Moya

Archaeological excavations in 1982 and 1983 showed that Moya has been occupied since the Middle Bronze Age, around 1500 BC, with the earliest settlement close to where the castle stands today. Evidence of Iron Age occupation was also found at the same site, along with coins minted at Bílbilis, the Roman town now known as Calatayud.

Alfonso VIII took possession of Moya in 1210 — the sources say he populated it rather than conquered it. Fernando III later strengthened the town, granted it charters and privileges, and over time it absorbed surrounding villages and lands to form a territorial community that helped secure Castile's borders with Valencia and Aragon.

In 1215 King Enrique I granted the town to the Order of Santiago, with Juan González, master of Calatrava, as its first lord. The lordship passed through several hands before Moya was raised to royal status in 1319 and then to a marquisate in 1480.

Running alongside this was a long and bitter dispute between the archbishopric of Toledo and the bishopric of Cuenca over ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Church tribunals, including one held in Burgos in May 1220, failed to resolve the conflict, which continued unresolved well into the 1220s.