page_title: Antequera
section_title: Middle ages
hierarchical_section_title: Antequera / History / Middle ages
caption_attribution_description: Español: Calle Infante Don Fernando, Antequera, Andalucía, España.
context_page_description: Antequera is a city and municipality in the Comarca de Antequera, province of Málaga, part of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. It is known as "the heart of Andalusia" because of its central location among Málaga, Granada, Córdoba, and Seville. The Antequera Dolmens Site is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
  In 2011, Antequera had a population of 41,854. It covers an area of 749.34 km² with a population density of 55.85 inhabitants/km², and is situated at an altitude of 575 meters. Antequera is the most populous city in the interior of the province and the largest in area. It is the twenty-second largest in Spain. The city is located 45 km from Málaga and 115 km from Córdoba. The cities are connected by a high-speed train and the A-45 motorway. Antequera is 160 km from Seville and 102 km from Granada, which is connected by motorway A-92 and will be connected by the high-speed Transverse Axis Rail in the near future.
context_section_description: The Arab invasion of the Iberian peninsula began in 711 under Tariq ibn-Ziyad. Anticaria was conquered around 716, becoming part of the Umayyad Caliphate under the name Medina Antaquira (Arabic for "Antaquira City"). Umayyad Spain was formally Muslim, but broadly (though not entirely), tolerant of other religions. Amid the Reconquista, a coalition of Christian kings drove the Muslims from Central Spain in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. Over the next few years, the Almohads were defeated and al-Andalus greatly reduced in strength. Medina Antaquira, which at that time had a population of about 2600, became one of the northern cities of the remaining Nasrid kingdom of Granada and an important border town. To defend against the Catholic Spanish troops from the northern kingdoms, fortifications were built and a Moorish castle erected overlooking the city. For about two hundred years, Medina Antaquira was attacked repeatedly.
  On 16 September 1410, after a nearly 4-month siege, the city capitulated to a Castilian army led by the infante Ferdinand of Trastámara. The Muslim population was forced to leave their homes, departing to Archidona and Granada. Following a compromise, they surrendered the castle and their Christian slaves in exchange for being provided with beasts of burden to carry their goods out of the city. For two days, they were able to sell their properties. 895 men, 770 women and 863 children left. The settling for new Christian population was tasked to Rodrigo de Narváez. After the conquest and up until 1487, Antequera was attached to Seville from an ecclesial standpoint.
  The city became part of the Kingdom of Seville, a realm of the Crown of Castile. On 20 February 1448, despite some earlier reluctance to take such a dangerous measure in a relatively big town, John II granted Antequera the privilege of homicianos, thus easing the conditions for the settling of criminals seeking redemption. However demographic growth in Antequera, a borderland that had been recently endangered by the military campaign undertaken by Muhammad X in the area, did not substantially improve. By 1477 the situation was critical. Nasrids attempted to conquer the city, ravaging the crops and firing housing.
  The city served as major military power base during the War of Granada.
  Population boomed after the conquest of Málaga by the Catholic Monarchs in 1487 (and the ensuing conquest of Granada in 1492), as concerns about military insecurity were left in the past.
caption: Old town and towers of San Agustín and San Sebastián churches
exif: {}