The European Academy of Yuste Foundation and the Government of Extremadura will take part in the events to commemorate the 5th Centenary of the death of Ferdinand the Catholic on 23 January 1516 in Madrigalejo by means of an international summer course, several publications and other cultural activities.
To commemorate this historic event, the Foundation, together with the Town Hall of Madrigalejo and the Casa de Alba Foundation, will republish a facsimile of the work titled Testamento de Fernando El Católico (Will of Ferdinand the Catholic), whose original is housed in the Library of the Casa de Alba Foundation. There will be a limited edition of the document, signed by King Ferdinand on 22 January 1516, which includes a full transcript of the will.
The death of Ferdinand the Catholic led, in the same year, to his grandson, Prince Charles, being crowned Charles I, King of Spain and its territories, which at that time included not only the Crowns of Aragon, Castile and Navarre, but also those of Sicily and Naples and, by extension, the New World.
This year will therefore witness a celebration of the beginning of a reign which brought about the union of Spain and Europe, given that, years later, he was crowned Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and, in turn, the coming together of the European and Latin American worlds, as the territories of the Old and the New Continents were joined together under him. One remarkable coincidence is that Emperor Charles V also died in Extremadura, at the Monastery of Yuste in 1558.
The historical analysis and the impact of that period on present-day Europe and its transatlantic relations will be addressed during an international summer school course to be held in July in the unique setting of the Royal Monastery of Yuste, within the framework of the Campus Yuste program, which groups together the Foundation’s educational activities.
The commemoration activities will officially begin on 22 January with a parade by the Fernando el Católico school in the town and with the presentation of the book titled Fernando el Católico en Madrigalejo, (Ferdinand the Catholic in Madrigalejo) by Antonio Ventura Díaz, former Director of the European Academy of Yuste Foundation.
This commemoration, declared an “Event of Exceptional Public Interest”, includes a broad and wide-ranging program of activities which will run throughout the year and which can be viewed on the website at www.aquimurioelreynacioespaña.com
