Caspe

Caspe lies in the dry Ebro lowland of Aragon, beside the Guadalope near its meeting with the Ebro. The site combines a river crossing, irrigated fields and routes toward Zaragoza, Catalonia and Valencia. Its Andalusi name, recorded as Qsp or Qasp, may refer to a fortified place; another explanation links it to an older word for oak.

By the Middle Ages, Caspe had become a small Christian town at a contested frontier. The Order of Saint John held the town and its castle, organizing defence, irrigation and settlement in the surrounding dry country. The Compromise of Caspe in 1412 chose Ferdinand of Antequera as king of Aragon, making the town briefly a centre of Iberian politics. Its delegates met amid rival claims to the crown.

After the medieval union of Aragon and Castile, Caspe remained a market for grain, olives, wool and livestock. The Ebro and Guadalope supplied water but could also flood the low fields. Roads and ferries made the town a local hinge between the Aragonese interior and the Mediterranean coast, while the name and castle preserved its frontier role.