Spain

  • Pedro the Cruel

    No one looks at their sweet newborn baby and thinks some day his nickname is going to be “the cruel”.  However, let’s say with start Pedro had it’s not surprising.  His father, Alfonso XI, King of Castile, ditched his wife, Maria of Portugal, for his mistress.  Once his wife gave him a son, he shipped them both off to exile away from court.  He continued living with his mistress, with whom he had 10 children two of which were twin boys, leaving Maria to pour bitterness in Pedro’s ears. Pedro remained under his mother’s control away from court until 1350.  When Pedro was 16, his father died of the black…

  • Manco Inca Yupanqui

    The Inca had a great empire in what is now Peru, parts of Ecuador, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, north and Chile and a small part of southern Colombia.  They were the Roman Empires of the Americas.  However, they when the Spanish explorers first encountered them the Inca were coming off a debilitating civil war and in the middle of a smallpox epidemic.  160 Spanish Conquistadors arrived in Peru with Francisco Pizarro, and they took full advantage of the destabilizing political situation. The civil war was between two brothers who both claimed the throne-  Atahuallpa and Huascar.  The war was only ended when Atahuallpa killed his brother, however,…

  • Mary Tudor and Philip- Another match made in hell

    Mary Tudor was going to be a royal spinster. Under her father’s pronouncement of bastardy, no Catholic prince would have her, and she would take no Protestant suitor. She seemed doomed to live her life alone, bereft of husband and family that she longed for. Then a miracle happened. In 1553, she ascended the throne of England after her brother’s death and the usurpation of Jane Dudley nee Grey. At the age of 37, she became the hottest property on the marriage market of Europe. Several candidates had been suggested for the Queen’s hand, including Edward Courtenay, the Earl of Devon, who had just been released from the tower. However,…

  • Werewolf of Alleriz

    Lycanthropy is a mental disorder where a person believes that have the ability to turn into animals, in most cases the animal is a werewolf but can range anywhere from a hyena to a bear. This is exactly what occurred in the first recorded serial killer case in Spain, his name was Manuel Blanco Romasanta, or better known as the Werewolf of Allariz. Most of Manuel’s life is not documented as he led a fairly average life up until the murders began but what is known shows a man who had a troubled past. Manuel was born on November 18, 1809 in Regueiro, a small village in the Ourense Province…

  • Zugarramurdi – The Town of Witches

    In northern Spain lies the town of Zugarramurdi, home to just under 250 people. This small town, situated next to the border of France and Spain, and nestled in the foothills of the Pyrenees, is famous for being a major part of the Basque Witch Trials of the 17th century, the biggest witch hunt ever undertaken by the Spanish Inquisition. It began in the year 1609 and by the end around 7000 suspected cases of witchcraft had been examined. Basque witches, or priestesses also known as Sorginak, are the assistants of the Goddess Mari in Basque Mythology. Before the arrival of Christianity, the indigenous people of the area that is…