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97-558: Cuenca ( Spanish: [ˈkweŋka] ) is a city and municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha . It is the capital of the province of Cuenca . Its name may derive from the Latin conca meaning "river basin", referring to the gorge of the rivers Júcar and Huécar . It may also be derived from the now-ruined Arab castle, Kunka. Other alternative original names have been suggested, including "Anitorgis", "Sucro" or "Concava". The city of Cuenca

194-634: A 13th-century fabrication, the Fueros de Sobrarbe were subsequently used as the legal foundation for most Navarrese and Aragonese Fueros from the 13th century onwards. They enshrined the traditional principle "laws before kings" both in Aragonese and Navarrese law, justified the right to rebel against illegal royal decisions, and legitimised the existence of specific institutions such as the Justicia de Aragón , designed to The Fueros de Sobrarbe first appear mentioned in

291-429: A clock on one of its walls and a recording of bell chimes can be heard in the old town at certain times (every quarter of an hour). There are views from the near viewpoints over the river Jucar's gorge and the modern neighborhoods. Mangana can be reached on foot from Plaza Mayor. The Town Hall is a building in baroque style built up during the ruling period of King Carlos III and supported over three Roman arches. It

388-469: A compilation of laws, especially a local or regional one; a set of laws specific to an identified class or estate (for example fuero militar , comparable to a military code of justice, or fuero eclesiástico , specific to the Roman Catholic Church ). In many of these senses, its equivalent in medieval England would be the custumal . In the 20th century, Francisco Franco 's regime used

485-478: A constitutional provision catering to historic Catalan and Basque political demands, and leaving open the possibility of establishing their own autonomous communities . The Spanish Constitution speaks of "nationalities" and "historic territories", but does not define them. The term nationality itself was coined for the purpose, and neither Basques nor Catalans are specifically recognized by the Constitution. After

582-513: A degree of autonomy unknown in the rest of Spain, with local telephone companies, provincial limited-bailiwick police forces ( miñones in Alava, and Foral Police in Navarre), road works and some taxes to support local government. The post-Franco Spanish Constitution of 1978 acknowledged "historical rights" and attempted to compromise in the old conflict between centralism and federalism by establishing

679-492: A low number of inhabitants. The area of the municipal territory (Spanish: término municipal ) usually ranges 2–40 km , but some municipalities span across a much larger area, up to the 1,750.33 km of Cáceres ', the largest municipality in the country. The average land area of a Spanish municipality is about 62.23 km (24.03 sq mi), while the average population is about 5,988 people. Municipalities were first created by decree on 23 May 1812 as part of

776-578: A restoration of Basque autonomy in recent times came under the Second Spanish Republic in the mid twentieth century. An attempt was made at restoring some kind of Basque self-government in the Statute of Estella , initially garnering a majority of the votes, but controversially failing to take off (Pamplona, 1932). Four years later and amid a climate of war, Basque nationalists supported the left -leaning Republic as ardently as they had earlier supported

873-520: A result of this it was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996. In recent years, new cultural infrastructure such as the municipal Concert Hall and the Science Museum saw Cuenca unsuccessfully apply for the title of European Capital of Culture in 2016. Cuenca is located across a steep spur, whose slopes descend into deep gorges of the Júcar and Huécar rivers. It is divided into two separate settlements:

970-519: A result to reach 10,000 inhabitants. In 1874, during the Third Carlist War , Cuenca was taken over by Carlist troops, and the city suffered great damage once more. The 20th century began with the collapse of the Giraldo cathedral's tower in 1902, which affected also the façade. The first decades of the 20th century were as turbulent as in other regions of Spain . There was poverty in rural areas, and

1067-571: A separate Basque state, but the French invasive attitude on the ground and the deadlock of the self-government project led the Basques to find help elsewhere, i.e. local liberal or moderate commanders and public figures supportive of the fueros , or the conservative Ferdinand VII . The 1812 Spanish Constitution of Cadiz received no Basque input, ignored the Basque self-government, and was accepted begrudgingly by

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1164-412: A term often also used to refer to the municipal headquarters (city/town hall). The ayuntamiento is composed of the mayor (Spanish: alcalde ), the deputy mayors (Spanish: tenientes de alcalde ) and the deliberative assembly ( pleno ) of councillors ( concejales ). Another form of local government used in small municipalities is the concejo abierto (open council), in which the deliberative assembly

1261-576: A tough approach on the Basque self-government and specific laws. Both fear and anger spread among the Basques at his uncompromising stance. The 1789 Revolution brought the rise of the Jacobin nation state —also referred to in a Spanish context as "unitarism", unrelated to the religious view of similar name . Whereas the French Ancien Régime recognized the regional specific laws, the new order did not allow for such autonomy. The jigsaw puzzle of fiefs

1358-545: Is a Spanish legal term and concept. The word comes from Latin forum , an open space used as a market, tribunal and meeting place. The same Latin root is the origin of the French terms for and foire , and the Portuguese terms foro and foral ; all of these words have related, but somewhat different meanings. The Spanish term fuero has a wide range of meanings, depending upon its context. It has meant

1455-563: Is also known as the "Eagle's Nest" because of its precarious position on the edge of a gorge. When the Iberian peninsula was part of the Roman Empire , there were several important settlements in the province, such as Segobriga , Ercavica and Gran Valeria . However, the place where Cuenca is located today was uninhabited at that time. When the Muslims captured the area in 714, they soon realized

1552-463: Is circular inside, and it is located at Plaza del Trabuco. This church can be reached by going up along San Pedro Street from Plaza Mayor. The Church of Saint Michael ( Iglesia de San Miguel in Spanish) was erected during the 13th century, with only one nave and an apse. In the 15th century, a second nave at the north side was added. The dome was built by Esteban Jamete in the 16th century, and finally

1649-501: Is dated around 1370, containing saints' relics ), paintings by El Greco , and handcrafted carpets from Cuenca's school, can be seen at the museum. El Castillo is the name for the remains of an ancient Arab fortress, representing the older structures of Cuenca. Only a tower, two stone blocks, the arch which allows to enter/leave the old town from the Barrio del Castillo and a fragment of the walls have been left. The arch ( arco de Bezudo )

1746-479: Is extended to Spanish citizens living abroad. A Spaniard abroad, upon registering in a consulate , has the right to vote in the local elections of the last municipality they resided in. A Spanish citizen born abroad must choose between the last municipality his or her mother or father last lived in. As of 2022, there were a total of 8,131 municipalities in Spain, including the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla . In

1843-451: Is formed by all the electors in the municipality. The operation of the municipalities is broadly outlined by the 1985 Local Government Act. The Statutes of Autonomy of the various autonomous communities also contain provisions and many sectorial laws from national and autonomous community government determine the functions and powers of ayuntamientos. In general, municipalities enjoy a large degree of autonomy in their local affairs: many of

1940-631: Is named after Gutierre Rodriguez Bezudo , from Segovia , who fought the Arabs with King Alfonso VIII to conquer Cuenca. In the Muslim era, the historian Ibn Al-Abbar mentions that once upon a time, the imam of the mosque of the citadel of Cuenca was Ja’far bin Isa Al-Umawi (from Umayyad lineage), a distinguished scholar, poet and expert in the Arabic language who passed away in the year 460 A.H/1068 A.D. The castle

2037-429: Is no implied hierarchy or primacy of one over the other. Instead the two entities are defined according to the authority or jurisdiction of each ( Spanish : competencias ). Some autonomous communities also group municipalities into entities known as comarcas (districts) or mancomunidades (commonwealths). The governing body in most municipalities is called ayuntamiento ( municipal council or corporation ),

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2134-437: The 1981 coup d'état attempt and the ensuing passing of the restrictive LOAPA act, such possibility of autonomy got opened to whatever (reshaped) Spanish region demanded it (such as Castile and León , Valencia , etc.), even to those never struggling to have their separate identity recognized and always considering themselves invariably Spanish. The State of Autonomous Communities took the shape of administrative districts and

2231-528: The Basque Country and Catalonia , but also to other countries such as Germany. The city started to recover slowly from 1960 to 1970, and the town limits went far beyond the gorge to the flat surroundings. In recent decades the city has experienced a moderate growth in population and economy, the latter especially due to the growing tourism sector, and both of them fuelled by improvements in road and train communications. Cuenca has strongly bet on culture and as

2328-595: The Basque Country autonomous community. The Basque provinces still perform tax collection in their respective territories, coordinating with the Basque/Navarrese, Spanish, as well as European governments. Today, the act regulating the powers of the government of Navarre is the Amejoramiento del Fuero ("Betterment of the Fuero"), and the official name of Navarre is Comunidad Foral de Navarra , foral ('chartered') being

2425-621: The Basque districts , ultimately leading to the 1893–94 Gamazada uprising in Navarre. Sabino Arana bore witness to the popular revolt as a Biscayne envoy to the protests. The enthusiasm raised by the popular revolt in Navarre against the breach of war ending agreements made a deep impact on Sabino Arana, who went on to found the Basque Nationalist Party in 1895, based in Biscay but aiming beyond

2522-548: The Bourbons , increasingly devalued the laws specific to regions and realms—Basque provinces and the kingdoms of Navarre and Aragon—sparking uprisings (Matalaz's uprising in Soule 1660, regular Matxinada revolts in the 17-18th centuries) and mounting tensions between the territorial governments and the Spanish central government of Charles III and Charles IV , to the point of considering

2619-676: The Ebro to the Pyrenees. The new borders protected the fledgling Basque industry from foreign competition and opened the Spanish market, but lost opportunities abroad since customs were imposed on the Pyrenees and the coast. After the First Carlist War , the new class of Navarre negotiated separately from the rest of Basque districts the Ley Paccionada (or Compromise Act ) in Navarre (1841), which granted some administrative and fiscal prerogatives to

2716-744: The Parliament of Navarre dangerous to the royal authority and condemning "its spirit of independence and liberties." Despite vowing loyalty to the crown, the Pyrenean Aragonese and Catalans kept their separate specific laws too, the "King of the Spains" represented a crown tying together different realms and peoples, as claimed by the Navarrese diputación , as well as the Parliament of Navarre 's last trustee. The Aragonese fueros were an obstacle for Philip II when his former secretary Antonio Pérez escaped

2813-486: The Principality of Asturias , municipalities are officially named concejos (councils). The average population of a municipality is about 5,300, but this figure masks a huge range: the most populous Spanish municipality is the city of Madrid , with a population of 3,305,408 (2022) , while several rural municipalities have fewer than ten inhabitants ( Illán de Vacas , had a population of three in 2022 ). Almost 40% of

2910-631: The United States Constitution . (Adams, A defense… , 1786) This view regards fueros as granting or acknowledging rights . In the contrasting view, fueros were privileges granted by a monarch . In the letter Adams also commented on the substantial independence of the hereditary Basque Jauntxo families as the origin for their privileges. In practice, distinct fueros for specific classes, estates, towns, or regions usually arose out of feudal power politics. Some historians believe monarchs were forced to concede some traditions in exchange for

3007-692: The fuero has been seen as a reason why so many clerics participated in the Mexican War of Independence , including insurgency leaders Miguel Hidalgo and José María Morelos . Removal of the fuero was seen by the Church as another act of the Bourbon Reforms that alienated the Mexican population, including American-born Spaniards . In the eighteenth century, when Spain established a standing military in key areas of its overseas territory, privileges were extended to

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3104-475: The fueros had protected from the full weight of absolutism, due to their readiness to respect region and kingdom specific legal systems and institutions. The defeat of the Carlists in three successive wars resulted in continuing erosion of traditional Basque privileges. The Carlist land-based small nobility ( jauntxos ) lost power to the new bourgeoisie , who welcomed the extension of Spanish customs borders from

3201-493: The right-wing Carlists (note that contemporary Carlists supported Francisco Franco ). The defeat of the Republic by the forces of Francisco Franco led in turn to a suppression of Basque culture, including banning the public use of the Basque language . The Franco regime considered Biscay and Gipuzkoa as "traitor provinces" and cancelled their fueros . However, the pro-Franco provinces of Álava and Navarre maintained

3298-581: The villas , than in the country towns ( tierra llana ). Modern jurists try to modernize the foral family laws while keeping with their spirit. During the colonial era in Spanish America, the Spanish Empire extended fueros to the clergy, the fuero eclesiástico . The crown attempted to curtail the fuero eclesiástico , which gave the lower secular (diocesan) clergy privileges that separated them legally from their plebeian parishioners. The curtailment of

3395-452: The "Unum ex septem" signs at some chapels. It is said that if one prays looking at these signs one would obtain a five-year forgiveness for one's sins, and seven years if one prays during the patron saint's day. With Romanesque origins, the church of St. Peter ( San Pedro in Spanish) was rebuilt by Jose Martin de la Aldehuela during the 18th century and displays since that time a Baroque façade. It shows an octagonal shape outdoors but it

3492-566: The "new" city is situated south-west of the old one, which is divided by the Huécar course. The climate of Cuenca is the typical hot-summer Mediterranean climate of Spain's "Meseta" (inner plateau). Winters are relatively cold, but summers are quite hot during the day with occasional cool nights. Spring and autumn seasons are short, with pleasant temperatures during the day but with rather cold nights due to its altitude from 956 m (3,136 ft) above sea level up to 1,000 m (3,281 ft) in

3589-521: The 13th-century uprisings and clashes between different factions and communities, e.g. the borough wars of Pamplona . The loyalty of the Basques (the Navarri ) to the king was conditioned on his upholding the traditions and customs of the kingdom, which were based on oral laws. Ferdinand II of Aragon conquered and annexed Navarre between 1512 and 1528 (up to the Pyrenees ). In order to gain Navarrese loyalty,

3686-649: The Almohad caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf . Alfonso signed a seven-year truce but when, in 1176 the Cuenca locals occupied some Christian lands in Huete and Uclés , Alfonso intervened at the head of a coalition including also Ferdinand II of León , Alfonso II of Aragon and the Military Orders of Calatrava , Santiago and Montegaudio , besieging Cuenca for months starting from 1177's Epiphany. The Cuenca's commander, Abu Bakr, again sought

3783-557: The Basque Country and Navarre), there are remnants of the old laws in family law . When the Civil Code was established in Spain (1888) some parts of it did not run in some regions. In places like Galicia and Catalonia, the marriage contracts and inheritance are still governed by local laws. This has led to peculiar forms of land distribution. These laws are not uniform. For example, in Biscay, different rules regulate inheritance in

3880-411: The Basque laws in the different provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa. These provinces and Navarre kept their self-governing bodies and their own parliaments, i.e. the diputaciones and the territorial councils / Parliament of Navarre . However, the prevailing Castilian rule prioritized the king's will. In addition, the ever more centralizing absolutism, especially after the accession to the throne of

3977-579: The Basques, overwhelmed by war events. For example, the 1812 Constitution was signed by Gipuzkoan representatives to a general Castaños wielding menacingly a sword, and tellingly the San Sebastián council representatives took an oath to the 1812 Constitution with the smell of smoke still wafting and surrounded by rubble. During the two centuries since the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Era,

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4074-543: The Catholic Church was attacked, with monks, nuns, priests and a bishop of Cuenca, Cruz Laplana y Laguna , being murdered. During the Spanish Civil War Cuenca was part of the republican zone ( Zona roja or: "the red zone"). It was taken in 1938 by General Franco's troops. During the post-war period the area suffered a major economic decline, causing many people to migrate to more prosperous regions, mainly

4171-618: The Christian defeat at the battle of Sagrajas (1086), Cuenca was captured by the taifa king of Seville , Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad . However, when his lands were attacked by the Almoravids , he sent his daughter-in-law Zaida to Alfonso, offering him Cuenca in exchange for military support. The first Christian troops entered the city in 1093. However, the Almoravids captured it in 1108. Their governor in Cuenca declared independence in 1144, followed by

4268-503: The French Crown. Since the high Middle Ages, many Basques had been born into the hidalgo nobility . The Basques had no uniform legal corpus of laws, which varied between valleys and seigneuries. Early on (14th century) all Gipuzkoans were granted noble status, several Navarrese valleys ( Salazar , Roncal , Baztan , etc.) followed suit, and Biscaynes saw their universal nobility confirmed in 1525. Álava 's distribution of nobility

4365-417: The Mexican state until the mid-nineteenth century. As Mexican liberals gained power, they sought to implement the liberal ideal of equality before the law by eliminating special privileges of the clerics and the military. The Liberal Reform and the liberal Constitution of 1857 's abolition of those fueros mobilized Mexico's conservatives, which fought a civil war , and rallied allies to their cause with

4462-605: The New World that the Mesta's fuero helped impede the economic development of southern Spain . This resulted in a lack of opportunity, and Spaniards emigrated to the New World to escape these constraints. During the Reconquista, the feudal lords granted fueros to some villas and cities , to encourage the colonization of the frontier and of commercial routes. These laws regulated

4559-565: The Parador Nacional de Turismo in Cuenca, a hotel which allows the visit to the convent as well as the access to the church. The cloister has an ornamental source of water, and the cafeteria is the old chapel. From the convent the old town can be reached easily by crossing St Paul bridge. The bishop's palace features, on three of its museums, the Diocese's Museum, which has a remarkable collection of religious art . It can be easily accessed from

4656-539: The Real Fábrica de Tapices (Royal Tapestry Factory), and Cuenca's economy declined, thus losing population dramatically (5,000 inhabitants). During the independence war against Napoleon 's troops the city suffered great destruction, and it made the crisis worse. The city lost population, with only around 6,000 inhabitants, and only the arrival of railroads in the 19th century, together with the timber industry , were able to boost Cuenca moderately, and population increased as

4753-700: The Spanish Crown represented by the Aragonese Fernando upheld the kingdom's specific laws ( fueros ) allowing the region to continue to function under its historic laws, while Lower Navarre remained independent, but increasingly tied to France , a process completed after King Henry III of Navarre and IV of France died. Louis XIII of France failed to respect his father's will to keep Navarre and France separate. All specific relevant legal provisions and institutions (Parliament, Courts of Justice, etc.) were devalued in 1620–1624 , and critical powers transferred to

4850-417: The Spanish population resides in just 62 municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. 84% (6,817) of municipalities have less than 5,000 inhabitants. Castile and León alone account for 28% of municipalities but they constitute less than 6% of the population of Spain. A European report said that one of the most important problems facing local governments in Spain is the very high number of little towns with

4947-457: The abolition, put it down to Castilian centralism, stating that the royal prime minister, the Count-Duke of Olivares , had at last a free rein "for the kings of Spain to be independent of all laws save those of their own conscience." The Basques managed to retain their specific status for a few years after 1714, as they had supported the claimant who became Philip V of Spain , a king hailing from

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5044-490: The adjectival form for fuero . The reactionary governmental party in Navarre UPN (2013) claimed during its establishment (1979) and at later times the validity and continuity of the institutional framework for Navarre held during Franco's dictatorship (1936–1975), considering the present regional statu quo an "improvement" of its previous status. While fueros have disappeared from administrative law in Spain, (except for

5141-539: The attacks by French soldiers during the Spanish War of Independence war – at the beginning of the 19th century – and having been hit previously by a thunderbolt in the 18th century, it became badly destroyed. Mangana Tower was rebuilt by Fernando Alcántara in Neomudejar style – inspired on Arab decorative motifs – in 1926. Finally, Victor Caballero gave Mangana its current look in a fortress-like style in 1968. It has

5238-457: The boundaries of each Basque district, seeking instead a confederation of the Basque districts. Arana, of a Carlist background, rejected the Spanish monarchy and founded Basque nationalism on the basis of Catholicism and fueros ( Lagi-Zaŕa , as he called them in Basque, "Old Law"). The competitive, Carlist vision of fueros was laid out in 1915 by Eustaquio Echave-Sustaeta and in 1921 by Teodoro de Arana y Beláustegui . The high-water mark of

5335-468: The building project; Pedro worked on the convent and the cloister and Juan on the church. The church was finished in the 18th century, in rococo style . The convent was ruled by Dominican friars, but during the 19th century was handed over to the Pauline Fathers , who were based here until 1975, when they left due to the possible collapse of the building. In the 1990s the convent was restored to house

5432-598: The cathedral. The rooms where the collection is shown were remodeled by architect Fernando Barja Noguerol , and Gustavo Torner selected the art pieces from an inventory made by some priests of the Diocese in 1977. Some of the diocese's artistic patrimony was lost during the Peninsular War , the confiscation of ecclesiastical property by Juan Álvarez Mendizábal , and the Spanish Civil War . Masterpieces like The Byzantine Diptych (book-like silver work whose origin

5529-534: The city and its province. It is located at San Miguel street, next to Plaza Mayor. Saint Michael is accessed through a descending narrow passage which starts at Plaza Mayor left lateral (looking from the Town Hall). Built in Neo-Gothic style during the 18th century, with only one nave and a high tower. It shows a modest baroque façade and some remarkable baroque altars indoors. The door is however quite modern, added in

5626-475: The context of the ascension of the House of Champagne to the Navarrese throne. In 1234, when Theobald I of Champagne inherited the Navarrese throne from his uncle Sancho VII of Navarre , he was pressured by burgers and nobility alike to swear he would abide his decisions by customary law and honour their customary rights and privileges. As a result, Theobald I appointed a commission to codify said laws; this resulted in

5723-700: The death penalty by fleeing to Aragon. The king's only means to enforce the sentence was the Spanish Inquisition , the only cross-kingdom tribunal of his domains. There were frequent conflicts of jurisdiction between the Spanish Inquisition and regional civil authorities and bishops. Pérez escaped to France, but Philip's army invaded Aragon and executed its authorities. In 1714 the Catalan and Aragonese specific laws and self-government were violently suppressed . The Aragonese count of Robres, one strongly opposing

5820-401: The earliest laws governing territorial and local life, as it applied to the entire kingdom, with certain provisions for the city of León. The various Basque provinces also generally regarded their fueros as tantamount to a municipal constitution . This view was accepted by some others, including President of the United States John Adams . He cited the Biscayan fueros as a precedent for

5917-496: The emperor). Other Basque regions had similar provisions. The reach of the fuero was not limited by the territory. Biscayans in other parts of the Crown of Castile had extraterritoriality . They could take the appellations in cases involving them to the Sala de Vizcaya ("Biscay Hall") at the top court of Castile, the Chancillería de Valladolid ("Court of last resort ( lit.   ' " chancery ' ) of Valladolid "). The Castilian kings took an oath to comply with

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6014-415: The first written general fuero , the Fuero General de Navarra , enacted in 1238 and which drew its legal foundation from the fabled Fueros of Sobrarbe to justify the king's authority being subjected to the Fuero. The accession of French lineages to the throne of Navarre brought a relationship between the king and the kingdom that was alien to the Basques. The resulting disagreements were a major factor in

6111-495: The functions of the comarcas and provinces are municipal powers pooled together. All citizens of Spain are required to register in the municipality they live in, and after doing so, they are juridically considered "neighbors" (residents) of the municipality, a designation that grants them various rights and privileges, and which entail certain obligations as well, including the right to vote or be elected for public office in said municipality. The right to vote in municipal elections

6208-406: The general acknowledgment of his or her authority, that monarchs granted fueros to reward loyal subjection, or (especially in the case of towns or regions) the monarch simply acknowledged distinct legal traditions. In medieval Castilian law, the king could assign privileges to certain groups. The classic example of such a privileged group was the Roman Catholic Church: the clergy did not pay taxes to

6305-1142: The governance and the penal , process and civil aspects of the places. Often the fueros already codified for one place were granted to another, with small changes, instead of crafting a new redaction from scratch. Date 1125 1127–47 1129 1133 1145 1147 1152 c . 1154 1157 1169 1173 1173 1175 1181 1198 1198 Grantor(s) Gutierre Fernández de Castro and Toda Díaz Pedro González de Lara and Eva Estefanía Sánchez Alfonso VII Íñigo Jiménez Osorio Martínez and Teresa Fernández María Fernández Manrique Pérez de Lara Martín and Elvira Pérez Sancha Ponce Ponce de Minerva Gonzalo, Constanza and Jimena Osorio Pedro Pérez and Fernando Cídez Ermengol VII of Urgell Gutierre Díaz Froila Ramírez and Sancha Grantee(s) San Cebrián de Campos Tardajos Villarmildo Guadalajara Yanguas Villalonso and Benafarces Castrocalbón Molina Pozuelo de la Orden Villarratel Azaña Villalobos Almaraz de Duero Barruecopardo Villavaruz de Ríoseco Cifuentes de Rueda In contemporary Spanish usage,

6402-425: The kings. The force of these principles required monarchs to accommodate to the laws. This situation sometimes strained relations between the monarch and the kingdom, especially if the monarchs were alien to native laws. This tradition of "laws before kings" was enshrined in the legendary Fueros de Sobrarbe , claimed to have been enacted by king Iñigo Arista in the 850s in the pyrenean valley of Sobrarbe . Although

6499-421: The late 1990s. The famous religious procession "Las Turbas", held on Good Friday morning, starts at this location, since the image of "Jesús el Nazareno", which is at the forefront of the procession, is kept within "El Salvador". The bridge of Saint Paul ( Puente de San Pablo ) was built from 1533 to 1589, a construction driven by the canon Juan del Pozo, over the gorge of the River Huecar, aiming at connecting

6596-413: The level of autonomy for the Basque regions within Spain has varied. The cry for fueros (meaning regional autonomy) was one of the demands of the Carlists of the 19th century, hence the strong support for Carlism from the Basque Country and (especially in the First Carlist War ) in Catalonia and Aragón . The Carlist effort to restore an absolute monarchy was sustained militarily mainly by those whom

6693-672: The liberal reforms associated with the new Spanish Constitution of 1812 and based on similar actions in revolutionary France. The idea was to rationalise and homogenise territorial organisation, do away with the prior feudal system and provide equality before the law of all citizens. Between 1812 and 1931, the legislation regarding municipal organisation was changed more than 20 times, and there were 20 addition and unsuccessful proposals for change. Fuero Fuero ( Spanish: [ˈfweɾo] ), Fur ( Catalan: [ˈfuɾ] ), Foro ( Galician: [ˈfɔɾʊ] ) or Foru ( Basque: [foɾu] )

6790-418: The lineage of Henry III of Navarre . However, they could not escape the king's attempts (using military force) at centralization (1719–1723). In the run-up to the Napoleonic Wars , the relations between the absolutist Spanish Crown and the Basque governing institutions were at breaking point. By the beginning of the War of the Pyrenees , Manuel Godoy took office as Prime Minister in Spain, and went on to take

6887-427: The mass deportation to the Landes of thousands of residents in the bordering villages of Labourd —Sara, Itxassou , Ascain —, including the imposition (fleetingly) of alien names to villages and towns—period of the National Convention and War of the Pyrenees (1793–1795). Some Basques saw a way forward in the 1808 Bayonne Statute and Dominique-Joseph Garat 's project, initially approved by Napoleon, to create

6984-409: The military, and certain regions that fell under the same monarchy as Castile or, later, Spain , but were not fully integrated into those countries. The relations among fueros , other bodies of law (including the role of precedent), and sovereignty is a contentious one that influences government and law in the present day. The king of León, Alfonso V , decreed the Fuero de León (1017), considered

7081-479: The military, the fuero militar , which had an impact on the colonial legal system and society. The fuero militar was the first time that privileges extended to plebeians, which has been argued was a cause of debasing justice. Indigenous men were excluded from the military, and inter-ethnic conflicts occurred. The fuero militar presented some contradictions in colonial rule. In post-independence Mexico, formerly New Spain , fueros continued to be recognized by

7178-404: The old town with St Paul convent. The original bridge collapsed, and the current one was built in 1902, made of wood and iron according to the style dominating at the beginning of the 20th century. It is up to 40 metres high and supported by the remains of the old bridge. The Seminary (Seminario), a rectangular building stretching from Plaza de la Merced to Mangana Square, was established under

7275-522: The old town. Cuenca Cathedral was built from 1182 to 1270. The façade was rebuilt after it crumbled down in 1902. It is the first gothic style Cathedral in Spain (together with Avila's), because of the influence of Queen Eleanor , the wife of Alfonso VIII and daughter of King Henry II of England and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine , who introduced the Anglo-Norman style. From that date the cathedral has undergone some changes. An apse-aisle (doble girola)

7372-439: The provincial government within Spain. The rest of the Basque districts managed to keep still for another 40 years a small status of self-government, definitely suppressed in 1876. The end of the Third Carlist War saw the Carlists strong in the Basque districts succumb to the Spanish troops led by King Alfonso XII of Spain and their reduced self-government was suppressed and converted into Economic Agreements . Navarre's status

7469-489: The rule of José Flores y Osorio, the Bishop of Cuenca (1738–1759), and built by Vicente Sevill, around 1745. The Baroque façade at Plaza de la Merced was erected in 1748. It holds a library with numerous ancient books, some of them incunabula (previous to 1501). There is also a Rococo meeting room inside and a Gothic altarpiece at the chapel, but visits are not allowed. In 2004 some books from this library were stolen, but

7566-573: The state, enjoyed the income via tithes of local landholding, and were not subject to the civil courts . Church-operated ecclesiastical courts tried churchmen for criminal offenses. Another example was the powerful Mesta organization, composed of wealthy sheepherders, who were granted vast grazing rights in Andalusia after that land was reconquered by Spanish Christians from the Muslims ( see Reconquista ). Lyle N. McAlister writes in Spain and Portugal in

7663-639: The support of Yaqub Yusuf, but the latter was in Africa and did not send any help. After an unsuccessful sortie against the Christian besiegers' camp on 27 July, Cuenca was conquered by Alfonso's troops on 21 September 1177, while the Muslim garrison took refuge in the citadel. The latter fell in October, putting an end to Arab domination. Cuenca was given a set of laws, the Fuero , written in Latin, that ruled Cuenca's citizens, and it

7760-554: The suspect of the robbery was caught and the books recovered before entering on an auction process. Now an average of 10–15 future priests are trained there, according to statistics of the Spanish Episcopal Conference.[1] The convent of Saint Paul was built in the 16th century by command of the canon priest Juan del Pozo , a monk belonging to the Dominican Order . Brothers Juan and Pedro de Alviz were in charge of

7857-407: The term fueros for several of the fundamental laws . The term implied these were not constitutions subject to debate and change by a sovereign people, but orders from the only legitimate source of authority, as in feudal times. Fuero dates back to the medieval period: the lord could concede or acknowledge a fuero to certain groups or communities, most notably the Roman Catholic Church ,

7954-821: The turn of the first millennium—governed themselves by a native set of rules , different from Roman and Gothic law but with an ever-increasing imprint of them. Typically their laws, arising from regional traditions and practices, were kept and transmitted orally. Because of this oral tradition, the Basque-language regions preserved their specific laws longer than did those Pyrenean regions that adopted Romance languages. For example, Navarrese law developed along less feudal lines than those of surrounding realms. The Fors de Bearn are another example of Pyrenean law. Two sayings address this legal idiosyncrasy: "en Navarra hubo antes leyes que reyes," and "en Aragón antes que rey hubo ley," both meaning that law developed and existed before

8051-461: The upper part of them. In the early 1990s modern coloured windows were installed, and in 2006 one of the two old baroque organs from Julián de la Orden was recovered. The other organ has also been restored, and on 4 April 2009 an inauguration ceremony was held. The naves do not follow exactly a straight line. The San Julián altar, dedicated to Saint Julian of Cuenca , at the apse-aisle, consists of columns made of green marble. Another curiosity are

8148-451: The value of this strategic location and they built a fortress (called Kunka ) between two gorges dug between the Júcar and Huécar rivers, surrounded by a 1 km-long wall. Cuenca's economy soon became dominated by agriculture and textile manufacturing , enjoying growing prosperity. In the early 11th century, the Caliphate of Córdoba broke into several rump states ( taifas ). Cuenca

8245-464: The whole of Murcia the following year. In 1147 Muhammad ibn Mardanis became King of Cuenca, Murcia and Valencia. He defended his lands from the Almohad invasion until his death in 1172, after which his son had to sign a pact of tributes with the newcomers. A 17-year-old Alfonso VIII of Castile tried to conquer the place, but after five months of siege, he had to retreat after the arrival of troops sent by

8342-481: The wooden ceiling of the two naves was replaced with stone vaults during the 18th century. Saint Michael was restored in the 20th century, and its management was transferred to Cuenca's municipality from Cuenca's diocese, so that this church could be used to hold classical music concerts. In fact, Saint Michael is home of the Religious Music Week ( Semana de Musica Religiosa ) together with other places within

8439-564: The word fueros most often refers to the historic and contemporary fueros or charters of certain regions, especially of the Basque regions . The equivalent for French usage is fors , applying to the northern regions of the Pyrenees. The whole central and western Pyrenean region was inhabited by the Basques in the early Middle Ages within the Duchy of Vasconia . The Basques and the Pyrenean peoples—as Romance language replaced Basque in many areas by

8536-623: Was a Sephardic Jewish community in Cuenca first recorded in 1177 until the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Inquisition continued to prosecute the descendants of the conversos of Cuenca. The last trial took place from 1718-1725, where hundreds of crypto-Jews were cruelly persecuted under Philip V of Spain . During the 18th century the textile industry declined, especially when Carlos IV forbade this activity in Cuenca in order to prevent competition with

8633-517: Was added in the 15th century, while the Renaissance Esteban Jamete's Arch was erected in the 16th century. The main altar was redesigned during the 18th century by famous architect Ventura Rodríguez: it features a precious iron-work gate. The façade was rebuilt in 1902 from ruins due to the collapse of the bell tower , the Giraldo, by Vicente Lámperez, with two new twin towers at both ends of the façade, which have remained unfinished without

8730-409: Was ambiguous as to the actual recognition of separate identities, coming to be known as café para todos , or 'coffee for everyone'. However, the provincial chartered governments ( Diputación Foral / Foru Aldundia ) in the Basque districts were restored, getting back significant powers. Other powers held historically by the chartered governments ("Diputación") were transferred to the new government of

8827-574: Was considered one of the most perfectly written at that time. The Diocese of Cuenca was established in 1183; its second bishop was St. Julian of Cuenca , who became patron saint of the city. Alfonso X granted Cuenca the title of 'city' ( ciudad ) in 1257. During the next few centuries Cuenca enjoyed prosperity, thanks to textile manufacturing and livestock exploitation. The cathedral started to be built at that time, in an Anglo-Norman style, with many French workers, since Alfonso VIII's wife, Eleanor , had French cultural affinity. Historically, there

8924-480: Was divided into départements , based on administrative and ideological concerns , not tradition. In the French Basque Country , what little remained of self-government was suppressed in 1790 during the French Revolution and the new administrative arrangement, and was followed by the interruption of the customary cross-border trade between the Basque districts (holding minor internal customs or duties),

9021-478: Was finished in 1762, as it can be read on the façade. Nevertheless, in the 18th century Mateo Lopez was the architect in charge of the extension of the building since it was necessary to amply the building for the oratory as well as the archive. The central arch is the only one giving access to vehicles to Plaza Mayor. Municipalities in Spain Although provinces are groupings of municipalities , there

9118-515: Was home of the Holy Inquisition after 1583, and it was finally destroyed during the 19th century by French soldiers during the Spanish War of Independence. Nearby are the small chapel and cemetery of San Isidro . The origins of the Mangana Tower remain unclear. In 1565 it was painted by Anton van den Wyngaerde , which indicates that at that time Mangana had already been built up, and after

9215-480: Was less altered in 1876 than that of Gipuzkoa, Biscay, and Álava, due to the separate agreement signed in 1841 by officials of the Government of Navarre with the Spanish government accepting the transformation of the kingdom into a Spanish province. Despite capitulation agreements acknowledging specific administrative and economic prerogatives, attempts of the Spanish government to bypass them spread malaise and anger in

9312-425: Was patchy but less widespread, since the Basque specific nobility only took hold in northern areas ( Ayala , etc.). Biscaynes , as nobles, were theoretically excluded from torture and from the need to serve in the Spanish army, unless called for the defence of their own territory ( Don Quixote 's character, Sancho Panza , remarked humorously that writing and reading and being Biscayne was enough to be secretary to

9409-512: Was ruled by the taifa of Toledo —possibly the largest one—whose jurisdiction roughly spanned across the bulk of the Middle March of Al-Andalus . In 1076, Cuenca was besieged by Sancho Ramírez of Aragon, who failed to conquer the place. In 1080 King Yahya al-Qadir of Toledo lost his taifa, and his vizier signed in Cuenca a treaty with Alfonso VI of León and Castile by which he ceded him some fortresses in exchange for military help. Following

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