Entry taken from the book The Plantagenets The recent discovery of the remains of English King Richard III in a car park in Leicester and the decision to sequence the genome of the British monarch they have made fashionable one of the most controversial and enigmatic characters in the history of Eng
Entry taken from the book The Plantagenets If there is a character who once raised enormous expectations of becoming one of the greatest English monarchs, destined to take his country to the highest levels and dominate the conflict war later known as The Hundred Years War making his French enemies b
Entry taken from the book The Plantagenets When I first read about Simon de Montforts brief but important intervention in England in the second half of the 13th century, I thought it was a familiar name. It didnt take me long to remember what it sounded like:his father, also named Simon de Montfort,
Entry taken from the book The Plantagenets Life appears happy for the future Edward III of England. He is the grandson of two of the most formidable monarchs of his time and the eldest son and undisputed heir of Englands King Edward II. It seems that it is enough for him to calmly wait for his fath
Entry taken from the book The Plantagenets In the early 11th century it seemed that England was finally beginning to establish itself as a Saxon kingdom under the reign of the descendants of the Viking victor Alfred the Great. However, one of them Ethelred II, still fearful of the threat of the hord
Entry taken from the book The Plantagenets Can you imagine if the England of the Middle Ages had been ruled by the Norwegians or the Saxons instead of the Normans? They are still disquisitions, but all of them were very close to materializing and that one or the other became a reality was decided i
After a siege that had lasted six months, the gates of Valencia were opened for the Cids army on June 15, 1094, and Rodrigo entered the city the following day. The conquest of Valencia was not only a moral blow for the Muslims of the peninsula, but also seriously endangered the Almoravid domains clo
I.- Brief description of the time and place where Urraca was born and lived In the first place, it must be clarified that at that time there was not a very strict registry of births, not even of people of royal blood. Urraca was probably born around the year 1080 in León, although it is possible t
The relationship between the kingdom of León and the county until 1065 and from that date on the kingdom of Castile was not easy. The county of Castile gained weight and prominence from the time that Fernán González held that title in the mid-10th century, although as such a county it never became i
We finish the first entry of this series dedicated to the succession of Alfonso IX of León pointing out that in 1218 the Leonese monarch approved the ascent to the Castilian throne of his son Fernando III, but that did not mean at all that he was willing to allow that Ferdinand also succeed him on t
Continuing and now to close the series of entries on the succession of Alfonso IX of León, we place ourselves in the weeks after his death in 1230 to follow in the footsteps of the candidates for the throne, the infantas Sancha and Dulce on the one hand, and the King Ferdinand III of Castile on the
One of the obstacles encountered by those who try to approach the history of the medieval peninsular kingdoms is that of the repetition of certain names among the monarchs who wore the crown of these kingdoms or among those who held a county title, which sometimes makes it difficult to identify di
Article originally published in the 23rd issue of the Discover History magazine. Although one and the other ruled over territories much smaller than the current England and Spain and were not called that, Alfred of Wessex and Alfonso III of Asturias are two monarchs of capital importance in English
We had finished the first entry in this series on the historical parallels between King Alfred of Wessex and King Alfonso III of Asturias by pointing out that there were more aspects in which both reigns are similar and that they would be subject of this second entry. As can be seen, they are of muc
Ramiro I was the son of King Vermudo I of Asturias. His father, who had ascended the throne in the year 788, did not last long in power. Three years after taking the crown he suffered a heavy defeat against the Muslims of Hisham I, son of Abderramán I, in Burbia. It is not very clear if this militar
I go back to the podcast of the program The coffee of the rain to talk about a formidable character:Queen Urraca de León. A woman who was full queen at a time when women did not reign in Europe, who had to face external threats (the Almoravids), internal (her stepsister Teresa, Countess of Portugal,
The traditional Christmas greeting of this blog, consisting of a video with images of historical places, this year can only be about the most important project I have undertaken in 2019:my second book, first dedicated to the peninsular Middle Ages, entitled De Covadonga a Tamarón, which narrates the
From Covadonga to Tamarón narrates the history of the kingdoms of Asturias and León from don Pelayo to Vermudo III, king of León who died in the battle of Tamarón in the year 1037. From war to unification takes up history from the year 1037 and focuses on the relations between the kingdom of León an
Introduction The royal women of the Middle Ages are a fascinating object of study. Not only because of the unfair neglect to which they have sometimes been subjected, but also because their life events usually represent a much richer picture than that of men from the same period. A medieval king is
We had left the first entry dedicated to the fascinating story of the queen of Pamplona, Toda Aznárez, speaking of the alliance of Christian kingdoms and counties that took place at the battle of Simancas in the year 939. To continue with the narrative we have to focus on the links that were agree
Since the early 80s, fm radio has had time to impose itself, to conquer all layers of the population, to evolve in quality, to target its listeners, to find its rhythm, to impose itself in the habits of consumers, and of course to cement its business model. Nowadays, it is not surprising to turn the
The British Boys anti-tank rifle was designed in 1937 and was used in the early stages of World War II for rudimentary anti-tank protection of infantry fighting groups. It had a caliber of 14 mm. and was fed from a 5-cartridge magazine. The weapon had a weight of 16 kg, a length of 1,575 m and un
Setting aside Mein Kampf of Hitler and the Red Book of Mao Zedong , because their figures must be quarantined and, in addition, it was mandatory to acquire them, today we will deal with the best-selling book in all of history:the Bible. In no case will I judge its content, I will simply deal with th
Whenever popular phrases from the history of cinema come up, there is someone who says:“I cant find my legs ”. Actually, in the movie Cornered , John Rambo said:“…and I cant find his legs. I cant find the legs. I cant get it out of my head. And so seven long years, day after day… ”. It is possibly o