Vue d´Optique nouvelle, representant le Festin donne par l´Ambassadeur de France aux Seigneurs et Dames de le Cour de Madrid

Title

Vue d´Optique nouvelle, representant le Festin donne par l´Ambassadeur de France aux Seigneurs et Dames de le Cour de Madrid

Description

Depiction of a banquet given by the French ambassador to the lords and ladies of the Madrid court.

ca. 1750

Artist

Chereau

Historical Description

The first evidence for the name Madrid comes from Arabic sources. As Arabic etymon the word -madschra- is taken as a basis, which can mean channel, water conduit or river bed. The Latin etymon is assumed to be -matricem-, which is translated here as 'source (of a stream)'. After 854, under the emir Muhammad (852 to 886), a Moorish castle (alcázar) was built on the site of today's Madrid Royal Palace. In 1561, Philip II moved the royal court from Valladolid to Madrid, beginning the city's rise. The part of Madrid built under the Spanish Habsburgs is still called "El Madrid de los Austrias" (The Madrid of the Habsburgs). In 1701, the War of the Spanish Succession broke out, leading to the Anglo-Portuguese occupation of the city in 1706. It ended in 1714 when the Bourbons took over the Spanish throne. Under their rule, the present Royal Palace was built. From 1808 to 1813, Madrid was occupied by the French, with Napoleon's brother Joseph Bonaparte appointed king. The occupiers had monasteries and entire neighborhoods razed to make new space. From 1833 to 1876, the three Carlist Wars were fought. During this time, a cholera epidemic also ravaged Madrid. In 1873 the first republic was proclaimed by the liberal politician and writer Emilio Castelar.