(Encyclopedia) Sancho IISancho IIsänˈchō [key], d.1072, Spanish king of Castile (1065–72), son and successor of Ferdinand I. He conquered (1072) León from his brother Alfonso VI, but his sister…
(Encyclopedia) Maria ChristinaMaria Christinamärēˈä krēstēˈnä [key], 1806–78, queen of Spain, daughter of Francis I of the Two Sicilies. The fourth wife of Ferdinand VII, she persuaded him to confirm…
(Encyclopedia) John of Gaunt [Mid. Eng. Gaunt=Ghent, his birthplace], 1340–99, duke of Lancaster; fourth son of Edward III of England. He married (1359) Blanche, heiress of Lancaster, and through her…
(Encyclopedia) Ferdinand III, 1199–1252, Spanish king of Castile (1217–52) and León (1230–52), son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile. At the death (1217) of her brother, Henry I of…
(Encyclopedia) Salamanca, University of, at Salamanca, Spain; founded 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, reorganized 1254 by Alfonso X of Castile and León. It has faculties of philosophy, philology,…
(Encyclopedia) Ferdinand I or Ferdinand the Great, d. 1065, Spanish king of Castile (1035–65) and León (1037–65). He inherited Castile from his father, Sancho III of Navarre, conquered León, and took…
(Encyclopedia) hermandadhermandadārmändäᵺˈ [key] [Span.,=brotherhood], a peacekeeping association of armed individuals, a characteristic of municipal life in medieval Spain, especially in Castile.…
(Encyclopedia) Jiménez de Cisneros, FranciscoJiménez de Cisneros, Franciscofränthēsˈkō hēmāˈnāth dā thēsnāˈrōs [key], 1436–1517, Spanish prelate and statesman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.…
(Encyclopedia) Alfonso VII (Alfonso the Emperor), 1104–57, Spanish king of Castile and León (1126–57), son and successor of Urraca. He recovered the places in Castile that his stepfather, Alfonso I…