A new study by geneticists from the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain shows that inbreeding may have weakened the male line and brought about the end of the Hapsburg dynasty. The last king, Charles II of Spain, died in 1700 without male heirs.

New research by experts at the University of Cordoba and the School of Arabic Studies seems to indicate that the first tulips in Europe were brought to Islamic Spain by way of Byzantium. The bulbs could then have been brought to Holland, where they became the country's symbol.

Researchers and lovers of the Alhambra, the 14th century palace in Castile, Spain, have long puzzled and marveled at the Arabic inscriptions which cover the walls and arches of the building, wondering "What are these walls telling me?" Now Juan Castilla, from the School of Arabic Studies at Spain's Higher Scientific Research Council, has produced a video which claims to translate 3,116 of more than 10,000 inscriptions carved around the building.

Medieval re-enactment is afoot in Drachenwald in the form of a plan to take part in the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela "using as medieval gear as possible," an endeavor in the footsteps of thousands of medieval pilgrims.

Madness in the form of battle fever has once again descended upon the Barony of Endless Hills! The Spanish Inquisition is upon us!

The idea is to make a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela using as medieval gear as possible. In short, our " frame of reference" is romantic history as seen by the SCA. The trip will take a minumum of seven days, we will walk approximately 150 kilometers and this will cost (approximately) from 200€ to 500€ (depending how much you have to fly).

Monks at the Abbey of New Clairvaux in Vina, California are rebuilding an 800 year old chapter house transported from Ovila, Spain to California in 1931 by William Randoph Hearst.

Archaeologists studying the chemistry of 14th century Moorish architecture have found that burnt animal bones were mixed with other materials to create a protective covering for walls. Analysis of the walls, coupled with the discovery of a 14th century brick oven, have led to the conclusion.

A team of Spanish researchers are using records of agricultural rites kept by the Cathedral of Toledo to reconstruct a pattern of droughts that plagued the country between 1506 and 1900.

Rhys Terafan Greydragon has posted photos of an elaborate military pavilion, once owned by Carlos V of Spain, on his greydragon.org website. The photos were taken at the Museo del Ejercito in Madrid, Spain.

Warning: This helmet will not pass SCA inspection! Lady Maggie has discovered an online catalog entry from the Metropolitan Museum of Art showing a 16th century plaited straw helmet decorated with cut velvet and embroidery. (photo)

Marine archaeologists, led by a Scottish royal, are searching the silt of Tobermory Bay near Scotland's Isle of Mull for the wreck of a Spanish Armada ship reputed to have carried a hoard of treasure.

500 years after the Inquisition expelled many Moors from Spain, DNA proves that their "genetic legacy" is still strong, according to Professor Mark Jobling, of the University of Leicester.

While it may not be the true Holy Grail, an international congress held November 7-9, 2008 at the Catholic University of Valencia, Spain declared that the artifact "has tremendous cultural value due to its impact on history and literature."

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Leave behind the cold winter of the Outlands and for one evening come to the sunny climate of Spain to celebrate with the Barony of Caerthe the Twelfth Night tradition.

At the end of the 15th century, Spain sat on the brink of her most wondrous chapter in history, the Siglo de Oro, or Golden Age. The year 1492 was perhaps the most decisive in the history of Spain. King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile had realized their goal of reuniting Spain with their triumphant entry into Granada. Of course, this was also the year that Christopher Columbus, sailing under a Spanish flag, left for the Americas. Location:
Barony of Caerthe (Brighton, Colorado)

The Church of St. Mary the Virgin recently rang with the sounds of choral polyphony when the Tallis Scholars, led by Peter Phillips presented a program of Spanish Renaissance music as part of Columbia University's early music series. Allan Kozinn of the New York Times has a review.

An article for the magazine History Today claims that the telescope may have been invented in Spain by a Burgundian spectacle maker named Juan Roget, rather than in the Netherlands or Italy, as previously believed.

Bridgette reports that The Report on the Textiles from Burgos Cathedral, Madrid, Spain is now available online in PDF format.

Modern spiritual seekers are finding value in a medieval pilgrimage. Spain's 500-mile-long El Camino de Santiago gives participants plenty of time to meditate. Jillian Mueller of the Christian Science Monitor chronicles her journey.

Professor John Koch believes the Celtic homeland is more likely Spain or Portugal than northern Europe. Koch, who is a professor at the Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies Centre at the University of Wales, has found evidence of Celtic texts in Spain and Portugal that are 500 years earlier than those from northern Europe.

Castilleja, Spain's mayor Carmelo Cebo does not believe in the value of the 4,500-year-old Copper Age burial site near Sevilla, calling it "just a pile of stones," not worth saving. The site may be destined to be bulldozed to make way for developers.

Lord Tristan d'Avignon provides an online copy of his teaching document for medieval games, based on Alfonso X's Book of Games from the thirteenth century.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri will present Revealing, Reversible and Resplendent: 15th-17th-Century Italian and Spanish Textiles through August 17, 2008. The exhibit includes elaborately-embroidered and woven religious and secular pieces (photo)

A severe drought affecting the city of Barcelona, Spain has lowered the water table in the massive Sau reservoir, revealing a once-submerged medieval village. The town was flooded when the reservoir, which supplies Barcelona, was built in the 1960s. (photo)

A new report by the Canadian government gives a detailed picture of Basque whaling and shipbuilding in 16th century Red Bay, Labrador. The report discusses artifacts discovered on the San Juan, a galeon sunk in 1565 and recently excavated.

Pachomius Oneshoe reports that West Kingdom resident Lady Gabriela D'Avila (Mary Curtis) has won a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to study in Spain.

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A call goes out for all noble fighters to take part in a Heroic Tourney and vie to claim for their consort the title of "Forest Maiden".

The snows have melted; the sweltering heat has yet to arrive. It is time for a Pilgrimage.

The Shire of Blackmoor Keep welcomes you to Northern Spain where, in a tradition dating back to the 8th Century, Santiago de Compostela is the destination of pilgrims. Location:
Shire of Blackmoor Keep (Pineville, Louisiana)

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1297 years and 4 days earlier, on April 29, 711, Tariq ibn Ziyad (Taric the One Eyed) swept into Visigothic Hispania. After his Berber armies arrived at Gibraltar, the Iberian Peninsula would never be the same again.

The influences brought by Tariq and his men would resonate through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, making this area a crossroads of music, literature, and social practices.

Location:
Marche of Gwyntarian (Akron, Ohio)

Teribus (featuring Midrealm drummer Nevik) will be performing their first concert within the borders of the Barony of Fenix in the Middle Kingdom on March 22, 2008.

A rare 15th century Ptolemy world view map stolen in 2007 from the National library of Spain has been discovered in a Sydney, Australia art gallery and returned to Spain.