Editing Ciudad Real (section)

== History ==
It was founded in 1255 with the name ''Villa Real'' ('Royal Town') under the auspices of [[Alfonso X]],<ref name=tribuna /><ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Ciudad Real (city)|volume=6|page=402}}</ref> who granted it a charter that followed the model of [[Cuenca, Spain|Cuenca]]'s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Villegas Díaz|first=Luis Rafael|date=1983|title=Calatrava y Ciudad Real: unas notas sobre las relaciones entre la Ciudad y la Orden (siglos XIII-XV)|url=https://digibug.ugr.es/bitstream/handle/10481/30221/CEM-008-009.001-Art%C3%ADculo-008.pdf|journal=Cuadernos de Estudios Medievales y de Ciencias y Técnicas Historiográficas|issue=8–9|pages=218|issn=1132-7553}}</ref>{{Sfn|Anaya Fernández|2012|p=49}} It was not founded from scratch, but founded over Pozuelo de San Gil, a hamlet belonging to the land of [[Alarcos]].{{Sfn|Anaya Fernández|2012|p=49}} An independent royal demesne enclave embedded within the dominion of the [[Military Order of Calatrava]], repopulation struggled initially.{{Sfn|Villegas Díaz|1983|p=218}} Weary of the influence of Villa Real, the masters of the Order of Calatrava established a rival market in nearby [[Miguelturra]] seeking to disrupt the town's economic activity.{{sfn|Blázquez|1915|p=292}}

Jews soon settled in Villa Real, with the existence of a middle-sized jewry already documented by 1290, only three decades after the foundation of Villa Real.{{Sfn|Anaya Fernández|2012|p=64}}

Friction between Villa Real and the Order of Calatrava reached its climax towards 1323, with an armed conflict between the two parties.{{sfn|Villegas Díaz|1983|p=239}}

Villa Real hosted the Cortes of Castile in 1346.<ref>{{Cite journal|journal=[[La Vanguardia]]|url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/local/madrid/20170911/431204826971/el-archivo-de-toledo-expone-cuadernos-de-cortes-de-los-anos-1346-a-1563.html|title=El archivo de Toledo expone cuadernos de Cortes de los años 1346 a 1563|date=11 September 2017}}</ref>

The local ''[[aljama]]'' was by and large dismantled upon the [[Massacre of 1391|1391 pogrom]]s.{{Sfn|Anaya Fernández|2012|p=65}} The endogenous element of antisemitism was underpinned by the Jews' deals with the Calatravans throughout the 14th century and their local reputation as loan sharks.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://doc.biblioteca.uclm.es/biblioteca/Ceclm/ARTREVISTAS/Cem/CEM37_CiudadReal_Anaya.pdf|page=65|title=Ciudad Real. Núcleo urbano medieval|first=Antonio Tomás|last=Anaya Fernández|year=2012|issn=0526-2623|volume=37|journal=Cuadernos de Estudios Manchegos}}</ref>

[[Juan II of Castile]] granted ''Villa Real'' the status of city in 1420, thus becoming ''Ciudad Real'' ('Royal City').<ref name=tribuna>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latribunadeciudadreal.es/noticia/ZA8F21404-BFD2-3366-E43311300AD4A79D/201907/un-impulso-de-600-anos-para-ciudad-real|title=Un impulso de 600 años para ciudad real|last=Real|first=La Tribuna de Ciudad|date=2019-07-26|website=La Tribuna de Ciudad Real|language=es|access-date=2020-02-05}}</ref> The city most probably did not have more than 2000 inhabitants by the time and despite having celebrated Cortes once, the dominant city in the area was still [[Almagro, Ciudad Real|Almagro]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eldiario.es/clm/curioso-origen-Ciudad-Real-Toledo_0_990751649.html|title=El curioso origen de Ciudad Real que se fraguó en Toledo|last=Bachiller|first=Carmen|website=[[eldiario.es]]|date=2 February 2020|language=es|access-date=2020-02-05}}</ref>

[[File:Juan Francisco Leonardo (1687) Mapa del arzobispado de Toledo. Ciudad Real.png|thumb|left|City panorama by Johann Friedrich Leonart (1687)]]

After the unification of the Iberian kingdoms under the [[Catholic Monarchs]], Ciudad Real became the capital of the {{ill|province of La Mancha|es|Provincia de La Mancha}} in 1691. This fact favoured its economic development which was shown by the construction of several important buildings. The [[1755 Lisbon earthquake]] destroyed many of these buildings. In 1809, during the [[Peninsular War]], French troops defeated the Spanish army and occupied the town, using the local hospital as their headquarters and barracks.

Following the creation of the [[province of Ciudad Real]] as per the [[1833 territorial division of Spain|1833 territorial division]], the status of provincial capital of Ciudad Real was challenged by the cities of Almagro and [[Manzanares, Ciudad Real|Manzanares]], with a similar population by the mid-nineteenth century.{{Sfn|Burgueño|1997|p=371}} However the initiatives intending to take the provincial capital out of Ciudad Real did not succeed.{{Sfn|Burgueño|1997|p=371}}

Much of the centre was destroyed during the [[Spanish Civil War]].