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A former kingdom of Spain, Castile comprises the two regions of
Old Castile in north-western Spain, and New Castile in the centre of the country.
Previously an eastern county of the kingdom of León, Castile in
the 11th century became an independent realm with its capital at Burgos and later Valladolid, and the leading
force in the northern Christian states' 400-year Reconquista ("reconquest") of central and southern Spain from the
Muslim rulers who had dominated the peninsula since the 8th century.
The capture of Toledo in 1085 added New Castile to the crown's territories, and the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212) heralded the Muslim loss of most of the south. León was finally reunited with Castile in
1230, and the following decades saw the capture of Córdoba (1236), Murcia
(1243) and Seville (1248).
The dynastic union of Castile and Aragón in 1469, when Ferdinand II of Aragon wed
Isabella I of Castile, led to the formal creation of
Spain as a single entity in 1516. See List of Spanish monarchs and Kings of Spain family tree.
The territory traditionally regarded as Castilian is now divided into the Spanish autonomous communities of Castile-Leon, Castile-La Mancha, Madrid, Cantabria and La Rioja.
The language of Castile emerged as the primary language of Spain - known to many of its speakers as castellano and in
English simply as the Spanish language.
See early history at Kingdom of León, list of Kings of Castile, and later history at History of Spain.
Two places in the United States of America named after this the
kingdom are: Village of Castile and
Town of Castile.
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