Editing Extremadura (section)

==History==
[[File:Merida Roman Theatre1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Mérida, Spain|Archaeological Roman Ensemble]] in Mérida (''[[Augusta Emerita|Emerita Augusta]]''), capital of the Roman province of [[Lusitania|Hispania Lusitana]].]]

During the time of the [[Roman Empire]], the area that is known today as Autonomous Community of Extremadura was part of [[Lusitania]], a Roman province that included most of current day Portugal (except for the northern area today known as [[Norte Region, Portugal|Norte Region]]) and the central western portion of the current day Spain. [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]] (now capital of Extremadura) became the capital of the Roman province of Lusitania, and one of the most important cities in the [[Roman Empire]].

Like the bulk of the Iberian Peninsula, the territory [[Umayyad conquest of Hispania|was conquered by the Umayyads in the early 8th century]]. As part of the [[Emirate of Córdoba|Emirate]] and later [[Caliphate of Córdoba]], it largely constituted a territorial subdivision (''[[Kura (al-Andalus)|kūra]]'') of the former polities centered on Mérida. Following the collapse of the Caliphate in the early 11th century during the so-called [[Fitna of al-Andalus]] and its ensuing fragmentation into ephemeral statelets ([[taifa]]s), the bulk of the territory of current day Extremadura became part of the (First) [[Taifa of Badajoz]] (''Baṭalyaws''), centered around the namesake city and founded by [[Sabur al-Saqlabi|Sapur]], a [[saqaliba]] previously [[freedman|freed]] by [[Al-Hakam II]].{{Sfn|Domené Sánchez|2009|p=102}}
[[File:Toro de Plasencia.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|The bull of Plasencia in the ''[[Cantigas de Santa Maria]]''.]]
Conversely, the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of León|León]], [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]] and [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]] (most notably the first one) made advances in the 11th and 12th centuries across the territory (with for example the successive Leonese conquests of [[Coria, Cáceres|Coria]] in 1079{{Sfn|García Fitz|2002|p=47}} and 1142,{{Sfn|Clemente Ramos|Montaña Conchiña|2000|p=14}} the Portuguese attempts at expanding across the [[Guadiana]] basin in the second half of the 12th century,{{Sfn|Clemente Ramos|Montaña Conchiña|2000|p=18}} or the Castilian founding of [[Plasencia]] in 1186){{Sfn|Clemente Ramos|Montaña Conchiña|2000|p=20}} not free from setbacks either caused by the [[Almoravid]] and [[Almohad]] impetus, which also entailed the demise of the first and second taifa of Badajoz in 1094 and 1150,{{Sfn|Domené Sánchez|2009|p=103}} respectively. In the Almohad case, their 1174 offensive removed Leonese control from every fortress south of the [[Tagus]] (including [[Cáceres, Spain|Cáceres]]).{{Sfn|Clemente Ramos|Montaña Conchiña|2000|p=19}} After the Almohad disaster at the 1212 [[Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa]], the remaining part of current-day Extremadura under Muslim control fell to the troops led by [[Alfonso IX of León]]—[[Alcántara, Spain|Alcántara]] (1214),{{sfn|Villarroel Escalante|2008|p=1257}} Cáceres (1227–1229),{{sfn|Bullón de Mendoza|2001|p=46}} Mérida (1230),{{Sfn|Porrinas González|2018|p=651}} [[Badajoz]] (1230){{Sfn|Domené Sánchez|2009|p=101}}—and later to the military orders of [[Order of Santiago|Santiago]] and [[Order of Alcántara|Alcántara]]—[[Trujillo, Spain|Trujillo]] (1232),{{sfn|Pino García|1985|p=381}} [[Medellín, Spain|Medellín]] (1234){{sfn|Díaz Gil|2010|p=211}}—on behalf of [[Ferdinand III of Castile]]. The last fortresses in the Lower Extremadura were conquered by Christians by 1248.{{Sfn|Clemente Ramos|Montaña Conchiña|2000|p=27}}

By the late Middle Ages, the territory of the current-day region consisted of mayorazgos of the military orders of [[Order of Santiago|Santiago]] and [[Order of Alcántara|Alcántara]] (about half the territory), nobiliary lordships (about a quarter of the territory) and royal demesne towns (the other quarter of the territory).{{Sfn|Ladero Quesada|1992|p=238}}

In between the 15th and 16th centuries, the concept of the Leonese and Castilian ''extremaduras'' diluted and the name eventually came to refer to the territory of the current-day region.{{Sfn|Ladero Quesada|1992|p=230}} The territory lacked nonetheless shared government and administration institutions.{{Sfn|Ladero Quesada|1992|p=239}}

In between 1570 and 1572, the Crown forcibly relocated about 11,000 ''[[morisco]]s'' into the territory as part of the deportation of Granadans that followed the defeat of the [[Rebellion of the Alpujarras (1568–1571)|Alpujarras revolt]].{{Sfn|Hernández Bermejo|Sánchez Rubio|Testón Núñez|1995|p=89}} The distribution was somewhat chaotic although some places with an already "threatening" population of old moriscos (such as [[Hornachos]], [[Magacela]] and [[Benquerencia]]) were avoided as resettlement locations for the Granadan moriscos.{{Sfn|Hernández Bermejo|Sánchez Rubio|Testón Núñez|1995|p=93}}

Two [[generation]]s later, the [[expulsion of the moriscos]] from the region began in 1609, starting with the moriscos of Hornachos, the first expulsion in the Crown of Castile.{{Sfn|Hernández Bermejo|Sánchez Rubio|Testón Núñez|1995|p=114}} By September 1610 about two thirds of the moriscos of Extremadura had been already expelled and by 1611 the number amounted to 12,776.{{Sfn|Hernández Bermejo|Sánchez Rubio|Testón Núñez|1995|p=117}} Those who avoided the early orders of expulsion abided to reports of being 'good Christians' or claimed a status as 'old moriscos'.{{Sfn|Hernández Bermejo|Sánchez Rubio|Testón Núñez|1995|p=116}} At the height of 1612, there were reports of remaining moriscos in Trujillo, Mérida and Plasencia.{{Sfn|Hernández Bermejo|Sánchez Rubio|Testón Núñez|1995|pp=117–118}}

[[File:Badajoz 16xx.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|17th century panorama of the city of [[Badajoz]].]]
Located in the most able path from the [[Meseta Central]] to Portugal, the territory suffered greatly due to warfare from the 1640–1668 [[Portuguese Restoration War]],{{Sfn|García Barriga|2008|p=31}} characterised not by the movement of large armies but for pillage, skirmishes, raids, and destruction of economic resources and settlements across both sides of the ''[[Portugal–Spain border|Raya]]''.{{Sfn|García Barriga|2008|p=33}} The growing role of the fortified place of Badajoz (halfway between Lisbon and Madrid), in the wake of the installment of the Captaincy General of Extremadura consolidated the clout of the military in the region.{{Sfn|Naranjo Sanguino|Roso Díaz|Ruiz Rodríguez|2013|p=25}}

By the late 18th century, the Extremaduran countryside languished, experiencing a deep crisis.{{Sfn|García Pérez|Sánchez Marroyo|1984|p=213}} There was a diminishing share of land dedicated to crops.{{Sfn|García Pérez|Sánchez Marroyo|1984|p=214}} The growing cattle sector induced the creation of yet more pastures,{{Sfn|García Pérez|Sánchez Marroyo|1984|p=214}} adding up to the structural problem stemmed from the extraordinary degree of [[concentration of land ownership]].{{Sfn|García Pérez|Sánchez Marroyo|1984|p=213}} By the end of the Ancien Régime, the clergy, municipal councils and the royal army mattered more than the lesser role of the entitled nobility.{{Sfn|Naranjo Sanguino|Roso Díaz|Ruiz Rodríguez|2013|p=25}}

Railways were developed in the second half of the 19th century. In September 1863, a passenger train arrived to Badajoz from [[Elvas]], Portugal. It was the first train in the region and the first international service in the Iberian Peninsula.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hoy.es/extremadura/frontera-records-20200706002133-ntvo.html|website=[[Hoy (Extremadura)|Hoy]]|title=La frontera de los récords|date=6 July 2020|first=J.R.|last=Alonso de la Torre}}</ref>{{Sfn|Blanch Sánchez|2013|p=446}} In 1866, the {{ill|Ciudad Real–Badajoz railway|es|Línea Ciudad Real-Badajoz|lt=Badajoz–Ciudad Real line}} was completed, enabling the link with Madrid.{{Sfn|Blanch Sánchez|2013|pp=448–449}} The [[Madrid–Valencia de Alcántara railway|Madrid–Valencia de Alcántara line]], a new connection passing through the province of Cáceres, was fully completed in 1881.{{Sfn|Blanch Sánchez|2013|pp=453}}

During the 1936–1939 [[Spanish Civil War]], the [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist faction]] Columna Madrid advanced quickly across the province of Badajoz in August 1936 and left merciless repression and mass casualties behind.{{Sfn|Chaves Palacios|2007|pp=205–206}} Badajoz was the Spanish province where the [[Francoist repression]] comparatively took the highest relative toll of victims during the war and the immediate Post-War period; there were around 12,000 executions in the province (out of the 14,000 in the whole region), compared to around 1,600 victims of the Republican repression.{{Sfn|Chaves Palacios|2007|p=205}}

In the mid 20th century, the [[Francoist dictatorship]] pursued a policy of colonization and agrarian reform in the region to foster the economy, transforming thousands of hectares of dryland crops into irrigated lands, also favouring the erection of 63 new settlements by the [[Instituto Nacional de Colonización]] (INC).<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.mapa.gob.es/es/ministerio/publicaciones-archivo-biblioteca/mediateca/coloniz-extremadura-abujeta_tcm30-440811.pdf|title=Los pueblos de colonización de Extremadura. Evolución y estado, medio siglo después de su construcción|first=Esther|last=Abujeta|journal=Dominación y (Neo-)extractivismo|page=71}}</ref> The second half of the 20th century saw a massive [[rural flight]] out of the region, both to the industrialised areas of Spain (already started in 1955) as well as to richer European countries (such as Germany, France and Switzerland), both of which notably intensified after 1961, in the wake of the [[Stabilization Plan|1959 Stabilization Plan]] (and in the second case also after bilateral agreements reached with destination countries).{{Sfn|Cayetano Rosado|2007|pp=1290; 1309}} The region henceforth was handed a demographic blow in the ensuing years, with the effective expulsion of nearly a 40% of the population, particularly young people.{{sfn|Cayetano Rosado|2007|p=1309}}

A pre-autonomous government entity in Extremadura (the "Junta Regional de Extremadura") with jurisdiction over the provinces of Badajoz and Cáceres was created by means of a 1978 law.{{Sfn|Chaves Palacios|2002|p=545}} The draft of the regional [[Statute of Autonomy]] began in 1980, the first step toward Extremadura becoming one of the Spanish [[autonomous communities]].{{Sfn|Chaves Palacios|2002|p=544}} The text passed its final hurdle as it was enshrined as [[Organic Law (Spain)|Organic Law]] in 1982.{{Sfn|Chaves Palacios|2002|p=545}} The [[1983 Extremaduran regional election|first election to the Assembly of Extremadura]] took place in May 1983.