Cantabria Infinita

History

Prehistory and Cantabrians

10th to 12th Centuries

Rome and the Visigoths

13th to 17th Centuries

Repopulation and Reconquest

The Modern Period

Pontifical University, Comillas
19th Century

Altamira Cave
Prehistory

Sto. Toribio of Liébana
13th Century

Cantabria has a rich early history and it was here that one of the most important sites of prehistoric art was found: Altamira. This cave is considered by experts to be the Sistine Chapel of Prehistory.

PREHISTORY
The paintings of Altamira in Cantabria predate the great art of the oriental civilizations (Egypt, Mesopotamia, etc) by almost 10,000 years and give modern man the first evidence of the ingenuity of the species.

The magnificent artistic expression of cave painting is found on the walls of caves and archaeological sites and appears in Europe in the mid-Palaeolithic period onwards. In the depths of this region the painting reached its peak of universal expression.

As well as Altamira, the marvels preserved in the caves of Puente Viesgo, El Pendo or La Gama are also worthy of note.

CANTABRIANS

Altamira

La Garma Cave

One century followed another and in the first millennium B.C. we find a people who the Romans unified under the name "Cantabrians". These were primitive tribal groups, who had already entered the Iron Age and who dared to confront the imposing force of the Roman legions, making their subjection enormously difficult.

The Cantabrian villages or settlements (settlements at Bernorio and Celada Marlantes, detected and analysed by archaeologists) were fortified with stone walls and well-defended gates. The fierce resistance against the invaders shocked the ancient world, to such an extent that the Cantabrians are mentioned in the historical and literary texts of the classical authors more frequently and intensely than any other Hispanic people.

The steles of Zurita, Barros and Lombera, now in the Museum of Prehistory, remain as relics of the Cantabrians.

10th TO 12th CENTURIES

Monastery of Sto. Toribio of Liébana

Starting in Liébana, (more densely populated and closer to the Asturian coast), the feudal system gradually began to develop. This was a period in which the Church was particularly powerful, as it owned large tracts of land and was involved in widespread colonisation, wielding immense ideological influence. This was the period of the splendour of the monasteries. In Liébana, of the 20 monasteries to be founded during the Repopulation, 2 are of particular note: San Martín of Turieno (St. Toribio from the 12th century onwards) and Santa María de Piasca in Liébana.

In Asturias de Santillana the major power was the monastery of Santa Juliana, from which the town of Santillana, previously known as Planes, took its name. It would keep its independence as an abbey up to the end of the middle ages.

Campoo was controlled by three major monasteries: San Pedro of Cervatos, San Martín of Elines and Santa María de Aguilar of Campoo. During this period the economic system changed, with agriculture gaining importance over animal husbandry.

THE FOUR COASTAL TOWNS 11TH AND 12TH CENTURIES
By the 12th century, Cantabria was dominated by the large monasteries and a few nobles, with part of the peasantry free and the other part under feudal regime. Politically, Liébana was incorporated into the kingdom of Castille. Alfonso VIII consolidated the monarchy, strengthened the economy and developed a strong navy.

He also halted the growth of the power of the nobility by creating municipalities, where Councils were strengthened, feudal dependency was abolished, the middle classes were recognised and the inhabitants were granted privileges. Towns with municipal charters enjoyed strong economic, demographic and urban growth.

Thus, in 1163 the municipal charter was granted to Castro Urdiales and in 1187 to Santander, in 1200 to Laredo and in 1210 to San Vicente de la Barquera. Castro, Laredo and San Vicente de la Barquera were free towns, where a leader had authority over the town and surrounding land.

Collegiate Church of Santillana

ROMA

The Roman city of Julióbriga

The difference in culture and technology between the two opponents inevitably led to the surrender of the indigenous peoples and their absorption into Roman civilisation. Many young Cantabrians joined the victor's army and Cantabria first became a part of the large province of Tarraconensis and later the Conventus Cluniensis.

The process of Romanisation of Cantabria was complete by the 4th century A.D. Remains of this new status quo include the Roman ruins at Julióbriga and Camesa-Rebolledo, the materials that have appeared in Castro, Urdiales, Santoña and Santander and the road structures that are still visible along some of their sections.

VISIGOTHS
The Visigoths repeatedly tried to subject the newly independent Cantabrians, but their assaults and acts of punishment were unsuccessful.

From Tierra de Campos, ascetic monks began another more peaceful form of invasion, the christianising missions, led by St. Toribio and St. Millán.

The Romanising and religious acculturation culminated in 711 with the Arab invasion of the peninsula, an event that forced the Hispano-Roman population to fall back to the northern mountains.

Beato del Liébana

THE NAVAL BATTLES 13TH AND 14TH CENTURIES
The naval power of the coastal towns was not evident in the 13th century alone. During the 14th century the "Brotherhood of the Four Towns" continued to develop. Throughout the century, the towns of Biscay received their municipal charters and started competing strongly with the Cantabrians. This union started attacking the English coasts together with the Flemish fleets.

In 1350, a naval battle involving 50 allied ships took place off the coast of Winchelsea. Edward II of England would later pact with the Cantabrian and Basque ports to stop interference with English maritime trade. This was not the only incident with the English. After the marriage between the daughters of Pedro I and the sons of Edward III, Edward claimed the Crown of Castille for one of his sons. The Kingdom of Castille refused and sent 12 Brotherhood galleys to take La Rochelle on the French coast, an expedition that ended in victory. When the English seemed to be preparing a counter-attack against Santander, the Castillian fleet once again set sail and was once again victorious.

Mogrovejo

LINEAGES AND CONFLICT 14TH AND 15TH CENTURIES
Whereas the Early Middle Ages were characterised by the power of the monasteries, the Late Middle Ages saw the rise in power of the lay nobility. The power of the monasteries waned, continuing only in Santillana and Santander.

Collegiate Church of Sta. Cruz de Castañeda

The main lay authority in Cantabria was La Vega, whose centre was at the site of the same name, where there was a defensive tower. This would later develop into the modern town of Torrelavega.

In 1466 Enrique IV gave the town of Santander to the second Marquis of Santillana, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, who, when met with the resistance of the inhabitants, tried to take the town by force. The people of Santander, supported by other peoples of Trasmiera, repelled the attack and Enrique IV was forced to give Santander the title of "Noble and Loyal".

CARLOS V AND THE COASTAL TOWNS 15TH TO 17TH CENTURIES
The ports of Cantabria, in particular Laredo and Santander, played an important role in the imperial politics of Carlos V and Felipe II, as they were the points of departure for their travels to the north of Europe and, above all, the base for fleets and armadas, leading to a major development in naval construction. Curiously, the remains of the Invincible Spanish Armada arrived at the port of Santander after the disaster.

At the beginning of the 8th century, when Tarik and Muza had defeated Visigoth power and monarchy with unusual speed and the Arab armies had reached the foot of our highest mountains, history once again placed Cantabria at the centre of events.

A new resistance to the invading power developed in the form of groups of native Cantabro-Romans, Visigoth leaders and numerous other peoples who were able to unite and found the Asturian-Cantabrian monarchy (King Alfonso I, son of the Duke of Cantabria, was the son-in-law of don Pelayo). This monarchy would take up the struggle to recover and repopulate the lost lands and fields.

Then, in the 8th and 9th centuries, the same king and his successor Alfonso II crossed the mountains and contained the Muslim advance. Thus the Asturian-Cantabrian monarchy started the grand campaign to reunite Spain once again as under the Visigoths.

Santa María de Piasca chapel

Lignum Crucis

The first half of the 9th century saw intense emigration from the northern valleys. People were now unafraid of Muslim attacks and went in search of the high Ebro and the Duero valley, where more promising agricultural land was to be found.

These repopulating immigrants from the north of Castille and Leon were known as "foramontanos" (people from over the mountains).The route that crosses Cabuérniga and Campoo de Suso is also known as "The Route of the Foramontanos".

In the 8th century, the numerous refugees who arrived in Cantabria, and Liébana in particular, brought with them Latin and Hispano-Visigoth culture. Christianity was definitively established and the "Lignum Crucis" relic (considered to be the largest remaining fragment of the Cross of Christ) was brought from Astorga. Within this cultural framework, so different from that of native Cantabrians, appeared the figure of Beato of Liébana, one of the most important figures of the period, due to his confrontation with Elipando, the Archbishop of Toledo, not to mention the fact that he was the first person to suggest that St. James the Apostle had travelled to Spain. Thanks to Beato, Cantabria gained worldwide fame.

THE MODERN PERIOD
Unlike the rest of Spain, most of the population of Cantabria entered the modern period under the statute of nobility, i.e. belonging to blood nobility, with all the advantages and exemptions that this implied.

La Magdalena Palace

FROM THE ENLIGHTENMENT TO TRADE
During the 17th century, the terrible century of iron, Spain was faced with growing competition from other emerging maritime powers. In this tremendous struggle of men and resources, Cantabria was at the forefront. During this century and the next, the construction of galleons, frigates and warships for the Fleet of the Indias and the Ocean Armada was unceasing, both in the Guarnizo and Colindres shipyards.

During the Age of Enlightenment, councils, valleys and court nobles worked to unite the land through the creation of the province of Cantabria, while the Crown chose Santander as its strategic northern port. .

THE 20TH CENTURY
The loss of the American and Pacific colonies in 1898 seemed to represent a severe blow to Santander and its province. However, the repatriation of capital and foreign investment gave a further boost to both industrialisation and cattle farming.

The royal family's summer residence in the Palace of the Magdalena and the acts of patricians such as the Marquises of Comillas, Manzanedo and Valdecilla provided significant investment in health, cultural and sporting infrastructure. The mountainous region became fashionable, to such an extent that some elements of its traditional architecture were incorporated into the so-called regionalist style that predominated throughout the country.

The will of the majority, channelled through the town councils, led to the acceptance by the Spanish parliament of the creation of the Autonomous Community of Cantabria in 1981.

Capricho by Gaudí