacio Real). Around this palace there was built a small citadel (al-Mudaina). Near that palace was the River Manzanares, which the Muslims called al-Marī (Arabic المجريط) meaning "source of water". (whence Magerit, then Madrid). The citadel was conquered in 1085 by Alfonso VI in his advance towards Toledo. He reconsecrated the mosque as the church of the Virgin of Almudena (almudin, the garrison's granary). In 1329 the Cortes first assembled in Madrid to advise Fernando IV. Jews and Moors continued to live in the city in their quarter, still called the "Moreria" until they were expelled and every mosque and synagogue was utterly obliterated.
After troubles and a fire Enrique III (1379-1406) rebuilt the city and established himself safely fortified outside its walls in El Pardo. The grand entry of Ferdinand and Isabella into Madrid signalled the end of strife between Castile and Aragon.
The kingdoms of Castilla, with its capital at Toledo, and Aragón, with its capital at Barcelona, were welded into modern Spain in the person of Carlos I. Though King Carlos favored Madrid, it was his son, Felipe II (1527-1598) who moved the Court to Madrid in 1561. Although he made no official declaration, the seat of the Court was the de facto capital. Seville continued to control the Spanish Indies, but Madrid controlled Seville. Aside from a brief period, 1601 - 1606, when Felipe III installed his court in Valladolid, Madrid's fortunes have closely mirrored those of Spain. During the Siglo de Oro (Golden Century), in the XVI/XVII century, Madrid had no resemblance with other European capitals: the population of the city was economically dependent on the business of the court itself.
Felipe V decided that a European Capital could not stay in such a state, and new palaces (including the Palacio Real de Madrid) were built during his reign. However, it would not be until Carlos III (1716-1788) that Madrid would become a modern city. Carlos III was one of the most popular kings in the history of Madrid, and the saying "the best mayor, the king" became popular during those times. When Carlos IV (1748-1819) became king the people of Madrid revolted. After the Mutiny of Aranjuez which was impulsed by his own son Fernando VII against him, Carlos IV resigned, but Fernando VII reign would be short: in May of 1808 Napoleon's troops entered the city. On May 2, 1808 (Spanish: Dos de Mayo) the Madrilenes revolted against the French forces, whose brute reaction would have a lasting impact on French rule in Spain and France's image in Europe in general.
After the war of independence (1814) Fernando VII came back to the throne, but after a liberal military revolution, Colonel Riego made the king swear respect to the Constitution. This would start a period where liberal and conservative alternate government, that would end with the enthronement of Isabel II (1830-1904), who would not be able to calm down the political tension that would lead to yet another revolt, the First Spanish Republic, the comeback of the monarchs which eventually would lead to the Second Spanish Republic and the Spanish Civil War. During this war (1936-1939) Madrid would be one of the most affected cities and its streets became battlezones. It was during the Civil War that Madrid had the sad honor of being the first city bombed by airplanes to spread terror among innocent citizens.
During the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, Madrid became very industrialized and there were massive migrations into the city. Towards the end of the dictatorship the Basque terrorist group ETA assassinated Franco's prime minister, Luis Carrero Blanco, in the Street of Claudio Coello. As anything related to ETA, this incident is still today a matter of controversy; while some think that it created further instability, others hold that the terrorist action--by impeding that Carrero Blanco would continue the dictatorship after Franco's death--contribute to lead the country towards democracy.
After the death of Franco, emerging democratic parties (including those of left-wing and republican ideology) accepted Franco's wishes of being succeeded by Juan Carlos I--in order to secure stablity and democracy--which led Spain to its current position as constitutional monarchy.
Befitting from the prosperity it gained in the 1980s, the capital city of Spain has consolidated its position as the leading economic, cultural, industrial, educational, and technological center on the Iberian peninsula.
Extract from Wikipedia
Copyright (C) 2000,2001,2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
|
