Castile

[ka-steel]

Castile, Span. Castilla, historic region and former kingdom, central and N Spain, traditionally divided into Old Castile and New Castile, and now divided into Castile-La Mancha and Castile-Leon. Castile is generally a vast, sparsely populated region surrounding the highly industrialized Madrid area. It includes most of the high plateau of central Spain, across which rise the rugged Sierra de Guadarrama and the Sierra de Gredos, forming a natural boundary between Old and New Castile. The upper Duero, the Tagus, and Guadiana rivers form the chief valleys etched into the plateau. The soil of Castile, ravaged by centuries of erosion, is poor, and rainfall is sparse.

History

The name Castile derives from the many castles built there by the Christian nobles early in the reconquest from the Moors (8th-9th cent.). Old Castile at first was a county of the kingdom of León, with Burgos its capital. Its nobles (notably Fernán González) secured virtual autonomy by the 10th cent. Sancho III of Navarre, who briefly annexed the county, made it into a kingdom for his son, Ferdinand I, in 1035.

León was first united with Castile in 1037, but complex dynastic rivalries delayed the permanent union of the two realms, which was achieved under Ferdinand III in 1230. The Castilian kings played a leading role in the fight against the Moors, from whom they wrested New Castile. They also had to struggle against the turbulent nobles and were involved in dynastic disputes that plunged the country into civil war (see Alfonso X). Peter the Cruel limited the vast privileges of the nobles, but they were permanently curbed only late in the 15th cent.

In 1479, after Isabella I had defeated the dynastic claims of Juana la Beltraneja, a personal union of Castile and Aragón was established under Isabella and her husband, Ferdinand II of Aragón. The union was confirmed with the accession (1516) of their grandson, Charles I (later Emperor Charles V), to the Spanish kingdoms. Charles suppressed the uprisings of the comuneros in 1520-21.

With the decline of Catalan and Valencia during that period, Castile became the dominant power in Spain. It was the core of the Spanish monarchy, centralized in Madrid (the capital after the 16th cent.). Its dialect became the standard literary language of Spain, and the character of its people—proud and austere—typifies the Spanish state. Latin America was largely influenced by Castilian culture.

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Eleanor of Castile

(born 1246—died Nov. 28, 1290, Harby, Nottinghamshire, Eng.) Queen consort of Edward I of England. Daughter of the king of Castile, she brought Edward h1 to Gascony on their marriage in 1254, and she was sent to France for safety during the baronial rebellion (1264–65). She joined Edward on a crusade to the Holy Land (1270–73), and legend says she saved his life by sucking poison from a dagger wound. On her death, Edward erected Eleanor Crosses at each place where her coffin rested en route to London.

Learn more about Eleanor of Castile with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Castile

Spanish Castilla

Traditional region, peninsular Spain. Comprising several modern provinces, its northern part is called Old Castile and its southern part New Castile. Castilian territory was united under León by Fernán González in the 10th century. Though it separated from León in the 12th century, it was reunited with it by Ferdinand III in 1230. The Spanish part of the kingdom of Navarra was annexed by Castile in 1512, thus completing the formation of modern Spain. Castile remains Spain's centre of political and administrative power. Seealso Castile-León; Castile–La Mancha.

Learn more about Castile with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Castile-La Mancha

Castile-La Mancha (Spanish "Castilla-La Mancha") is an autonomous community of Spain.

Castile-La Mancha is bordered by Castile and León, Madrid, Aragon, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia, and Extremadura. It is one of the most sparsely populated of Spain's autonomous communities.

Its capital city is Toledo, and its most populated city is Albacete.

Castile-La Mancha was formerly grouped with the province of Madrid into New Castile ("Castilla la Nueva"), but with the advent of the modern Spanish system of semi-autonomous regions ("las autonomías"), it was separated due to great demographic disparity between the capital and the remaining New-Castilian provinces.

It is in this region where the famous Spanish novel "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes was written. Although La Mancha is a windswept, battered plateau ("manxa" means parched earth in Arabic; hence La Mancha is not definitively related to the Spanish word "mancha", or stain, which is derived from Latin "macula") it remains a symbol of the Spanish culture with its sunflowers, oliveyards, windmills, Manchego cheese and "Don Quijote".

History

The history of Castile-La Mancha has been significant. Its origin was founded during the Muslim period between the 8th and 14th century. Castile-La Mancha was the region of many historical battles between Christian crusaders and Muslim forces during the period of 1000 to the 14th centuries (until the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, which aftermath assured the Castilian domination of the region with the decline of the Almohad Dynasty). It was also the region were the unification of Castile and Aragon in 1492 under Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand was created.