Timeline of The History of Gibraltar - Castilian/Spanish Rule

Castilian/Spanish Rule

• 1462 20 August – Castilian forces captured Gibraltar (Eighth Siege of Gibraltar). (See Reconquista). An immediate dispute broke out between the House of Medina Sidonia (the Guzmán family) and the House of Arcos (the Ponce de León family) about the possession of the town. Finally, the initiative of Juan Alonso de Guzmán, 1st Duke of Medina Sidonia, succeeded and he took possession of the town as personal property. However, the King of Castile, Henry IV, declared Gibraltar to be Crown property and not the personal property of the Guzman family. Henry IV restored the charter granted to Gibraltar in 1310 and took two additional measures: the lands previously belonging to Algeciras (destroyed in 1369) were granted to Gibraltar; and the status of collegiate church was solicited from the pope Pius II and granted to the parish church of Saint Mary the Crowned (Spanish: iglesia parroquial de Santa María la Coronada), now the Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned, on the site of the old main Moorish Mosque. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, whose feast falls on 20 August, became the Patron Saint of Gibraltar.
• 1463 -In a tour through Andalusia, Henry IV was the first Christian monarch to visit Gibraltar.
• 1467 July – In the midst of a nobility revolt against the King, the forces of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, after a 16-month siege, took Gibraltar. Alfonso of Castile, half-brother of Henry IV and puppet pretender handled by the nobility, granted him the Lordship of Gibraltar (Ninth Siege of Gibraltar).
• 1469 3 June – After the death of Alfonso de Castilla and the 1st Duke of Medina Sidonia, his son and heir Enrique de Guzman, 2nd Duke of Medina Sidonia changed side and in reward, saw the status of Gibraltar, as part of the domains of the Duke, confirmed by the Queen Isabella I of Castile.
• 1470 20 December – A new charter was granted to the town of Gibraltar, now a nobiliary town, based in the Antequera charter.
• 1478 30 September – The Catholic Monarchs granted the title of Marquis of Gibraltar to the Duke of Medina Sidonia.
• 1479 20 January – Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon – the Catholic Monarchs, jointly rule the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, including Gibraltar.
• 1492 31 March – After conquering Granada, the Catholic Monarchs sign the Alhambra decree ordering the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, to be take effect from 31 July 1492. Many passed through Gibraltar on their way into exile in North Africa.
• 1492 Summer – After the death of the former Duke, his son and heir, Juan Alfonso Perez de Guzman, 3rd Duke of Medina Sidonia saw his lordship over Gibraltar reluctantly renewed by the Catholic Monarchs.
• 1497 -Gibraltar became the main base in the conquest of Melilla by the troops of the Duke of Medina Sidonia.
• 1501 2 December – Acknowledging the importance of the town, the Catholic Monarchs asked the Duke of Medina Sidonia for the return of Gibraltar to the domains of the crown. The Duke accepted the Royal request and ceded the town to the monarchs.
• 1502 2 January – Garcilaso de la Vega took possession of the town on behalf of the Queen Isabella I of Castile.

• 1502 10 July – By a Royal Warrant passed in Toledo by Isabella I of Castile, Gibraltar was granted its coat of arms: "An escutcheon on which the upper two thirds shall be a white field and on the said field set a red castle, and below the said castle, on the other third of the escutcheon, which must be a red field in which there must be a white line between the castle and the said red field, there shall be a golden key which hangs by a chain from the said castle, as are here figured". The Castle and Key remain the Arms of Gibraltar to this day.
• 1506 -Alleging a false donation by the king Philip I of Castile, the Duke of Medina Sidonia attempted to recover Gibraltar by besieging the town. The siege was unsuccessful and the Duke was admonished by the Regency and forced to pay a fee to the town. The town received the title of "Most Loyal City" (Tenth Siege of Gibraltar).The Duke died in 1507.
• 1516 14 March – Spain becomes a united kingdom under Charles I.
• 1540 8 September – Corsairs from the Barbary Coast (ruled by Barbarossa) landed at Gibraltar in sixteen galleys, looting the town and taking away many captives.
• 1552 -After the requests from the inhabitants of the town, Charles I of Spain (the Emperor Charles V) sent the Italian engineer Giovanni Battista Calvi to strengthen the defences of the town. A wall was built (nowadays known as Charles V Wall); also a ditch by the wall of the town and a drawbridge at the Landport (Puerta de Tierra).

• 1567 -Juan Mateos turned his large house in the Upper Town into a hospital. It was Gibraltar's first hospital, and remained on the same site serving the people of Gibraltar for almost four and a half centuries.
• 1606 -The Moriscos (the descendants of the Muslim inhabitants in Spain) were expelled from Spain by King Philip III. Many passed through Gibraltar on their way into exile in North Africa.
• 1607 25 April – During the Eighty Years' War between the United Provinces and the King of Spain, a Dutch fleet surprised and engaged a Spanish fleet anchored at the Bay of Gibraltar (Battle of Gibraltar).
• 1621 -Second battle of Gibraltar on which a Spanish squadron crushed the VOC at the strait of Gibraltar – Battle of Gibraltar (1621)
• 1649 -Typhoid epidemic in the town.
• 1656 -In a letter to Councillor General Montagu (afterwards Earl of Sandwich), General-at-sea and one of the Protector's personal friends, Cromwell mentioned the necessity of securing a permanent base at the entry of the Mediterranean, preferably Gibraltar (the first suggestion for the occupation of Gibraltar as a naval base had been made at an English Council of War held at sea on 20 October 1625).