Medieval kingdom, northwestern Spain. Leon proper included the cities of León, Salamanca, and Zamora the adjacent areas of Vallodolid and Palencia being disputed with Castile, originally its eastern frontier. It began as a Christian kingdom in the early 10th century when García I established his court on a former Roman legion campsite. Its rulers lost ground to the Moors during the 10th century but reconquered much territory in the 11th century. From 1037 to 1157 it was united with the kingdom of Castile, but it then regained its independence and was ruled by its own kings. It was permanently reunited with Castile in 1230. The modern autonomous community of Castile-León covers roughly the same area. Alberti Leon Battista Beiderbecke Leon Bix Cooper Leon Neil De Leon Daniel Magnes Judah Leon Murphy Audie Leon Thurstone Louis Leon Trotsky Leon Myron Leon Wallace
City (pop., 2001: 130,916), northwestern Spain. The city began as the camp of a Roman legion; its name is derived from the Latin legio. Held by the Goths during the 6th and 7th centuries, it then fell to the Moors, who ruled it until 850. In the 10th century, it became the capital of the kingdom of Leon. An industrial as well as a tourist centre, its site includes medieval churches. City (pop., 1995: 123,865), western Nicaragua. The second largest city in Nicaragua, it is the country's political and intellectual centre. It was founded by the Spanish on the edge of Lake Managua in 1524; it was later destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt in 1610 near the Pacific coast, northwest of Managua. León was the capital of Nicaragua until 1855. It has had a long political and commercial rivalry with the city of Granada. It is the burial place of poet and diplomat Rubén Darío and the seat of the University of León. Castile León Castilla y León Moses de León Nuevo León Ponce de León Juan Zedillo Ponce de León Ernesto
a city in central Mexico a city in northwestern Spain at the foot of the Cantabrian Mountains a historical area and former kingdom in northwestern Spain