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Last modified: 2015-01-17 by ivan sache
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Flag of Medina de Rioseco - Image by Eduardo Panizo Gómez (Vexilla Hispanica website), 14 February 2014
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The municipality of Medina de Rioseco (5,042 inhabitants in 2010; 11,543 ha; municipal website) is located in the north of Valladolid Province, on the border with Palencia Province, 45 km from Valladolid.
Medina de Rioseco was resettled in the 9th century by the Kings of
León on the crossing of former Roman ways linking north-eastern and
central Spain. In the 14th century, King John I granted Medina with
the title of "muy noble y muy leal" (very noble and very loyal) and
with municipal arms, as well.
In 1424, Alonso Enríquez (1354-1429), appointed the first Admiral of
Castile in 1405 by Henry III, was made lord of Medina de Rioseco by
John II and set up his capital in the town. His successors Fadrique
(d. 1473), the second Admiral of Castile, and Alonso II (c.
1432-1485), the third Admiral of Castile, contributed to the economic
development of the town. Fadrique II, the fourth Admiral of Castile,
built the Admiral's Palace and several churches and monasteries. The
Enríquez family made of the "Town of the Admirals" a wealthy town.
In
the 16th century, Medina del Campo was a main market of silver brought
back from the Americas via the port of Seville, yielding to the town
the nickname of "The Town of the Thousand Billionaires".
During the War of the Comuneros, Fadrique II offered protection to the
other Regents of the kingdom, Adrian of Utrecht and Iñigo de Velasco.
The tradition says that the Countess of Modica, Fadrique II's wife,
was able to negotiate the lift of the siege of the town by the
Comuneros. As a reward for his loyalty, Fadrique' brother, Fernando,
the fifth Admiral of Castile, was made Duke of Medina del Rioseco by
King Charles V. Juan Tomás Enríquez de Cabrera, the 11th Admiral of
Castile, fought against Philip V during the War of the Spanish
Succession; accordingly, the Admiralty was suppressed in 1725.
On 14 July 1808, the Battle of Medina del Rioseco opposed on the
Moclín hill the French troops commanded by Marshal Bessières to the
Army of Galicia, commanded by Joaquin Blake and Gregorio de la Cuesta.
The French victory allowed Napoléon's troops to seize León and Zamora,
but the French campaign subsequently turned to a disaster following
the battle of Bailén (16-19 July 1808).
Ivan Sache, 3 May 2011
The flag of Medina del Rioseco is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 30
December 1994 by the Valladolid Provincial Government, signed on 11 January 1995 by the
President of the Government, and published on 24
January 1995 in the official gazette of Castilla y León, No. 16 (text).
The flag is described
as follows:
Flag: Quadrangular flag, with proportions 2:1, quartered; 1. and 4., red with a yellow castle port and windows azure; 2. and 3., blue with a white horse's head over yellow crenellations.
In October 2007, the mountaineers Juan Carlos Yenes, Pedro Benavides and José Ángel Gallego hoisted the flag of Medina del Rioseco on Mount Kalapatthar (Himalayas, 5,640 m asl). The flag shown on the photo seems to be with proportions 3:5 rather than 1:2 (La Voz de Rioseco, 25 October 2010).
The coat of arms of Medina de Rioseco is "Quarterly, 1. and 4. Gules a
castle or port and windows azure, 2. and 3. Azure a horse's head
argent issuant from a wall or masoned sable".
The coat of arms was originally granted to the town by John I in the
late 14th century, as a reward for the support of the town against the
Duke of Lancaster, together with the title of "Muy Noble y Muy
Leal" (Very Noble and Very Loyal).
Ivan Sache, 14 February 2014
