NA, the capital of the province described above, on
the Barcelona-Valencia railway, 4 m. from the Mediterranean Sea. Pop.
(1900) 29,904. The broad and fertile plain in which Castellon is built
is watered artificially by a Moorish aqueduct, largely cut through the
solid rock, and supplied by the estuary of the Mijares, 5 m. south-east.
The town is partly encircled by ancient walls; and, although most of its
public buildings are modern, it contains several convents of early
foundation, a curious old bell-tower, 150 ft. high, and a parish church
chiefly noteworthy for a painting in the interior by Francisco Ribalta,
who was born here in the middle of the 16th century. Castellon has a
brisk trade, its manufactures comprising porcelain, leather, silk,
linen, brandy and cork goods. Its harbour, El Grao de Castellon, about 4
m. east, is annually entered by some 200 small vessels. A light railway,
which traverses the numerous and profitable orange plantations on the
south-west, connects it with the towns of Almazora, Villarreal, Burriana
and Onda. Under its Moorish rulers Castellon occupied a hill to the
north of its present site; its removal to the plain by James I. of
Aragon (1213-1276) gave the town its full name, "Castellon of the
Plain."

CASTELNAU, MICHEL DE, SIEUR DE LA MAUVISSIERE (c. 1520-1592), French
soldier and diplomatist, ambassador to Queen Elizabeth, was born in
Touraine about 1520. He was one of a large family of children, and his
grandfather, Pierre de Castelnau, was equerry to Louis XII. Endowed with
a clear and penetrating intellect and remarkable strength of memory, he
received a careful education, to complete which he travelled in Italy
and made a long stay at Rome. He then spent some time in Malta,
afterwards entered the army, and made his first acquaintance with war in
the campaigns of the French in Italy. His abilities and his courage won
for him the friendship and protection of the cardinal of Lorraine, who
took him into his service. In 1557 a command in the navy was given to
him, and the cardinal proposed to get him knighted. This, however, he
declined, and then rejoined the French army in Picardy. Various delicate
missions requiring tact and discretion were entrusted to him by the
constable de Montmorency, and these he discharged so satisfactorily that
he was sent by the king, Henry II., to Scotland with despatches for Mary
Stuart, then betrothed to the dauphin (afterwards Francis II.). From
Sc