The Castillo de Portillo is a medieval castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 in Portillo, in the province of Valladolid, Castilla y León, Spain; the earliest elements of its present construction date to the fifteenth century.

The site, 23 km from Valladolid

Valladolid

Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...

, has been fortified since the tenth century, when it is documented in connection with Moorish forays into the region, under Abd al-Rahman III. In the fourteenth century, and until the early fifteenth, it was in the possession of the family of Sandoval

Sandoval

Sandoval is a habitational surname of Spanish origin.Sandoval may also refer to:-People:*Andrew Sandoval, American songwriter, musician, producer and author*Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez , Filipino jurist...

; in 1392 it was confiscated from Diego Gómez de Sandoval in the name of King Juan II of Castile, who granted it in 1438 to Ruy Díaz de Mendoza. From 1448 to 1452, Portillo was occasionally held by Juan's favourite, Don Álvaro de Luna

Álvaro de Luna

Álvaro de Luna y Jarana , Duke of Trujillo, 1st Count of San Esteban de Gormaz, was a Spanish politician...

, although the fortress remained in royal hands. Don Álvaro, however, fell from favor, and was detained at Burgos, sent to Portillo until two months later he was tried at Valladolid, and subsequently beheaded in the main Plaza on 2 June 1453. In 1464 Enrique IV of Castile conferred it upon Alfonso, held in trust by Juan Pacheco, the prince's tutor, until his death (1474), though it had been ceded to Rodrigo Alfonso de Pimentel, whose heirs held it until the nineteenth century, when it passed to the family of Osuna.

As the history above indicates, Portilla is better known for the list of distinguished prisoners it has housed, than for being the site of battles or other events. Juan II of Castille was briefly imprisoned at Portillo in 1444 by the Conde de Castro, escaping by bribing one of his guardians. The chronicles also touch upon the fact that Don Enrique, brother of the admiral Don Fabrique y de Suero de Quiñones (who fought at Paso Honroso) was jailed here for conspiring against the crown.

The castle has been a National monument since 1931. It is presently a property of the University of Valladolid

University of Valladolid

The University of Valladolid is a public university in the city of Valladolid, province of Valladolid, in the autonomous region of Castile-Leon, Spain...

.

External links

• Castillo de Portillo
• Castillo de Portillo timeline