History of Bailén
Bailén has an important history due to its strategic position. Since prehistoric times, it has been inhabited by populations scattered throughout its municipal territory. More stable, established populations have existed here since the Copper Age, giving rise to the formation of oppidum by the Iberian era, documented in Cerro Garrán. The area must have been important in Carthaginian times, since numerous twentieth-century archaeological finds across the municipality testify to a significant Iberian-Punic trade, perhaps caused by the proximity of Cástulo.
It is believed that more than one oppidum existed in the municipal area, a place that was called Baikula by the pre-Roman inhabitants, and later Romanized as Baecula. The importance of this population stands out as early as the 3rd century BC, specifically for being the site of the famous Battle of Baecula, where the Romans under Scipio defeated the Carthaginians, enabling Roman domination of Hispania. The Roman camp could well have been located in the area of El Tentadero, northeast of Bailén.
During the Muslim period, Bailén must have been a small village, as it is not mentioned in sources except on one occasion in 1155, when Alfonso VII gave the castles of Baños de la Encina, Segral and Bailén to his vassal, Abdelaziz, in Baeza. In 1311, shortly after the Castilian Conquest, the town appears related among the parishes belonging to Baeza. In 1349, Alfonso XI of Castile sold the town of Bailén, together with the castle, to Pedro Ponce de León ‘El Viejo’, Lord of Marchena and great-great-grandson of King Alfonso IX of León, in exchange for 150,000 maravedís. Bailén passed to be one of the possessions of the Ponce de León family’s heritage, which would reach its peak in 1440 when Juan II of Castile granted one of his descendants the county of Arcos. At this time, the castle was modified to become the Ducal Palace.
The Castle of Bailén is frequently documented in the fifteenth century, mainly in relation to Constable Lucas de Iranzo. He used it occasionally as a residence, both to entertain visitors and to organize hunts and bullfights, and even attacked it in 1470, to punish the Lord of the town who defended the cause of Isabel against Enrique IV. In 1481, the town passed to the Montemayor family, when both families were linked by marriage.
In the eighteenth century, the castle was inherited by María Josefa Alfonso de Pimentel Téllez de Girón, Duchess of Benavente, Arcos and Osuna, a family to which the fortress belonged until the nineteenth century.
The universal fame of Bailén is due to the Battle of Bailén (July 19, 1808) in which Napoleon’s troops, led by Dupont, were defeated for the first time in the open field at the hands of General Castaños and General Teodoro Reding. The battle was held at the gates of the city, where the Spanish, deployed on an elevated area above the field and with their flanks stationed on hills, received the contingent of Dupont’s troops, who left Andújar. The Porcuna Plan, designed by Castaños, did not count on the celebration of the combat there, but in Andújar, but the march of the French forced the Spanish from Reding to form in Bailén, where they were bivouacking. Thus, the combat began around three in the morning and ended at noon. The French attempted to break through the Spanish flanks and launched three general attacks on the Spanish centre, making it impossible to break their ranks.
Finally, Dupont, with his regiments exhausted under the intense July heat, his ranks destroyed and disordered, and losing faith in General Vedel, who should have appeared from the Spanish rear, decided to surrender his arms and ask for capitulation. The combat ended, leaving about 3,000 dead on the French side and ten times fewer on the Spanish, as well as about 18,000 French prisoners. Despite this, Vedel appeared late in the Spanish rear, not receiving the news of the end of the battle and briefly engaging in new combat. During the following days, capitulations were carried out between both sides. Much of the Gallic command was returned to France, Dupont receiving the wrath of Napoleon. The 18,000 French prisoners were taken to Cádiz, half were embarked for the deserted island south of Mallorca called Cabrera, where they were abandoned and only 3.600 survived. The news of the victory spread like wildfire throughout Spain and Europe, breaking the myth of the invincibility of the French navy. Due to this, Joseph Bonaparte had to leave Madrid, being later replaced.
Throughout the nineteenth century, Bailén underwent a progressive population increase. In 1893, a railway station belonging to the Linares-Puente Genil line, located on the outskirts of the municipality, came into operation. The station was operational until the 1960s, coinciding with the closure of the Espeluy-Linares section to passenger service.
After the Spanish Civil War, Bailén consolidated itself as one of the main centres of the province, an entrepreneurial population focusing its activity on the industrial and services sector. At the beginning of the 1990s, Bailén had a multitude of entertainment venues to which young people travelled from all over the province.
In 2008, the Bicentennial of the Battle of Bailén was celebrated, a year full of activities, the highlight of which was the historical reconstruction of the battle, in which almost 800 people from all over Europe participated.