History
During the Middle Ages, Gibraltar was part of the Moorish Taifa of Malaga in Al-Andalus. It was ruled by Abdul Malik, son of the Marinid dynasty, between 1333 and 1340. After an unsuccessful siege led by Alfonso XI of Castile during the Reconquista period, Emir Isa Ibn al-Hassam proclaimed himself "King of Gibraltar and its lands" in 1355. The kingship remained in Muslim hands for the next century.
Gibraltar was finally captured by Castile on 15 December 1462 when it fell to an army led by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, who expelled the Moors from the territory. King Henry IV of Castile, the father of the later Queen Isabella I of Castile, rewarded the duke with the title of Marquess of Gibraltar and added the kingship of Gibraltar to the list of titles of the Castilian crown. The title continued to be used by his successors even after the territory was ceded to the Crown of Great Britain in perpetuity under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. The continued use of the title thus emphasizes a Spanish viewpoint that the British monarch merely has possession of Gibraltar, rather than sovereignty over it. The United Kingdom, by contrast, takes the position that the treaty transferred sovereignty as well as possession.
When Gibraltar was captured by an Anglo-Dutch fleet on behalf of the Archduke Charles, claimant to the Spanish throne, in 1704, the city council and most of the population left, founding in 1706 the nearby town of San Roque. The original royal warrant of 1502, which the city council took with it to San Roque along with Gibraltar's standard and records, is now in the San Roque municipal archives. San Roque still uses a modified version of the original coat of arms of Gibraltar to symbolise its connection with Gibraltar.
As the rest of the historic substantive titles pertaining to the Spanish monarchy, this title is not officially designated in the 1978 constitution, but the constitution notes that the title of the King is King of Spain and further grants the right to use "the others pertaining to the Crown" (los demás que correspondan a la Corona). This title was among the ones used by Alfonso XIII, which, by this provision of the constitution, the King is entitled to use.
Although the kingship of Gibraltar continues to be among the titles of the Spanish monarchy, it was customary for titles and arms of conquered territories to be omitted from British regnal claims. The title and arms were thus never claimed by the British monarchy.
Read more about this topic: Kingdom Of Gibraltar
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