Antiquity The city was founded early in the
Bronze Age and was later occupied during the
Iron Age by the Celtic people of the
Vacceos who called it Ocalam. After the Roman victory over the Lusitanian hero
Viriathus the settlement was named by the
Romans Occelum Durii or
Ocellodurum (literally, "Eye of the
Duero"). During Roman rule it was in the hands of the
Vaccaei, and was incorporated into the Roman province of
Hispania Tarraconensis. It was on the road from Emerita (modern
Mérida) to Asturica Augusta (modern
Astorga). (
Ant. Itin. pp. 434, 439). Two coins from the reign of the
Visigothic king
Sisebuto, show that it was known at the time as "Semure".
Middle Ages Following the campaigns of
Musa ibn Nusayr in the 710s in the context of the
Umayyad conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the town was conquered and a Berber garrison was left in the there, but following the
Arab-Berber strifes, the territory was reportedly seized by
Alfonso I of Asturias. Not much attention was paid however to the place in the chronicles from this period, as Asturian human resources at the time were mostly targeted at the Cantabrian coast and little is known about the inhabitants of the Duero Valley. According to the chronicle of Al-Andalus by ,
Alfonso III of Asturias determined the Christian repopulation of the place in 280
AH (893–894 AD) (although the dates of 881, 899 and 910 AD have been also reported).
A diocese and a bishop were established in the town in the early 10th century.
Mozarab builders came from Toledo. The city became one of the most thriving Christian cities in Iberia in the early 10th century, possibly even passing
León. Zamora became the target of
Ibn al-Qitt, who unsuccessfully tried to invade the city in 901 with help from Berbers. It was also attacked several times during the
Caliphal era, and
Almanzor eventually seized the city in 966. The place returned to Christian control during the reign of
Alfonso V of León. Since the early 11th century, with the repopulation works by
Raymond of Burgundy, the place saw planned repopulating efforts. A new perimeter of city walls was also erected in the 11th century. The population
intramuros included the nobles and regal officers, the clergy, Frank settlers from Gascogne, Poitou and Provence who had settled in the city during the time of Raymond of Burgundy, settlers of Asturian, Leonese and Galician origin, as well as some Mozarabs. Zamora was granted a
fuero in 1208. The most notable historic episode in Zamora was the assassination outside the city walls of the king
Sancho II of Castile in 1072. Some decades before, king
Ferdinand I of León had divided his kingdoms between his three sons. To his daughter, Doña
Urraca, he had bequeathed the "well fortified city of Zamora" (or "la bien cercada" in Spanish). All three sons warred among themselves, till the ultimate winner, Sancho, was left victorious. Zamora, under his sister who was allied with Leonese nobles, resisted.
Sancho II of Castile, assisted by
El Cid, laid siege to Zamora. King Sancho II was murdered by a duplicitous noble of Zamora,
Bellido Dolfos, who tricked the king into a private meeting. After the death of Sancho, Castile reverted to his deposed brother
Alfonso VI of León. The event was commemorated by the Portillo de la Traición (Treason Gate). In the late middle ages, Zamora was one of the 17 cities (18 after the inclusion of Granada) that enjoyed a vote at the Cortes of the Crown of Castile, actually speaking on behalf of all of Galicia since the early 15th century (Galicia did not have any city with representation until the 17th century). Zamora was also the scene of fierce fighting in the 15th century, during the conflict between the supporters of
Isabella the Catholic and
Juana la Beltraneja. The Spanish proverb,
No se ganó Zamora en una hora, literally, ''Zamora wasn't won in an hour'', is a reference to these battles. It is the Spanish equivalent of the English proverb "Rome wasn't built in a day." During the 12th century, the city was extraordinarily important for its strategic position in the wars between the
Kingdom of León and the
Almoravids and
Almohads. As a result, the city preserves many churches and buildings from that time. In the 1140s and 1150s it was ruled by Prince
Ponce Giraldo de Cabrera, who has a street named after him in the city today.
Henry IV granted Zamora the epithet of "most noble and most loyal city". Zamora's Jewish community came to an end with the
expulsion of 1492. At that time the city was one of the principal crossing points into
Portugal, with chroniclers reporting that around 30,000 Jews passed through Zamora toward
Miranda do Douro. Some former residents later returned as
conversos. Soon after the expulsion, the Crown granted the community's "Great Synagogue" to the city to be converted into the church of
San Sebastián, and in 1493 confirmed the donation to the local confraternity for use as a hospital and shelter for the poor. Records indicate that the synagogue was eventually dismantled and its materials reused. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), the savagery of the repression against leftists and liberals is captured in Ramón Sender Barayón's 'A Death in Zamora', which tells of the extrajudicial murder of his mother, Amparo Barayon, the wife of the famous novelist Ramon Sender. == Geography ==