The Arab town, or medina, grew around the alcazar (castle) on a promontory overlooking the Manzanares River. The name Majerit first appears in ad 932, when the Christian king Ramiro II of León razed the town’s walls, but there are traces of earlier (even prehistoric) habitation. The Christian king Alfonso VI of Castile and León captured the town from the Muslims in 1083, and thereafter a number of kings of Castile spent time there. The parliament (Cortes) was called there as early as 1309. The alcazar was damaged in an earthquake in 1466 and the subsequent medieval palace was extended ...(100 of 4535 words)