Béjar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Béjar is a town and municipality in the province of Salamanca, western Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile-Leon.
Bejar, Bejarano, Behar, Bexar and other versions of the name are popular surnames for Sephardi Jews, many of whom were converted to Catholicism or killed in the Spanish Inquisition, who came from this region in Central Spain. Several locations in the United States, such as Bexar County, Texas, have received the name from early Spanish settlers.
In 1718, Martin de Alarcon, Spanish Viceroy and appointed Governor of Texas, reinforces a fort and the ten soldiers and their families are recognized officially as the beginning of the villa. Alarcon names the presidio San Antonio de Bejar in honor of the Duque de Bejar, the viceroy's brother, who died what Spain considers a hero's death defending Budapest from the Ottoman Empire in 1686. This fort and villa bearing the name Bejar later becomes the city of San Antonio, Texas, the 7th largest city in the United States.[1]
List of municipalities in Salamanca
[edit] References
 |
This article about a location in the province of Salamanca, Spain, is a stub. You can help by expanding it. |
