Toro, Zamora
Encyclopedia
Toro is a town and municipality
in the province
of Zamora
, part of the autonomous community
of Castile and León
, Spain
. It is located on a fertile high plain, northwest of Madrid
at an elevation of 740 meters.
Toro is known as a center of Mudéjar
art and as a wine-producing region. It is located on the Duero River roughly half way between Zamora
, the provincial capital and Tordesillas
in the province of Valladolid
. The four-lane freeway (autovia) A 11 now connects these two cities and passes just north of Toro. Highway N122 passes through the town. The distance to Madrid by highway is 220 km. Distances to other cities are: 32 km to Zamora, 62 km to Valladolid and 72 km to Salamanca
.
s. The Roman town was called Albucella. The modern name may derive from the bull totem of that Celtiberian people
. In the 8th century it was conquered by the Moors. After the Muslims had been partially rolled back, Alfonso III
repopulated the town in about 910.
was crowned King of León
in Toro in 1230 and his wife Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen
(Beatriz) died here. Enrique II, first of the Trastámara
line, summoned his first Cortes
here in 1369. Juan II of Castile was born here in 1404, but the town was to have greater significance for his daughter Isabella I of Castile
.
Isabella (married with Ferdinand) had a rival for the succession in Juana la Beltraneja, supposedly the daughter of her half-brother Enrique IV, but allegedly the daughter of the queen's lover, the courtier Beltrán de la Cueva
. La Beltraneja's supporters arranged her betrothal to Alfonso V of Portugal who was feeling upset over his earlier rejection by Isabella.
Alfonso invaded Castile
in May 1475, backed by a number of dissident Castilian nobles. Isabella made Tordesillas
her headquarters, while Ferdinand moved to secure the loyalty of Salamanca
, Toro, and Zamora
. Alfonso reached Arévalo
in July and both Zamora and Toro went over to him, a serious blow for the young monarchs.
Intrigue seethed as troops marched. Zamora swung back to Isabella's cause. The Portuguese crown prince arrived with reinforcements and in March 1, 1476 the rival armies met at Peleagonzalo, a few kilometres southwest of Toro. Ferdinand was victorious in this battle decided by light cavalry.The Portuguese under Alfonso broke and the king took refuge in Castronuño. However the result was uncertain since the forces under the Portuguese crown prince defeated the Castilian right wing and remained in possession of the battle field - and thus both sides claimed victory. But the fortress of Zamora surrendered to Ferdinand soon thereafter (Mars 19, 1476) while Toro remained in Portuguese hands during more than half a year (until September 19, 1476). After that Alfonso gave up the fight and la Beltraneja retired to a Lisbon convent where she died in 1530, aged sixty-eight.
In January 1506, after Isabella's death, Ferdinand summoned a Cortes at Toro. Isabella's legal successors in Castile were her daughter Joanna the Mad
and her husband Philip the Handsome
, who at the time stayed in the Netherlands. The Cortes took the oath to Ferdinand as temporary ruler and agreed that if Juana be deemed incurably ill, which she showed every sign of being, he should become regent.
When the pair reached Spain in the spring of 1506, the two men agreed that Juana was incapable of ruling. Ferdinand turned over the sole rule to her husband Philip the Handsome and left for Aragón
. Less than three months later, Philip was dead. Juana became totally insane and in August 1508 ceded her rights to her father and was retired to Tordesillas
.
, the Comuneros
, rose against her son Charles I, who had succeeded his Spanish grandfather in 1516, Toro sided with them. Charles defeated the Comuneros at Villalar de los Comuneros
, east of Toro, the next year.
During the Peninsular War
, in the bitter cold of December 1808, Sir John Moore began his famous retreat from Toro in the face of superior French forces. The ghastly ordeal ended in Moore's death before La Coruña (Galicia) in January. In May 1813, 100,000 British troops gathered in Toro under Wellington
's command and from here Wellington launched the final campaign which expelled Napoleon's armies from Spanish soil after five terrible years.
English traveller Richard Ford
visited Toro in 1831 and reported a population of 9,000; it has just under 10,000 now. In 1838 it lost its status as a provincial capital, its province being merged with Zamora.
painting La Virgen de la Mosca ("Virgin of the Fly") and an unusual pregnant Virgin.
Next to the collegiate church is the Espolón
viewing point, which offers views of a fertile plain known as the "oasis of Castile."
The town also has the remains of a wall from 910 AD; and the gates of Corredera and Santa Catalina
, from the 17th and 18th centuries. Noteworthy civic buildings include the façade of the Law Palace, the City Hall, and the palaces of the Counts of Requena, the Marquis of Alcañices
or the Marquis of Castrillo. Among the ecclesiastical buildings are the churches of San Lorenzo el Real, in Mudéjar
style; San Salvador de los Caballeros, which contains a Museum of Religious Art; San Sebastián, and the monasteries of Sancti Spiritus, Santa Clara and Santa Sofía.
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
in the province
Provinces of Spain
Spain and its autonomous communities are divided into fifty provinces .In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian , sing. província.*Galician , sing. provincia.*Basque |Galicia]] — are not also the capitals of provinces...
of Zamora
Zamora (province)
Zamora is a Spanish province of western Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile and León.The present-day province of Zamora province was one of three provinces formed from the former Kingdom of León in 1833, when Spain was re-organised into 49 provinces.It is bordered by...
, part of the autonomous community
Autonomous communities of Spain
An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
of Castile and León
Castile and León
Castile and León is an autonomous community in north-western Spain. It was so constituted in 1983 and it comprises the historical regions of León and Old Castile...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. It is located on a fertile high plain, northwest of Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
at an elevation of 740 meters.
Toro is known as a center of Mudéjar
Mudéjar
Mudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...
art and as a wine-producing region. It is located on the Duero River roughly half way between Zamora
Zamora, Spain
Zamora is a city in Castile and León, Spain, the capital of the province of Zamora. It lies on a rocky hill in the northwest, near the frontier with Portugal and crossed by the Duero river, which is some 50 km downstream as it reaches the Portuguese frontier...
, the provincial capital and Tordesillas
Tordesillas
Tordesillas is a town and municipality in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, central Spain.It is located 25 km southwest of the provincial capital, Valladolid at an elevation of 704 meters. The population was c. 9,000 in 2009....
in the province of Valladolid
Valladolid
Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...
. The four-lane freeway (autovia) A 11 now connects these two cities and passes just north of Toro. Highway N122 passes through the town. The distance to Madrid by highway is 220 km. Distances to other cities are: 32 km to Zamora, 62 km to Valladolid and 72 km to Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...
.
Antiquity
Toro is an ancient town, possibly the Arbukala of the Vaccai tribe which was conquered by Hannibal in 220 BC but survived to trouble the RomanAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
s. The Roman town was called Albucella. The modern name may derive from the bull totem of that Celtiberian people
Celtiberians
The Celtiberians were Celtic-speaking people of the Iberian Peninsula in the final centuries BC. The group used the Celtic Celtiberian language.Archaeologically, the Celtiberians participated in the Hallstatt culture in what is now north-central Spain...
. In the 8th century it was conquered by the Moors. After the Muslims had been partially rolled back, Alfonso III
Alfonso III of León
Alfonso III , called the Great, was the king of León, Galicia and Asturias from 866 until his death. He was the son and successor of Ordoño I. In later sources he is the earliest to be called "Emperor of Spain"...
repopulated the town in about 910.
Medieval
Ferninand IIIFerdinand III of Castile
Saint Ferdinand III, T.O.S.F., was the King of Castile from 1217 and León from 1230. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile. Through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale. He finished the work done by his maternal grandfather Alfonso VIII and consolidated the...
was crowned King of León
Kingdom of León
The Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in AD 910 when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their capital from Oviedo to the city of León...
in Toro in 1230 and his wife Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen
Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen
Beatrice of Swabia was Queen of Castile and Leon as the wife of King Ferdinand III...
(Beatriz) died here. Enrique II, first of the Trastámara
Trastámara
The House of Trastámara was a dynasty of kings in the Iberian Peninsula, which first governed in Castile beginning in 1369 before expanding its rule into Aragón, Navarre and Naples.They were a cadet illegitimate line of the House of Burgundy....
line, summoned his first Cortes
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
here in 1369. Juan II of Castile was born here in 1404, but the town was to have greater significance for his daughter Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...
.
Isabella (married with Ferdinand) had a rival for the succession in Juana la Beltraneja, supposedly the daughter of her half-brother Enrique IV, but allegedly the daughter of the queen's lover, the courtier Beltrán de la Cueva
Beltrán de la Cueva
Beltrán de la Cueva y Alfonso de Mercado, 1st Duke of Alburquerque was a Spanish nobleman and presumed lover of Queen Joan of Portugal.-Early life:...
. La Beltraneja's supporters arranged her betrothal to Alfonso V of Portugal who was feeling upset over his earlier rejection by Isabella.
Alfonso invaded Castile
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...
in May 1475, backed by a number of dissident Castilian nobles. Isabella made Tordesillas
Tordesillas
Tordesillas is a town and municipality in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, central Spain.It is located 25 km southwest of the provincial capital, Valladolid at an elevation of 704 meters. The population was c. 9,000 in 2009....
her headquarters, while Ferdinand moved to secure the loyalty of Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...
, Toro, and Zamora
Zamora, Spain
Zamora is a city in Castile and León, Spain, the capital of the province of Zamora. It lies on a rocky hill in the northwest, near the frontier with Portugal and crossed by the Duero river, which is some 50 km downstream as it reaches the Portuguese frontier...
. Alfonso reached Arévalo
Arévalo
Arévalo is a municipality in Spain, it is situated in the province of Ávila and is part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. The name came from Celtic word arevalon, meaning "place near the wall."-Regional importance:...
in July and both Zamora and Toro went over to him, a serious blow for the young monarchs.
Intrigue seethed as troops marched. Zamora swung back to Isabella's cause. The Portuguese crown prince arrived with reinforcements and in March 1, 1476 the rival armies met at Peleagonzalo, a few kilometres southwest of Toro. Ferdinand was victorious in this battle decided by light cavalry.The Portuguese under Alfonso broke and the king took refuge in Castronuño. However the result was uncertain since the forces under the Portuguese crown prince defeated the Castilian right wing and remained in possession of the battle field - and thus both sides claimed victory. But the fortress of Zamora surrendered to Ferdinand soon thereafter (Mars 19, 1476) while Toro remained in Portuguese hands during more than half a year (until September 19, 1476). After that Alfonso gave up the fight and la Beltraneja retired to a Lisbon convent where she died in 1530, aged sixty-eight.
Joanna of Castile
Joanna , nicknamed Joanna the Mad , was the first queen regnant to reign over both the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon , a union which evolved into modern Spain...
and her husband Philip the Handsome
Philip I of Castile
Philip I , known as Philip the Handsome or the Fair, was the first Habsburg King of Castile...
, who at the time stayed in the Netherlands. The Cortes took the oath to Ferdinand as temporary ruler and agreed that if Juana be deemed incurably ill, which she showed every sign of being, he should become regent.
When the pair reached Spain in the spring of 1506, the two men agreed that Juana was incapable of ruling. Ferdinand turned over the sole rule to her husband Philip the Handsome and left for Aragón
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
. Less than three months later, Philip was dead. Juana became totally insane and in August 1508 ceded her rights to her father and was retired to Tordesillas
Tordesillas
Tordesillas is a town and municipality in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, central Spain.It is located 25 km southwest of the provincial capital, Valladolid at an elevation of 704 meters. The population was c. 9,000 in 2009....
.
1500 to present
When in 1520 the towns of CastileCrown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...
, the Comuneros
Comuneros
Comunero is a Spanish term with several meanings; literally, it means "member of a community", but it has other connotations as well, depending on context...
, rose against her son Charles I, who had succeeded his Spanish grandfather in 1516, Toro sided with them. Charles defeated the Comuneros at Villalar de los Comuneros
Villalar de los Comuneros
Villalar de los Comuneros is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 449 inhabitants....
, east of Toro, the next year.
During the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, in the bitter cold of December 1808, Sir John Moore began his famous retreat from Toro in the face of superior French forces. The ghastly ordeal ended in Moore's death before La Coruña (Galicia) in January. In May 1813, 100,000 British troops gathered in Toro under Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
's command and from here Wellington launched the final campaign which expelled Napoleon's armies from Spanish soil after five terrible years.
English traveller Richard Ford
Richard Ford
Richard Ford is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel The Sportswriter and its sequels, Independence Day and The Lay of the Land, and the short story collection Rock Springs, which contains several widely anthologized stories.-Early...
visited Toro in 1831 and reported a population of 9,000; it has just under 10,000 now. In 1838 it lost its status as a provincial capital, its province being merged with Zamora.
Main sights
The town of Toro is built in the shape of a fan, in whose center stands the Collegiate church of Santa María la Mayor, dating to the 12th century. Outstanding on the outside is the polychrome western door, called ; and on the inside, the famous FlemishFlanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
painting La Virgen de la Mosca ("Virgin of the Fly") and an unusual pregnant Virgin.
Next to the collegiate church is the Espolón
Espolon
Tequila Espolon is a brand of tequila produced in Arandas, Jalisco, Mexico. The company was founded by Ramon Valdes G. after he left Tequila Herradura. Tequila Espolon sponsored a state-wide beauty contest, Nuestra Belleza, on July 22, 2006 and broadcast the pageant on Televisa Guadalajara...
viewing point, which offers views of a fertile plain known as the "oasis of Castile."
The town also has the remains of a wall from 910 AD; and the gates of Corredera and Santa Catalina
Santa Catalina
Santa Catalina may refer to:*Argentina**Santa Catalina, Jujuy**Santa Catalina, Córdoba**Santa Catalina, Santiago del Estero*Colombia**Santa Catalina, Colombia**Archipelago of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina*Dominican Republic...
, from the 17th and 18th centuries. Noteworthy civic buildings include the façade of the Law Palace, the City Hall, and the palaces of the Counts of Requena, the Marquis of Alcañices
Alcañices
Alcañices is a small town in the province of Zamora, Spain. It is very close to the border with Portugal, not far from the Portuguese town of Bragança....
or the Marquis of Castrillo. Among the ecclesiastical buildings are the churches of San Lorenzo el Real, in Mudéjar
Mudéjar
Mudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...
style; San Salvador de los Caballeros, which contains a Museum of Religious Art; San Sebastián, and the monasteries of Sancti Spiritus, Santa Clara and Santa Sofía.
Toro wine
Toro has been long famous for its wine. The Toro wines were so prestigious that King Alfonso IX of Leon conceded privileges for its production in the 12th Century. Columbus took Toro wine with him on the expedition to discover America in 1492, because it could survive large journeys, due to its structure and body. Friar Diego de Deza, from Zamora, one of Isabel the Catholic's confessors, collaborated economically in the expedition, for which he was allowed to name one of the caravels, the Pinta that was half full of Toro wine. The Designation of the Toro Region is recent, beginning in the mid 70s, under the Specific Designation (Denominación Específica), which preceded the attainment of Designated Region (Denominación de Origen) on 29 May 1987. http://www.marquesdeolivara.com/en/toro_history.htmlSources
- Guia Total, Castilla y León, (Madrid 1995).
- A River in Spain, Rober White (London 1998).
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman GeographyDictionary of Greek and Roman GeographyThe Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, first published in 1854, was the last of a series of classical dictionaries edited by the English scholar William Smith , which included as sister works A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities and the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and...
, by William Smith - Historia del Cristianismo, Editorial Unilit, 1994, Miami, Tome 2, Parte II (La era de los conquistadores), by Justo L. González. ISBNInternational Standard Book NumberThe International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering code created by Gordon Foster, Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H...
: 1560634766 - La “imcomparable” Isabel la Catolica (The “imcomparable” Isabella, the Catholic), Encuentro Editiones, printed by Rogar-Fuenlabrada, Madrid, 1993 (Spanish edition), by Jean Dumont.
External links
- Ayuntamiento de Toro, Toro municipal government official website
- Portal with different types of information on Toro
- Cities and towns in Zamora, Spain; Toro
- Pueblos de España