13,929) is one of the chief market towns of La Mancha.
Education is very backward, largely owing to the extreme poverty which
has frequently brought the inhabitants to the verge of famine. (See also
CASTILE.)

CIUDAD REAL, the capital formerly of La Mancha, and since 1833 of the
province described above; 107 m. S. of Madrid, on the
Madrid-Badajoz-Lisbon and Ciudad Real-Manzanares railways. Pop. (1900)
15,255. Ciudad Real lies in the midst of a wide plain, watered on the
north by the river Guadiana, and on the south by its tributary the
Jabalon. Apart from the remnants of its 13th-century fortifications, and
one Gothic church of immense size, built without aisles, the town
contains little of interest; its public buildings--town-hall, barracks,
churches, hospital and schools--being in no way distinguished above those
of other provincial capitals. There are no important local manufactures,
and the trade of the town consists chiefly in the weekly sales of
agricultrural produce and live-stock. Ciudad Real was founded by Alphonso
X. of Castile (1252-1284), and fortified by him as a check upon the
Moorish power. Its original name of _Villarreal_ was changed to _Ciudad
Real_ by John VI. in 1420. During the Peninsular War a Spanish force was
defeated here by the French, on the 27th of March 1809.

CIUDAD RODRIGO, a town of western Spain, in the province of Salamanca,
situated 8 m. E. of the Portuguese frontier, on the right bank of the
river Agueda, and the railway from Salamanca to Coimbra in Portugal.
Pop. (1900) 8930. Ciudad Rodrigo is an episcopal see, and was for many
centuries an important frontier fortress. Its cathedral dates from 1190,
but was restored in the 15th century. The remnants of a Roman aqueduct,
the foundations of a bridge across the Agueda, and other remains, seem
to show that Ciudad Rodrigo occupies the site of a Roman settlement. It
was founded in the 12th century by Count Rodrigo Gonzalez, from whom its
name is derived. During the Peninsular War, it was captured by the
French under Marshal Ney, in 1810; but on the 19th of January 1812 it
was retaken by the British under Viscount Wellington, who, for this
exploit, was created earl of Wellington, duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, and
marquess of Torres Vedras, in Portugal.

CIVERCHIO, VINCENZO, an early 16th-century Italian painter, born at
Crema. There are altar-pieces by him at Brescia, and at Crema the
altar-piece at the duomo (1509). His "Birt