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Legend of the King of Patones

Patones, Sierra Norte, Madrid

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones

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Legend of the King of Patones

Curiosity · Patones, Sierra Norte, Madrid

Image of Patones, not of the place itself.

Chronicles and legends tell of a picturesque hereditary monarchy that survived in the remote Castilian village of Patones until 1769, perhaps of Visigothic origin. Ten or twelve families acknowledged the authority of an elder whom they called king, a hereditary office that in practice was equivalent to that of a mayor or justice of the peace. The first written reference dates from 1653, when the king of Patones asked Cardinal Moscoso for the ermita to be built; by 1750 the village had already petitioned the Duke of Uceda for the appointment of a hamlet magistrate. It was Charles III who ended the Patones dynasty when it refused to pay taxes. Throughout the 18th century the legend was taken as true in numerous books, among them Antonio Ponz's Viaje de España, which recorded it in 1781.

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