This area has been occupied since the Palaeolithic Age when the nomads dedicated to hunting and gathering found quartzite for making tools, as well as abundant water and animals for hunting, on these plains.
The most documented stage of this was the Bronze Age (“the Bronze Age of La Mancha”), between the second millennium B.C. until 800 B.C., during which the culture of the “castellones”, or “poblados de altura” (high settlements) was developed, following the routes of the rivers and the “motillas” (fortified settlements of the plains, in areas where the water of the Guadiana tributaries converged).
Towards the end of the 8th Century B.C., a new phase began in which each peninsular region formed independently, as the native substratum fused with various Mediterranean peoples. Between the 6th and 3rd Century B.C., the Iberians, known as the Oretani, in this region reached their greatest zenith, with the intensification of mineral extraction and improvements in agriculture with the application of more specialised techniques.
After the II Punic War, the Romans annexed these territories and to Romanise them required an extensive infrastructure to facilitate the control and operation of the land and also to spread their religious and political ideas. Several Roman roads, some cities and many villas still remain in this province.
The Visigoths also valued the strategic position of the land and colonised it but very few traces remain. It was a scarcely populated age and they lived in the villas. It was rather a rural and poor settlement as exemplified by the tombs.
The Muslims constructed a network of forts to control the populations they had made an agreement with, in exchange for tax payments and land. A highlight is Calatrava la Vieja, which controlled the passage between Montes de Toledo and Sierra Morena, Toledo-Cordoba.
From 12th-13th Centuries, the Christians led a massive military offensive. The monarchs created and supported the Military Orders in the idea of launching a crusade to expel the Muslims. This extremely decisive period in the history of Ciudad Real granted the city its unique nature.
The 15th and 16th Centuries were prosperous periods during which agriculture, cattle raising and trade were developed. The main construction work began in the towns thanks to the patronage of the knights of the Orders.
The 17th Century was marked by the plague, droughts and bad harvests.
In the 18th Century, the Bourbons tried to modernise the area by supporting some constructions such as the lace factory in Almagro or the Hospital de la Misericordia in Ciudad Real, the Escuela de Minas (mining school) and Hospital de Almadén, the gunpowder factory and the Canal del Gran Prior in the Lagunas de Ruidera area.
The 19th-20th Centuries were marked mainly by the confiscation of church property. Towards the end of the century, the new middle class brought the railroad and other advances. However, as these areas saw little industrialisation, it meant that in the 20th Century there was a lot of rural emigration. Many people concentrated in certain cities, namely Ciudad Real, Puertollano, Valdepeñas, Tomelloso and Alcázar de San Juan.
