Valladolid

By the 15th century the kings of Castile had made Valladolid their usual residence, and two turning points of the age happened here. In 1469 Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon were married in the city, a match that would join their two crowns. In 1506 Christopher Columbus died in a house in the city, still convinced that he had reached the Indies.

Under the Habsburgs the conquest he began was argued over here. In 1550 and 1551 Valladolid hosted the first great debate on the rights of the conquered peoples of the Americas and how the conquerors might treat them, and in 1559, while Philip II's sister Joanna governed from the city as regent, the Inquisition sent members of a Protestant circle to the stake at autos de fe. From 1601 to 1606 Valladolid was even the capital of the Spanish monarchy. The move was the work of the Duke of Lerma, Philip III's favourite, who had bought up land in the city to sell to the crown; when plague struck, he steered the king back to Madrid, where he had meanwhile bought houses cheaply.