Execution of the communards at Segovia 1520 During the war of the 'comunidades' (1520-1521), Segovia rose against Charles V, resisting the imperial troops for six months in the fortress under the command of Diego de Cabrera, preventing the fortress being taken by the comuneros who had become powerful in the walled enclosure of the city. The Romanesque Cathedral in front of the fortress was destroyed as a consequence of this.