Castro Urdiales en la Edad Media Puerto Regio de la Marina Cantábrica

Abstract

Castro Urdiales was one of the Four Villas of the Sea of Castile during the Middle Ages. With our work we have discovered new features of the town, not only in the material sense, but also in the thought of its inhabitants, in their religious beliefs, the basic pillar of medieval existence. In addition to the medieval street map, we have also analysed the houses in the area according to the social class of the inhabitants, interrelating everything with their surroundings, the port, the area outside the walls and the roads. We have also investigated the work of the inhabitants of the town, eminently seafaring and commercial. In the same way, we delved into Castro society, while identifying a good number of the people who ruled the town, especially in the 15th century. All this has provided us with enough material to abstract some very interesting conclusions about Castro Urdiales. So, we can affirm that Castro Urdiales reached a mercantile and urban boom that did not last long, little more than a century, only to succumb, both socially and commercially, before the 15th century. One of the characteristics of the town is its peculiarity compared to the rest of the Castilian coastal towns. The urban centre was divided into two towns, each with its own personality and a clear rivalry that lasted throughout the Middle Ages and continued for at least the first three decades of the 16th century.