For much of the late middle-ages and the early modern period before becoming part of the province of Madrid, Alcalá de Henares was a seigneurial estate of the archbishops of Toledo.

Romans conquered the area in the 1st century BC, and built the town of Complutum near a previous Carpetanian settlement, Iplacea.

Soon after, on 10 February 1129,[8] Alfonso VII gave Alcalá to Raymond de Sauvetât, also Archbishop of Toledo, becoming an archiepiscopal property for centuries to come.

[10] The Christians preferred the Burgo de Santiuste ("Saint Just's borough") on the original Roman site, and the Muslim one was abandoned.

At some time in the 1480s, Christopher Columbus first met there the Reyes Católicos, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and his wife Queen Isabella I of Castile, who financed the travel for the Discovery of America.

[14] The leading figure in the latter movement was Antonio Fernández Quer [es], who became the first municipal councillor from the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party in the province of Madrid in 1903.

[14] Following the 1936 coup d'etat that sparked the Spanish Civil War, putschist elements seized key posts around the city.

[15] However, following the botched coup in Madrid, Rebel forces in Alcalá eventually surrendered to Republican Colonel Ildefonso Puigdendolas and his troops on 21 July.

During Muslim rule, the Jewish community of the city was granted equal rights as the Christians living in it: special restrictions were not placed on Jews regarding criminal compensation, residency, and other municipal aspects.

Hebrew studies at the University of Alcalá were encouraged by Cardinal Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros during the 16th century, bringing some Jews and Marrano Hebraists to work in the city.

After the 1492 Alhambra Decree Jews were required to become Christians to continue living in Castile and Aragon; those who refused had to leave these kingdoms and most of them found residence in the North of Africa, Amsterdam and the Ottoman Empire.

Standing at an average altitude of 654 m, and occupying some 88 km2; the city was for a long time contained in between the Henares to the South and the Madrid-Barcelona railway to the North.

[22] In 1293 in Alcalá de Henares King Sancho IV of Castile founded the Universidad Complutense, one of the oldest universities in the world, as a Studium Generale.

With the patronage of Cardinal Cisneros, it was recognized in a 1499 papal bull, and quickly gained international fame as a main centre of learning of the Renaissance thanks to the production of the Complutensian Polyglot Bible in 1517, which is the basis for most[quantify] of the current translations.

Constructed between 1497 and 1514, the cathedral houses the remains of Saints Justus and Pastor, two Christian schoolboys martyred near the city during the persecutions of the Roman Emperor Diocletian at the beginning of the 4th century.

In 414 a chapel was erected at the site of Justus and Pastor's martyrdom, and was converted into a cathedral during the period of Visigoth control of Hispania; bishops from Alcalá were present at the Councils of Toledo beginning in the 7th century.

Although a church was rebuilt on the site in 1122, Pope Urban II, under the influence of his friend Raymond de Sauvetât, the Archbishop of Toledo, decided not to restore the Diocese of Alcalá at that time.

The title reflects its former status as a collegiate church, and derives from the requirement that all of the canons of the cathedral must possess the academic distinction of Doctor of Theology in order to serve there.

In addition to that of Saints Justus and Pastor, the cathedral also houses the tomb of renowned 17th-century Spanish sculptor Gregorio Fernández.

The city centre surrounds the Plaza de Cervantes and is traversed by a long pedestrian main street, the Calle Mayor.

There has been no clear planning by the city councillors regarding expansion, and the sprawling suburban areas are irregularly constructed, with the addition of 1970s-style high rise blocks in many places.

Situated in the lowlands of the Henares river, the city is an attractive home for the migratory storks due to the wide availability of food and nesting material in the area.

For over twenty years, Alcalá's storks have been counted and studied, and the active protection and maintenance of their nests is by official policy.

By car, Alcalá de Henares is well linked with the state roads network with the nearby A-2, the highway which starts in Madrid and continues on to Barcelona and to France.

Alcalá also has an intensive bus system called "Alcalá-Bus" which runs to all the major neighborhoods and costs 1,30 euro per ride.

The ceremony attracts a wide range of dignitaries to the city including members of the royal family, the prime minister, and others.

During this festival the streets are filled with music, art, theatre, and dance as the city residents celebrate Alcalá's rich cultural heritage.

Alcalá de Henares is the birthplace of Catherine of Aragon; it is twinned with the English city of Peterborough in England, her final resting place.