Madrid

The Cortes met in Madrid again in 1329, 1339 and 1391, yet it stayed a middling town, better known for its long quarrel with Segovia over the lands of the Real de Manzanares. In 1520 it joined the Comunero revolt against Charles V and was occupied by imperial troops after the rebel defeat at Villalar. Its fortune turned in June 1561, when Philip II settled his court in the old alcázar. A town of some 18,000 people swelled to about 80,000 by 1598, crowded with courtiers, discharged soldiers and foreigners, and hunger and high prices came with them. When the court left for Valladolid in 1601 the streets emptied; its return in 1606 brought back nobles, diplomats, writers and painters, and the playhouses flourished while the poorest stayed desperately poor. The Bourbons at last gave Madrid the look of a capital: Philip V raised the Royal Palace, and Charles III gave its streets sewers and lamps.