History of Soria
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The main square of Soria |
Soria is a city located in modern-day north-central Spain. As of 2010, the municipality has a population of approximately 39,500 inhabitants, nearly 40% of the population of the province.[1]
Early history
The area of Soria was inhabited by the Iberians, who merged with the Celts to form the Celtiberians around the 4th century BC.
Roman conquest
Soria appears in history with the Roman conquest. In what now is called Cerro del Castillo, an ancient settlement related with Numantia was discovered. Bartolomé de Torres in his Topografía de la ciudad de Numancia, says that the castle of this city took its name Oria from a Greek knight called Dórico, captain of Dorians, who arrived to Soria from Achaea. From this it is deduced that the first settlers of Soria were Dorians.
However, nothing about this has been corroborated by archaeology. For other experts, the Suebi were the first settlers of Soria whose kings, according to Tutor and Malo in their Compedio historial de las dos Numancias, established in it one of their courts.
During the Roman conquest of Iberia, Soria was besieged and its population committed a collective suicide in order to escape slavery. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the rebuilt city was occupied by the Suebi.
Arab conquest
Later, after the Arab conquest of Spain, it grew in importance due to its proximity to the border of the Christian lands, which in the 8th century had settled along the Duero river.
In 869 Soria was the centre of the rebellion of Suleyman ibn-Abus against the emir of Córdoba, who sent his son Hakan to quench it.
Christian conquest
During the 11th century it became an important and strategic enclave due to its situation near Duero and it delimited the Christian and Muslim lands with the so-called "marca del Duero" or "línea del Duero". In the early 12th century the city was conquered by Alfonso I the Battler, being absorbed into the Kingdom of León in 1134. It was repopulated and became the head or main population of those frontier. This reflected in the slogan "Cabeza de Extremadura" present in the coat of arms of the city.
It continued being an important location due to the battles between the kingdoms of León, Castile, Aragon and Navarre. Alfonso VIII of Castile gave the city several privileges which it maintained until modern times as a reward for its support.
In 1195 the town was stormed by Sancho VII of Navarre, but later recovered and continued to develop its splendor and trades, mostly held by a community of Jews.
Soria lost most of its importance after the unification of Aragon and Castile in 1479, and above all after the decree of exile issued against the Jews in 1492.
In the War of Spanish Succession (1701–1714), Soria sided with Philip V.
In 1808 it was captured and set on fire by the French troops.
Modern
The economic and social crisis in Spain in the early 20th century, and the Spanish Civil War during Francisco Franco's dictatorship which followed, had negative effects on Soria and the surrounding area, which became depopulated due to increased emigration.
The policy of the current authorities aims to strengthen the local economy pivoting on Soria's tourism potential, and has also launched a program of reconstruction for the neighboring villages.