HISTORICAL DICTIONARY A–Z - Spain and Portugal: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present - page 412

Z

Zapatero, José Luis Rodríguez

See the French invaders and their puppet king,

Joseph Bonaparte (J OSEPH I). A distin-
guished native of Zaragoza, General J OSÉ
DE P ALAFOX was democratically chosen to
lead the defense of A RAGON 's ancient capi-
tal. Raising a force of urban volunteers and
peasants who marched in from the region
to supplement his small garrison of regular
troops, Palafox kept the B OURBON banner
flying over the city during a series of bom-
bardments and infantry assaults from June
through August 1808. The French attack-
ers withdrew with heavy losses. Goaded
by an infuriated Emperor Napoléon, they
redoubled their attack in November.
Effecting breaches in the walls of the city,
they conducted a street-by-street battle
for the city against the dogged defenders,
who were steadily weakened by casualties
and the outbreak of disease. Palafox had
sworn never to yield, but in February
1809, while he was incapacitated by ill-
ness, local government officials surren-
dered the city to the French. The victors
acknowledged the bravery of their antag-
onists by permitting the surviving Spanish
fighters to march out with full military
honors. During the next five years, pend-
ing the final expulsion of the invaders
from Spain, the Battle of Zaragoza became
an inspiration for Spanish patriotism and
continued resistance.

R ODRÍGUEZ Z APATERO , J OSÉ L UIS .

Zaragoza (Saragossa)
An ancient city located in the province of the
same name in northeastern Spain, it was
originally a settlement of the Celt-Iberians
and then an important trading center for the
Romans. Zaragoza's location on the Ebro
River gave it commercial and strategic impor-
tance. Captured by Muslim invaders in 713,
Zaragoza was taken by King Alfonso I of
A RAGON in the 12th century. It was the capi-
tal of the Kingdom of Aragon through the
1400s. The site of fighting during the W AR OF
THE S PANISH S UCCESSION (1710), its proximity
to the French frontier and accessibility to
M ADRID , lying less than 200 miles to the
southwest, continued to attract invaders.
Zaragoza's most notable battles were fought
during the P ENINSULAR W AR when it sus-
tained two major sieges by Napoléon's armies.
Today Zaragoza is the capital of the autono-
mous region of Aragon, with a population of
roughly 640,000 people, and is due to host
Expo 2008 (the next official World's Fair).

Zaragoza, Battle of (1808-1809)
At the beginning of the P ENINSULAR W AR ,
the city and province of Z ARAGOZA defied

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