The Kingdom of Gibraltar (''Reino de Gibraltar'') was one of the many historic

substantive title A substantive title is a title of nobility or royalty acquired either by individual grant or inheritance. It is to be distinguished from a title shared among cadets, borne as a courtesy title by a peer's relatives, or acquired through marriage. ...

s pertaining to the Castilian monarchy and its successor, the Spanish monarchy, belonging to what is known as ''Grand Title'' ( es, Título Grande). It was added to the monarchy titles by the king

Henry IV of Castile Henry IV of Castile ( Castilian: ''Enrique IV''; 5 January 1425 – 11 December 1474), King of Castile and León, nicknamed the Impotent, was the last of the weak late-medieval kings of Castile and León. During Henry's reign, the nobles became ...

, upon the addition of Gibraltar to the Crown patrimony in 1462. The title of "King of Gibraltar" was kept in the titles and honours of the Spanish Crown and is no longer among the titles of the present king,

Felipe VI Felipe VI (;, * eu, Felipe VI.a, * ca, Felip VI, * gl, Filipe VI, . Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. He is the son of former King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía, and h ...

, as only the town of Gibraltar (the territory ceded was only 1% of the Spanish kingdom of Gibraltar) to the British Crown under Article X of the Treaty of Utrecht 1713.

History

During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

was part of the

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

Taifa The ''taifas'' (singular ''taifa'', from ar, طائفة ''ṭā'ifa'', plural طوائف ''ṭawā'if'', a party, band or faction) were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), re ...

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus DIN 31635, translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label=Berber languages, Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, ...

. It was ruled by Abdul Malik, son of the

Marinid dynasty The Marinid Sultanate was a Berber Muslim empire from the mid-13th to the 15th century which controlled present-day Morocco and, intermittently, other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) a ...

, between 1333 and 1340. After an unsuccessful siege led by

Alfonso XI of Castile Alfonso XI (13 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes en ...

during the

Reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

period, Emir Isa Ibn al-Hassam proclaimed himself "King of Gibraltar and its lands" in 1355. The kingship remained in Muslim hands for the next century. Gibraltar was finally captured by Castile on 15 December 1462 when it fell to an army led by the

Duke of Medina Sidonia Duke of Medina Sidonia ( es, Duque de Medina Sidonia) is a peerage grandee title of Spain in Medina-Sidonia, holding the oldest extant dukedom in the kingdom, first awarded by King John II of Castile in 1380.Henry IV of Castile Henry IV of Castile ( Castilian: ''Enrique IV''; 5 January 1425 – 11 December 1474), King of Castile and León, nicknamed the Impotent, was the last of the weak late-medieval kings of Castile and León. During Henry's reign, the nobles became ...

, the brother of the later Queen

Isabella I of Castile Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as List of Aragonese royal consorts, Queen consort ...

, rewarded the duke with the title of Marquess of Gibraltar and added the kingship of Gibraltar to the list of titles of the Castilian crown. The title can no longer be used by his successors as the territory was ceded to the Crown of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

in perpetuity under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. The United Kingdom, by contrast, takes the position that the treaty transferred sovereignty as well as possession.Sharon Korman, ''The Right of Conquest: The Acquisition of Territory by Force in International Law and Practice'', p. 97. Oxford University Press, 1996. When Gibraltar was captured by an Anglo-Dutch fleet on behalf of the Archduke Charles, claimant to the Spanish throne, in 1704, the city council and most of the population left, founding in 1706 the nearby town of San Roque. The original royal warrant of 1502, which the city council took with it to San Roque along with Gibraltar's standard and records, is now in the San Roque municipal archives. San Roque still uses a modified version of the original coat of arms of Gibraltar to symbolise its connection with Gibraltar. As with the rest of the historic substantive titles pertaining to the Spanish monarchy, this title is not officially designated in the 1978 constitution, but the constitution notes that the title of the King is King of Spain and further grants the right to use "the others pertaining to the Crown" (''los demás que correspondan a la Corona''). This title is not "pertaining to the crown" of Spain. The Spanish Constitution has no competence to authorise the use of foreign titles belonging to other Monarchs. As the kingship of Gibraltar is no longer among the titles of the Spanish monarchy, it was customary for titles and arms of conquered territories to be omitted from British regnal claims. The title and arms were can only properly be used by the British monarchy. In 2010 the government of Gibraltar issued coinage using the title ' Queen of Gibraltar'. The title now appears on most Gibraltar and UK government documents referencing the Queen in relation to Gibraltar, which is the British Queen Elizabeth II. Following the accession and proclamation of King

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

in Gibraltar, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has referred to the King as ' King of Gibraltar'.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingdom Of Gibraltar Spanish monarchy History of Gibraltar

History

See also

References