Day 2 – April 25 – Gibraltar – Gibraltar as a mountain is readily identifiable to most of us, most certainly.

However, it has a long and complicated history. It has belonged to a few different countries and several battles have been fought over it.

It’s location on the Iberian Peninsula, at the entrance of the Mediterranean Sea has made it an important military location.

It has one of the most fortified medievil towns and has been fought over many times due to it’s strategic location.

At one point, it was the last stronghold of the Neanderthal who had lived there for around 50,000 years.

The Phoenicians were the first to record Gibraltar in history in 950 B.C.

The Carthginians and the Romans worshipped Hercules and built shrines to him on Gibraltar. Thy called GibraltarMons Calpe, or Hollow Mountain.

Gibraltar became part of the Visigoth Kingdom of Hispania after the fall of the Roman Empire.

It then came under Muslim Moorish rule in 711 A.D. They were the first to permanently settle there.

It was named Jabel Tariq, the Mount of Tariq which was later corrupted into Gibraltar.

The Christian Crown of Castille annexed it in 1309 and lost it to the Moores once again in 1333.

The Castillan Crown regined control in1462.

Gibraltar fell under Spanish rule in 1704. it was captured during the War of Succession by an Anglo-Dutch fleet in the name of Charles Vl of Austria. He was the contender to the Habsburg contender to the Spanish throne.

At the end of the war with Spain, the Spanish ceded the territory to Britain under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713.

More to come shortly!

Go to “books” on my site and look at the novels I have written. They are about many different things and times in history.

They are free in the Kindle lending library and available as e books and in paperback.