Caudete () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

located in the

province of Albacete Albacete () is a province of central Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. As of 2012, Albacete had a population of 402,837 people. Its capital city, also called Albacete, is by road southeast of Madri ...

Castilla–La Mancha Castilla–La Mancha (, ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Comprising the provinces of Province of Albacete, Albacete, Province of Ciudad Real, Ciudad Real, Province of Cuenca, Cuenca, Province of Guadalajar ...

. It has a population of 10.163 (From INE 2015). It is part of the Altiplanicie de Almansa ''comarca''.

History

Following its Christian conquest in 1240, Caudete became part of the

Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...

as result of the

Treaty of Almizra The Treaty of Almizra (or Treaty of Almiçra) was the third of a series of three treaties between the Crown of Aragon and Crown of Castile meant to determine the limits of their expansion into Al-Andalus, Andalusia so as to prevent squabbling betw ...

, featuring a

mudéjar Mudéjar were Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period following the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for Mudéjar art, which was greatly influenced by Islamic art, but produced typically by Christian craftsmen for C ...

population. It later passed to the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon (, ) ;, ; ; . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona (later Principality of Catalonia) and ended as a consequence of the War of the Sp ...

, and the first Christian settlers arrived after a charter was granted in 1305. There were ongoing disputes between Caudete and nearby

Villena Villena (; ) is a city in Spain, in the Valencian Community. It is located at the northwest part of Alicante (province), Alicante, and borders to the west with Castilla-La Mancha and Region of Murcia, Murcia, to the north with the province of Vale ...

over control of the Alhorines Valley, an important wheat-growing area. On the wake of the , the town was besieged and taken by force by Castile. It was reincorporated to Aragon on 22 October 1436. Caudete became part of the land of

Ontinyent Ontinyent is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Vall d'Albaida, Valencian Community, Spain. It is situated on the banks of the Clariano River, a tributary of the Xúquer, and on the Xàtiva–Alcoi railway. Ontinyent is near the Sierra d ...

in 1446. Caudete, which favoured the Bourbon side at the early stages of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

, eventually came to support the ''Austracist'' side. As a result of siding with the loser faction, Caudete lost his local autonomy and was annexed to Villena in 1707. Until the 19th century the dominant language in the municipality was

Valencian Valencian can refer to: * Something related to the Valencian Community ( Valencian Country) in Spain * Something related to the city of Valencia * Something related to the province of Valencia in Spain * Something related to the old Kingdom of ...

with some aspects of Aragonese. Since then the region has undergone forceful linguistic substitution by

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

similar to what happened in the Valencian ''comarca'' of

Vega Baja del Segura Vega Baja del Segura (; Mapa temàtic comarcal de la Comunitat Valenciana, serie CV350. Institut Cartogràfic Valencià. 2022, Col·leccions AutonòmiquesPDF/ref> ), simply known locally and regionally as Vega Baja (in Spanish), is a ''comarca'' ...

. Today the principal language is Spanish with some Valencian words. Caudete is famous for its ''Moros y Cristianos'' festival in September.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * *

External links

Town hall website
Municipalities of the Province of Albacete {{Albacete-geo-stub

History

See also

References

External links