Fonseca, Juan Rodríguez de, 1451–1524, Spanish prelate. Chaplain to Isabella and Ferdinand, he was bishop successively of Badajoz, Córdoba, Palencia, and Burgos and later archbishop of Rosana....

Morales, Luis de, c.1520–1586, Spanish mannerist painter. He lived and worked in Badajoz. Morales executed vivid portrayals of saints suffering and refined devotional images of the Virgin and ...

Mérida, city (1990 pop. 53,732), Badajoz prov., SW Spain, in Extremadura, on the Guadiana River. It is a rail hub and agricultural center producing textiles, leather, and cork. The colony Emer...

Ferdinand I or Ferdinand the Great, d. 1065, Spanish king of Castile (1035–65) and León (1037–65). He inherited Castile from his father, Sancho III of Navarre, conquered León, and took parts o...

Guadiana, river, 510 mi (821 km) long, rising in the La Mancha Plateau, E Spain. It flows west through central Spain, then south, forming part of the Spanish-Portuguese border (except for a sw...

Extremadura, autonomous region (1990 pop. 1,102,319), W central Spain, on the border with Portugal. It was established as an autonomous region in 1983 by the statute of autonomy. A tableland c...

John VI, 1769–1826, king of Portugal (1816–26), son of Maria I and Peter III. When his mother became insane, John assumed the reins of government (1792), although he did not formally become re...

Spain, Span. España, officially Kingdom of Spain, constitutional monarchy (2005 est. pop. 40,341,000), 194,884 sq mi (504,750 sq km), including the Balearic and Canary islands, SW Europe. It c...