page_title: Segovia
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Segovia / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: picturesqueviews02robe (find matches) Title: Alcázar of Segovia. Picturesque views in Spain and Morocco&#160;: comprising Granada, with the palace of the Alhambra, Andalosia, Castile, Valencia, Gibraltar, Tangiers, Tetuan, Morocco, the town of Constantina, etc. Year: 1838 (1830s) Authors: Roberts, David, 1796-1864; Manning, Samuel Roberts, David, 1796-1864, signer. UPB Subjects: Publisher: London&#160;: Robert Jennings Contributing Library: Harold B. Lee Library Digitizing Sponsor: Brigham Young University View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: ' Text Appearing After Image: ' Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: Segovia is a Spanish city located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia.
  Segovia is located in the Inner Plateau, near the northern slopes of the Sistema Central mountain range, straddling the course of the Eresma river.
  The city is famous for its historic buildings including three main landmarks: its midtown Roman aqueduct, its cathedral, and the castle, which served as one of the templates for Walt Disney's Cinderella Castle. The city center of Segovia was declared World Heritage by UNESCO in 1985.
context_section_description: The first recorded mention of a settlement in what is today Segovia was a Celtic possession. Control later passed into the hands of the Romans. The city is a possible site of the battle in 75 BC where Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius was victorious over Quintus Sertorius and Hirtuleius.  Hirtuleius died in the fighting.
  During the Roman period the settlement belonged to one of numerous contemporary Latin convents. It is believed that the city was abandoned after the Islamic invasion of Spain centuries later. After the conquest of Toledo by Alfonso VI of León and Castile, the son of King Alfonso VI, Segovia was resettled with Christians from the north of the Iberian peninsula and beyond the Pyrenees, providing it with a significant sphere of influence whose boundaries crossed the Sierra de Guadarrama and the Tagus.
  Segovia's position on trading routes made it an important centre of trade in wool and textiles. The end of the Middle Ages saw something of a golden age for Segovia, with a growing Jewish population and the creation of a foundation for a powerful cloth industry. Several splendid works of Gothic architecture were also completed during this period. Notably, Isabella I was proclaimed queen of Castile in the church of San Miguel de Segovia on December 13, 1474.
  Like most Castilian textile centres, Segovia joined the Revolt of the Comuneros under the command of Juan Bravo. Despite the defeat of the Communities, the city's resultant economic boom continued into the sixteenth century, its population rising to 27,000 in 1594. Then, as well as almost all the cities of Castile, Segovia entered a period of decline. Only a century later in 1694, the population had been reduced to only 8,000 inhabitants. In the early eighteenth century, Segovia attempted to revitalize its textile industry, with little success. In the second half of the century, Charles III made another attempt to revive the region's commerce; it took the form of the Royal Segovian Wool Manufacturing Company (1763). However, the lack of competitiveness of production caused the crown withdraw its sponsorship in 1779. In 1764, the Royal School of Artillery, the first military academy in Spain, was opened. This academy remains present in the city today. In 1808, Segovia was sacked by French troops during the War of Independence. During the First Carlist War, troops under the command of Don Carlos unsuccessfully attacked the city. During the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century, Segovia experienced a demographic recovery that was the result of relative economic stability.
caption: View of the Alcázar of Segovia (1838).
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