{{Infobox settlement | name = Maqueda | settlement_type = Municipality | official_name = <!-- if different from name --> | native_name = <!-- if different from name --> | image_skyline = VistasDeMaqueda20120108165919P1140521.jpg | image_alt = | image_caption = View of Maqueda | image_flag = Bandera de Maqueda.svg | image_shield = Escudo de Maqueda.svg | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Spain Castilla-La Mancha#Spain | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Spain | pushpin_relief = 1 | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Spain | subdivision_type1 = Autonomous community | subdivision_name1 = Castile-La Mancha | subdivision_type2 = Province | subdivision_name2 = Toledo | coordinates = {{coord|40|3|53|N|4|22|18|W|region:ES_type:city|display=inline,title}} | coordinates_footnotes = | elevation_m = 501 | elevation_min_m = | elevation_max_m = | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 78 | established_title = <!-- Founded --> | established_date = | population_as_of = {{Spain metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}} | population_footnotes = {{Spain metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}} | population_total = {{Spain metadata Wikidata|population_total}} | population_demonym = Maquedano, na | population_note = | population_density_km2 = auto | blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) | blank_info_sec1 = | timezone = CET | utc_offset = +1 | timezone_DST = CEST | utc_offset_DST = +2 | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = 45515 | area_code_type = Dialing code | area_code = 925 | leader_title = Alcalde | leader_name = Esteban Ríos Martín (2007) | leader_party = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Maqueda''' is a Spanish town located in the autonomous community Castilla-La Mancha and the province of Toledo, Maqueda is located in the comarca of Torrijos. The town is best known for its remarkably well-preserved castle, the ''Castillo de la Vela''.
== Etymology == The name "Maqueda" comes from the root ''mkd'' and the Arabic term ''Maqqada'', which means "stable", "firm", or "solid".<ref>{{cite book |last1= García Sánchez|first1= Jairo Javier|title= Toponimia mayor de la provincia de Toledo (zonas central y oriental)|year= 2004|publisher= Instituto provincial de investigaciones y estudios toledanos|location= Toledo, Spain|isbn= 84-95432-05-6|pages= 219–220|language=es}}</ref> Other experts believe that the name derives from the root ''kyd'' and the Arabic term ''Makîda'', which means "strategically located" or "strong plaza".<ref>{{cite book |last1= Corominas|first1= Joan|title= Onomasticon Cataloniae|volume= VIII|year= 1997|publisher= Caixa de Pensiones "La Caixa"|location= Barcelona|isbn= 84-7256-858-X |language=ca}}</ref> Because of the similarity with the biblical placename of Makkedah, some Jewish commentators attributed a Jewish origin to the town.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Maqueda {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/maqueda |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> The latter claim is categorically rejected by Gonzalo Viñuales Ferreiro.{{Sfn|Viñuales Ferreiro|1998|p=385}}
== History == It was fortified under in the 10th century under Abd al-Rahman III.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.realacademiatoledo.es/downloads/publicaciones_cont/169/102.-fernando-jimenez-de-gregorio-la-sagra-toledana-2002.pdf|first=Fernando|title=La Sagra toledana|year=2002|isbn=84-95432-01-3|last=Jiménez de Gregorio|publisher=Diputación Provincial |author-link=Fernando Jiménez de Gregorio}}</ref> Maqueda passed to control of Castile-León in the context of the conquest of the Taifa of Toledo in 1085,{{Sfn|Malalana Ureña|2009|p=78}} and it was later developed under the initiative of Alfonso VII.{{Sfn|Malalana Ureña|2009|p=84}} The countryside of Maqueda was ravaged in the 1197 Almohad offensive.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/ATM/article/view/1486/1268|title=La evolución de los recintos urbanos amu-rallados castellano-leoneses a lo largo del siglo XII|trans-title=The evolution of urban walls in Castilla-León throughout 12th century|first=Antonio|last=Malalana Ureña|journal=Arqueología y Territorio Medieval|volume=16|year=2009|issn=1134-3184}}</ref> Maqueda was donated to the Order of Calatrava in June 1201.<ref>{{Cite journal|page=11|url=https://www.realacademiatoledo.es/downloads/publicaciones_cont1/1513/origenes-de-la-orden-de-calatrava-en-el-territorio-toledano.-encomiendas-y-ambitos-de-dominio-1158-1212.pdf|last=Rodríguez-Picavea Matilla|first=Enrique|journal=Anales Toledanos|issn=0538-1983|issue=291|year=1992|title=Orígenes de la Orden de Calatrava en el territorio toledano: encomiendas y ámbitos de dominio (1158-1212)}}</ref>{{Sfn|Jiménez de Gregorio|2002|pp=43–44}} It received the title of town ({{lang|es|villa}}) in 1324.{{Sfn|Jiménez de Gregorio|2002|p=50}} In the context of the towns of the Alberche riverside in the Western part of the Kingdom of Toledo, Maqueda was of lesser economic and political saliency compared to Talavera and Escalona.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=1272636&orden=0&info=link|title=Las ordenanzas de Maqueda (1399). Estudio histórico|first=Antonio|last=Malalana Ureña|pages=373–374|journal=Mayurqa|issn=0301-8296|volume=22|issue=1|year=1989}}</ref>
With a Jewish presence recorded since 1222, many Jews installed in the town after 1391 owing to the tolerance espoused by the Calatravan order, with Maqueda thereby becoming the seat of a major jewry in the context of the Archdiocese of Toledo.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.5944/etfiii.11.1998.3623|url=https://revistas.uned.es/index.php/ETFIII/article/view/3623/3480/6913|journal=Espacio, Tiempo y Forma. Serie III, Historia Medieval|location=Madrid|publisher=Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia|volume=11|year=1998|title=Maqueda 1492. Judíos y judaizantes|first=Gonzalo|last=Viñuales Ferreiro|pages=383–386|issn=0214-9745}}</ref> In 1415, Antipope Benedict XIII ordered the transfer of the town's main synagogue and associated lands to a former Toledan rabbi who had converted to Christianity, after he petitioned for property to sustain his family.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Beinart |first=Haim |author-link=Haim Beinart |title=The Expulsion of the Jews from Spain |publisher=The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization in association with Liverpool University Press |year=2001 |series=Littman Library of Jewish Civilization |volume=1 |location=Oxford |pages=81 |translator=Jeffrey M. Green}}</ref> The Jewish community seems to have recovered, as the Crown later issued instructions concerning the synagogues of Maqueda. Between 1422 and 1430 the town was also the residence of Rabbi Moses Arragel, known for his Spanish translation of the Bible with commentary, prepared at the request of Don Luis de Guzmán, head of the Order of Calatrava.<ref name=":0" /> The Calatravans traded the town to Álvaro de Luna circa 1434–35.{{Sfn|Delgado Agudo|2006|p=46}}
The town was acquired by {{ill|Gutierre de Cárdenas|es}} circa 1482–83.<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.realacademiatoledo.es/downloads/publicaciones_cont1/1371/el-pleito-homenaje-de-maqueda.pdf|publisher=Real Academia de Bellas Artes y Ciencias Históricas de Toledo|title=El pleito homenaje de Maqueda en 1483|first=Adolfo|last=Delgado Agudo|journal=Anales Toledanos|issn=0538-1983|issue=42|year=2006|location=Toledo|page=47}}</ref>
Maqueda was H. Rider Haggard's original title for his 1910 novel which he re-titled Queen Sheba's Ring after persuasion from his publisher Longman Green & Co, apparently to open up his work to a female audience<ref>{{Cite book |last=Holterhoff |first=Kate |title=C19th Women Illustrators & Cartoonists, Jo Devereux, editor |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2023 |isbn=978 1 5261 6169 7 |location=Manchester |pages=204 |language=English}}</ref>.
== The ''castillo de la vela'' == thumb|left|The ''castillo de la vela'', MaquedaThe ''castillo de la vela'', also known as the ''castillo de Maqueda'' is located on the outskirts of town. Originally of Moorish design, the castle was rebuilt and expanded during the 15th century.<ref name="castillosnet">{{cite web|url= http://www.castillosnet.org/programs/castillosnet.php?tip=inf&dat=toledo/TO-CAS-002|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110716172212/http://www.castillosnet.org/programs/castillosnet.php?tip=inf&dat=toledo%2FTO-CAS-002|url-status= dead|archive-date= 2011-07-16|title= Castillo de Maqueda, Maqueda|access-date= 2009-02-09|publisher= CastillosNet|language= es}}</ref> It was eventually appropriated by the state, which established a Guardia Civil post within the castle and provided for its future conservation.
The castle is rectangular in shape and sits on two distinct elevations. The castle's protections include 3.5-meter-thick walls, moats on two sides, and a number of circular towers. The exterior of the castle is free to visit, though visitors are not permitted to enter the castle proper.<ref name="castillosnet" />
The castle was declared an artistic historical monument on 3 June 1931.<ref name="castillosnet" /> {{clear left}}
== References == {{Reflist|2}}
{{Municipalities in Toledo}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Municipalities in the Province of Toledo Category:Towns in Spain