Ciudad Rodrigo
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Country Country A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...	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...
Autonomous community	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...
Province Province A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...	Salamanca Salamanca (province) Salamanca is a province of western Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Zamora, Valladolid, Ávila, and Cáceres; and by Portugal....
Postal code Postal code A postal code is a series of letters and/or digits appended to a postal address for the purpose of sorting mail. Once postal codes were introduced, other applications became possible.In February 2005, 117 of the 190 member countries of the Universal Postal Union had postal code systems...	37500
Altitude Altitude Altitude or height is defined based on the context in which it is used . As a general definition, altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The reference datum also often varies according to the context...	621 m
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Distance Distance Distance is a numerical description of how far apart objects are. In physics or everyday discussion, distance may refer to a physical length, or an estimation based on other criteria . In mathematics, a distance function or metric is a generalization of the concept of physical distance... s	86 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...
Demonym Demonym A demonym , also referred to as a gentilic, is a name for a resident of a locality. A demonym is usually – though not always – derived from the name of the locality; thus, the demonym for the people of England is English, and the demonym for the people of Italy is Italian, yet, in english, the one...	Mirobrigense
River River A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...	Águeda
Mayor (2003- )	Javier Iglesias (Partido Popular People's Party (Spain) The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship... )

Ciudad Rodrigo is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca

Salamanca (province)

Salamanca is a province of western Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Zamora, Valladolid, Ávila, and Cáceres; and by Portugal....

, in western 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...

, with a population of about 14,000. It is the seat of a judicial district as well.

The site of Ciudad Rodrigo, perched atop a rocky rise on the right bank of the River Águeda, has been occupied since the Neolithic Age.

Known also as Mirobriga by those who wish to associate the city with an ancient Celt

Celt

The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....

ic village in the outskirts of the modern city.

Origins

Ciudad Rodrigo was originally a Celtic village under the name of Mirobriga. The town was later taken by the Romans during the conquest of Lusitania and named Augustobriga.

In the 12th century was repopulated the site by King Ferdinand II of León

Ferdinand II of Leon

Ferdinand II was King of León and Galicia from 1157 to his death.-Life:Born in Toledo, Castile, he was the son of King Alfonso VII of León and Castile and of Berenguela, of the House of Barcelona. At his father's death, he received León and Galicia, while his brother Sancho received Castile and...

, walling it and re-establishing the old visigothic diocese of Calabria into the new bishopric as suffragan of the Diocese of Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...

; it comprised a big part of the province of Salamanca, and a portion of the province of Cáceres

Cáceres (province)

The province of Cáceres is a province of western Spain, in the northern part of the autonomous community of Extremadura. It is bordered by the provinces of Salamanca, Ávila, Toledo, and Badajoz, and by Portugal....

, an act confirmed by Pope Alexander III

Pope Alexander III

Pope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...

 in 1175. This led to the construction of the city’s cathedral, an architectural hybrid of the Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 and late Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 styles. King Alfonso VIII gave the city of Caliabria to the Diocese of Ciudad Rodrigo in 1191. The first bishop of whom anything certain is known was called Pedro (1165) and one of the most celebrated was the learned jurist Don Diego de Covarruvias y Leyva (1560).

Artistic Works

During the 15th Century, a perhaps 35-panel series of artworks (today, only 26 panels survive), known as the Retablo (altarpiece

Altarpiece

An altarpiece is a picture or relief representing a religious subject and suspended in a frame behind the altar of a church. The altarpiece is often made up of two or more separate panels created using a technique known as panel painting. It is then called a diptych, triptych or polyptych for two,...

) of the Cathedral of the Ciudad Rodrigo was created by Fernando Gallego

Fernando Gallego

Fernando Gallego was a Spanish painter, brought up in an age of gothic style, his art is generally regarded as Hispano-Flemish style...

, Maestro Bartolomé, and the artists of their workshops. Over the centuries, the works became badly deteriorated. In 1954, they were acquired by the Samuel H. Kress

Samuel H. Kress

Samuel Henry Kress was a businessman and philanthropist, founder of the S. H. Kress & Co. five and ten cent store chain. With his fortune, Kress amassed one of the most significant collections of Italian Renaissance and European artwork assembled in the 20th century...

 Foundation which had them fully restored. In 1961, the Foundation donated the works to the University of Arizona Museum of Art

University of Arizona Museum of Art

The University of Arizona Museum of Art is an art museum in Tucson, Arizona, operated by the University of Arizona. The museum's permanent collection includes some 5,000 works of art, including paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings....

, where they reside today.

Napoleonic Wars

Main articles: Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1810)

Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1810)

In the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, the French Marshal Michel Ney took the fortified city from Field Marshal Don Andrés Perez de Herrasti on 9 July 1810 after a siege that began on 26 April...

 and Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1812)

Its position as a fortified town on the main road from Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 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...

 made it militarily important in the middle years of the Napoleonic 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...

.

The French Marshal Michel Ney

Michel Ney

Michel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...

 took Ciudad Rodrigo on July 9, 1810 after a 24-day siege

Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1810)

In the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, the French Marshal Michel Ney took the fortified city from Field Marshal Don Andrés Perez de Herrasti on 9 July 1810 after a siege that began on 26 April...

. The 5,500-man Spanish garrison of Field Marshal Don Andreas de Herrasti put up a gallant defense, surrendering only after French artillery opened a breach in the walls and their infantry were poised for an assault. The Spanish suffered 461 killed and 994 wounded, while 4,000 men and 118 cannon were captured. Ney's VI Corps lost 180 killed and over 1,000 wounded during the siege. The French soldiery then pillaged the city. The siege delayed Marshal André Masséna

André Masséna

André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....

's invasion of Portugal by a month.

The British General 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...

 began his 1812 campaign by taking Ciudad Rodrigo by storm on the night of January 19, 1812 – January 20, 1812 after preparatory operations lasting about 10 days. In these clashes, the British captured the Greater Teson on January 8 and the Lesser Teson on January 16. Meanwhile, two breaches in the walls had been opened by Wellington's twenty-three 24-lb and four 18-lb siege guns under the command of Captain Alexander Dickson. Major-General Thomas Picton

Thomas Picton

Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Picton GCB was a Welsh British Army officer who fought in a number of campaigns for Britain, and rose to the rank of lieutenant general...

's 3rd Division assaulted the "greater" breach while Robert Craufurd

Robert Craufurd

Major-General Robert Craufurd was a Scottish soldier and Member of Parliament . After a military career which took him from India to the Netherlands, he was given command of the Light Division in the Napoleonic Peninsular War under the Duke of Wellington...

's Light Division attacked the "lesser" breach. Allied losses in the siege were 195 killed and 916 wounded, although amongst the dead were Maj-Gens Henry Mackinnon and Craufurd. The 2,000-man French garrison under Brig-Gen Barrié lost 529 killed and wounded, while the rest were captured. The French Army of Portugal lost its entire siege train among the 142 captured cannon. There were two cannons embedded in the wall of the "greater" breach that caused most casualties in the storming. The 88th Connaught Rangers Regiment took one of the guns while the 45th Nottinghamshire Regiment took the other. The victory was marred when the British rank and file thoroughly sacked the city, despite the efforts of their officers. The capture of Ciudad Rodrigo allowed Wellington to proceed to Badajoz

Battle of Badajoz (1812)

In the Battle of Badajoz , the Anglo-Portuguese Army, under the Earl of Wellington, besieged Badajoz, Spain and forced the surrender of the French garrison....

, whose taking was a much more bloody affair.

In 1812, the then-Viscount Wellington (later created a Duke) was rewarded for his victorious liberation of Spain with the hereditary Spanish ducal victory title

Victory title

A victory title is an honorific title adopted by a successful military commander to commemorate his defeat of an enemy nation. This practice was first used by Ancient Rome and is still most commonly associated with the Romans, but it has also been adopted as a practice by many modern empires,...

 of Duque de Ciudad Rodrigo

Duque de Ciudad Rodrigo

The Spanish hereditary ducal title of Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo , with accompanying dignity Grandee of Spain 1st Class , was conferred on the British General Arthur Wellesley, then 1st Viscount Wellington, later 1st Duke of Wellington, in January 1812, after his important victory at the Siege of...

.

Ciudad Rodrigo is also the birthplace of Siglo de Oro writer Feliciano de Silva

Feliciano de Silva

Feliciano de Silva was a Spanish writer.de Silva was born in Ciudad Rodrigo to a powerful family, Silva wrote “sequels” to Celestina and Amadis de Gaula. Silva was a prolific writer. His first chivalresque work, Lisurate de Grecia , was published in 1514. It is a relatively short work...

.

The Castle of Henry II of Castile

This castle was built by the medieval king Henry II of Castile in 1372.

Other References

• William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
  Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
  The 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...
  
  
• Chandler, David, Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars Macmillan, 1979.
• Glover, Michael, The Peninsular War 1807-1814 Penguin, 1974.
• Smith, Digby, The Napoleonic Wars Data Book Greenhill, 1998.

External links

• Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (detailed account, with pictures)
• Catholic Encyclopaedia
• Bishops of Ciudad Rodrigo
• Early Bishops of Ciudad Rodrigo