Its enviable strategic position, attracted since ancient times to different peoples who settled in the area.

Before the beginning of our Era, the region already had a defined entity, being inhabited by the Asturian tribe of the Brigecienses. In the middle of the 12th century it appears with the name of Malgrat and linked to the process of repopulation of the territory undertaken by the monarchs of León. Fernando II, the great benefactor of Benavente, granted it a Charter in 1167. In 1230 it was the scene of the so-called “Concordia de Benavente” by which the crowns of the kingdoms of León and Castile were united in the person of Fernando III.

During the reign of Henry III in 1398, Benavente and its land was given as a county to the Portuguese knight Don Juan Alfonso Pimentel, who would be the trunk of the noble dynasty that would remain linked to the place until the s. The history of the city is often confused with that of its lords.

During the War of Independence, Benavente and its fortress were shaken by the attacks of the Napoleonic troops, affecting many of its main buildings. In the s. In the 19th century, the local bourgeoisie played an important political and economic role within the framework of the Restoration. In 1929 it obtained the title of City by concession of Alfonso XII.