Foundation Talavera de la Reina was founded at the confluence of the rivers
Alberche and
Tagus. This area of great ecological wealth was the settlement of Celtic people who built the most ancient ruins of the area.
Roman Empire and Visigothic Age During the time of the
Roman Empire, the name of the city was Caesarobriga. In 182 BCE,
Quintus Fulvius Flaccus conquered the city, establishing it as part of the Roman province of Lusitania as a city that would pay a stipend, and as the capital of an extended area included in the legal convent of the city of
Emerita Augusta. The leader
Viriato, in his war against the Romans, lived in this province between 145 and 139 BCE. In this period, Talavera de la Reina was a rich city with cattle markets and commercial exchange. Christianity came early to the city, and with the fall of the
Western Roman Empire, the Visigoths established themselves in the city. Talavera was known then as
Aküis or
Aibura. In the year 602, King
Liuva II made a present to the city: the sculpture of the Virgin Mary, who was from then to the present day the symbol of the Christians in Talavera de la Reina, and the substitute for the goddess Ceres. In honour of the goddess Ceres, Talaverian Romans celebrated the spring festival called Mondas, which is still celebrated for the Virgin Mary.
Middle ages of the ancient city walls The
Muslims conquered Talavera in 712. They built new walls and a castle in Talavera. They also brought the use of fountains, water mills and new products brought from Africa and Asia. The fertile soil produced quality vegetables, fruits and grass for animal feed. The markets gained new strength, and the population, a mixture of Christians, Muslims and Jews, lived in harmony for some centuries. Medina Al Talavayra took part in different wars between the kingdoms of Spain, becoming allied with
Córdoba and
Badajoz.
Alfonso VI of León-Castile seized the city in 1083. The city was retaken temporarily by Muslims in 1109. 12th-century geographer
Al-Idrisi reflects on Talavera describing it as a "large town by the riverside of the Tagus", "with a great number of watermills" and "surrounded of fertile fields". The countryside of Talavera endured Almohad
algaras in the early 1170s. Violence resumed after a truce in 1177, as answer to the simultaneous Castilian siege on
Cuenca. In 1182, an Almohad army set up a camp near Talavera. Following the Almohad
victory at Alarcos by
Abu Yusuf Yaqub in 1195, Almohad forces ravaged the countryside of Talavera by 1197, yet apparently the well-fortified city (at least the citadel) stood still. Following the
battle of Las Navas in 1212, the territory north of the Montes de Toledo became secure from Muslim incursions for good. Talaveran militias reportedly launched unsuccessful raids in Southern Iberia for the remaining of the 13th century. The repopulation of the territory after the Christian conquest was led by Castilians, Franks and
Mozarabs. Also a number of Moors from the south would increase the preexisting Muslim population of Talavera. Until 1290, Castilians and Mozarabs lived under the aegis of different law regimes. By the mid 13th century, Talavera and
Plasencia sealed the creation of a brotherhood seeking to counter the territorial push southwards of the powerful
concejo of
Ávila. Formerly a town, sometimes property of queens, such as
Maria of Portugal, Talavera was transferred by
Henry II of Castile on 25 June 1369 to
Gómez Manrique (the transfer was confirmed in the 1371 Cortes of Toro), the Archbishop of Toledo, as payment for the latter's support in the
Castilian Civil War, and, since then, the town became attached to the Archbishops of Toledo. The change from the
concejo abierto towards a
regimiento system of municipal government in Talavera should have happened by the second half of the 14th century. Unlike other locations the chief municipal public offices (
regidurías) in Talavera were not subject to transfer from father to son, so the nobiliary elite relied in an alternative strategy to ensure its supremacy, based on a system that allowed them to control the candidates to the
regidoría. King
Sancho IV gave the royal privilege to hold two royal markets each year.
Early Modern history (c. 1567). By the late third of the 16th century the city reached a population of 10,000. Upon the death of
King Charles II in November 1700, two powerful nations fought for the Spanish Crown. Talavera supported
Philip V's French faction, which was the winner. In the mid-18th century, by 1748, as part of the economic policies enforced by the Spanish Bourbons, the Royal Factory of Silk, Silver and Gold Fabric, was opened in the city, during the reign of
Ferdinand VI. The number of
hidalgos reduced during the 18th century. The
clergy retained an important socioeconomic importance. Towards the end of the century, a number of religious French emigrees would arrive to Talavera after the triumph of the
Revolution. During the second half of the century, the bulk of the working population comprised the non-specialised workers and textile workers, ceramics workers (with a diminishing importance compared to previous centuries) and those dedicated to services, followed by the food industry, leather and the shoemaking sector.
19th and 20th centuries The
Peninsular War had great consequences for Talavera. On 27 and 28 July 1809 the
Battle of Talavera took place between the Anglo-Spanish army and the French. The
Duke of Wellington's army expelled the French from the city. in October 1908 The manufacturing complex of the Royal Silk Factory closed towards 1851. Talavera was granted the title of city (
ciudad) in 1876. Following the and the ensuing installment of the
dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, the local branch of the
Patriotic Union (UP) formed in the city in March 1924 and the paramilitary
Somatén in December 1924, during an event scheduled by
Duchess of Talavera. A number of public events and demonstrations took place as part of the legitimization of the regime. The good connections of Mayor Justiniano López Brea with provincial and national officeholders fostered several projects of public works in the later part of the dictatorial period. The railroad brought new opportunities for improvement. Talavera changed its name to Talavera del Tajo. The city had a population of 16,654 in 1936. The city had a population of 18,631 in 1940. During the Francoist dictatorship the
Instituto Nacional de Colonización promoted a large irrigated zone in the surroundings of Talavera, following which two new settlements were created, called
Talavera la Nueva and
Alberche del Caudillo, the latter located in the neighboring
Calera y Chozas municipality. During the 1960s a
baby boom caused an increase in the population, added to by the immigrants coming from the nearby villages and poor areas of Extremadura.
Recent developments After Franco died in 1975, Talavera's first democratic mayor tried to create the province of Talavera, but the idea was not successful. The succeeding mayor, Pablo Tello of the Socialist Party, made significant contributions, including the creation of Alameda Park. In 1989, a sense of marginalization took hold of the city, prompting a group called "Nosotros Talavera" (We Talavera) to advocate for the establishment of a university campus and other initiatives to benefit the city. A Centre for University Studies was opened in the city in 1994. It was fully integrated as a campus of the
University of Castile-La Mancha (UCLM) four years later, in 1998. == Main sights ==