Navarre, the Basque State 1150 - 1200

By Alvaro Adot, Pedro Esarte, Mikel Sorauren

The years before the Castilian conquest The location of the Basque population on both sides of the Pyrenees has been documented since times before the Romanization, and its origins are lost in Prehistory. After the downfall of the Roman Empire, Euskal Herria (either the Basque People or Basque Country) started a process of social and political organisation which, after some centuries, culminated in the Kingdom of Iruñea-Pamplona, later renamed Kingdom of Navarre by Sancho VI the Wise. Evidence of that process is the reiteration of triumphant statements claiming the defeat of the Basques in the Frankish and Visigothic chronicles, which suggest the constant struggle of the Basque for the preservation of their independence and arrangement into a political organisation. Witness of this struggle is, for instance, the Battle of Orreaga-Roncesvaux in which a Basque armed force defeated Charlemagne, leader of the strongest army in Europe at that time, and eventually prompted the political organisation of the Basques in the Kingdom of Iruñea-Pamplona under the leadership of King Eneko Aritza..

1 – Gipuzkoa, Biscay and Araba, territories part of Navarre

However, during the 11th and 12th centuries three turning points hindered the consolidation of the territorial unity of the Basques:

• the Battle of Atapuerca (1054) • the assassination of Peñalen (1076) • the invasion of Alphonse VII of Castile (1134)

11th Century 1054 - Fernando I (Ferdinand I), count of Castile and king of Leon, defeats and kills his brother Gartzea (Garcia), king of Iruñea-Pamplona in Atapuerca, a borderland of Navarre. This defeat triggers the Castilian hegemony in the Iberian Peninsula. 1076 - During a hunt in Funes, Sancho IV Gartzes, King of Iruñea-Pamplona, is pushed down the precipice of Peñalen by conspirators within his own family entourage. Some nobles were at odds with the king due to their claim for tenancy inheritance and feudal privileges that did not exist in Navarre and to which the Basque king was utterly opposed. According to Navarrese laws, tenancies were the territorial organisation of the Basque State. This land division was neither hereditary nor lifelong. The tenancy holders were

appointed by the King and could be removed or posted to other districts according to state needs and officials were not entitled to bequeath these tenancies. Alphonse VI of Castile promises these conspirators feudal and inheritance rights and immediately invades the Navarrese territories of Najera (Naiara), Araba and Biscay. These lands were partially recovered by the kings of Navarre and Aragon Sancho Ramirez, Peter I and Alphonse I the Battler between 1076 and 1109. 12th Century After the death of Alphonse I the Battler, King of Iruñea-Pamplona and Aragon, Alphonse VII of Castile invades La Rioja and the territories of “New Navarre”, that is to say the western lands at the foot of the Sistema Ibérico (the mountain range in the north central Iberian Peninsula) which extended across Soria, Medinacelli and Molina de Aragon. Nevertheless Navarre holds on to Belorado (Burgos), Logroño and Calahorra on the south bank of the river Ebro. 1134 - After the enthroning of Garcia Ramirez the Restorer (1134-1150), most of the present day Basque territories are recovered for the State of the Basques.

1150 - Sancho Garces VI the Wise (Antso Gartzes VI a Jakituna) changes the name of the kingdom from Kingdom of Iruñea-Pamplona into Kingdom of Navarre. From the end of the 12th century the expression “Kingdom of Navarre” appears in the documents standing for all the territories of Basque population south of the Pyrenees over which the king exercises authority, namely, Biscay, Gipuzkoa, Araba, Upper Navarre and La Rioja. In order to defend Biscay and the Ibaizabal valley, Sancho VI the Wise builds the castle of Malvecin on the Malmacin

above present Bilbao. In referring to those times the historian José María Lacarra points out that the external pressure exerted by Castile and Aragon, to the point of war, “will reinforce the unity and contribute to the shaping of the national conscience” of the Navarrese. Shared language, culture and customs led them to see the Basques as a community organised in the state of Navarre.

1.1 – Social and political reforms in Gipuzkoa and Araba Creation of boroughs and charter (foruak/fueros) bestowal: a truncated process of city development 1150 - In order to consolidate his kingdom, Sancho VI sets out a policy of town creation, aiming to reinforce his royal authority and to reactivate the economy. He strengthens the territorial unity of Navarre through actions which lead to the consolidation of the State all over the kingdom. One of the main actions is the creation of cities on pre-existing settlements. Many population centres were located on very ancient settlements, whose origins can be traced back at least as far as pre-Roman times.

Some examples of Roman sites on top of previous substrata are the Basque towns of Oiasso (Gipuzkoa), Veleia (Iruña Oka, Araba), Trebiño, Salbaterrabide and Argantzun, La Puebla de Araganzon, belonging to the late Bronze and Iron Age. The foundation of boroughs during the reign of Sancho VI brings about a reduction in the power of the small nobility who had ruled a good part of the territory, and an increase in the King’s political and economic stature. In addition there is progressive acknowledgement of the influence, first economic, then political, of the Francs, the craftsmen who had settled in the boroughs. All this will contribute to a greater political, social and economical stability in the country under the authority of the Navarrese monarchy. As a consequence, an important process in the formation and growth of towns will take place throughout Navarre, and this will also affect Gipuzkoa and Araba, particularly the former as it was the most depopulated in origin. This town foundation is accompanied by the urbanization of the fortified settlements, the granting of rights charters to the new boroughs, and the strengthening of the Kingdom’s defence strongholds so as to hamper the expansionist impulse of Castile and Aragon. These fortified boroughs encourage the trade and financial activity of the Francs, newcomers with special privileges. Moreover, these new defensive strongholds protect the surrounding hamlets and constitute a defensive line (especially in Araba) to protect the insecure frontier with Castile. The development of towns progressed somewhat unevenly as a consequence of important political, social and financial transformations during the 11th century. There is written constancy of Navarrese or Pyrenean privilege charters (foruak/fueros): Jaca (1079), Lizarra-Estella (1090), Zangotza-Sangüesa (1090) and Logroño (1095). This process will continue for some time, being adapted in different periods and territories.

2.1 – Gipuzkoa (present day): The foundation of fortified towns in this territory starts while it is still part of the Kingdom of Navarre. The Ipuzkoa of that time does not correspond to present day Gipuzkoa.

Defensive castles in Gipuzkoa and Larraun (top left and above) protect the headwaters of valleys and roads leading to the coast, and castles of Araba-Alava (bottom left) defend the passes through which Castilian troops might enter.

2.1.1 - Valleys of Oria, Urumea and Oiartzun: This is a Navarrese tenancy. In this area there had been Basque people’s (Vascon) settlements since very ancient times. New population groups settle during the Romanization. Archaeological remains of the old city of Oiasso have been excavated in Hondarribia and Irun. During the time of Sancho VI the Wise present day Donostia-San Sebastián, Pasaia, Lezo, Irun, Hernani, and Hondarribia constitute a tenancy, a politically organised space. Donostia-San Sebastián had been the capital city since its foundation as a town in 1180 on a previous borough mainly inhabited by French merchants and artisans. Each of these towns has its own council. The charter of rights (forua/fuero) of Donostia-San Sebastián is an adaptation of the royal charter of Lizarra-Estella, another city of the kingdom which has an important French-Gascon population. The Navarrese kings Sancho VI and Sancho VII strengthen those places, and Sancho VI the Wise builds there a harbour to facilitate trade and to defend against invasions by pirates and Castilian troops. Hondarribia probably had its defences built during Sancho II Abarca’s reign. It was a military target during the Castilian invasion of 1200, indicating that this Navarrese area was already fortified.

Hondarribia is detached from Donostia-San Sebastián when it becomes a town in 1203 and is granted the same charter of rights as Donostia-San Sebastián by the invader king Alphonse VIII of Castile. This royal charter is also granted to Hernani in 1380. However, before the invasion, the first documental record citing Hernani can be found in 1014: it is an endowment by Sancho the Great to the monastery of San Salvador of Leire. Hernani is already well-known due to the existence of graves of the Middle Palaeolithic era (70,000 – 35,000 BC), proof that the place has been populated since ancestral times. It is quite probable that Hernani was the centre of the settlements in the valley before the foundation of Donostia-San Sebastián. 2.1.2 - Ipuzkoa-Getaria Before the year 1200, the Kings of Navarre, Sancho VI and Sancho VII, grant the same royal charter of Donostia-San Sebastián to a second town, Getaria, capital of the territory or tenancy of Ipuzkoa. The foundation and the right of charter of Getaria has been wrongly attributed to Alphonse VIII of Castile. The historian Jose Luis Orella y Unzue affirms that, in September 1209, the Castilian king merely reconfirmed the pre-existing charter conferred by the Navarrese king.

2.1.3 - Other towns As for the urban growth of the territory, it is interesting to note that in 20 years, 1180-1200, Kings Sancho VI and Sancho VII of Navarre granted the charter of rights to only two towns in Gipuzkoa, further away from the Castilian threat, but to many more in Araba. The defensive lines of the Kingdom were spread into the territory of Araba, close to the frontier with Castile. In Gipuzkoa and Biscay the towns and castles defended access to the valleys, while in Araba they closed off the passes through which the Castilian troops might enter. Nevertheless, the initial urbanization process launched by the local authorities was thwarted by the Castilian invasion of 1200. During the 50 years following the conquest (1200-1250), the Castilian kings granted charters to only three towns: Hondarribia (1203), Mutriku (1203) and Zarautz (1237). Just one year later (1256) the same form of charter was conferred on three existing towns, Tolosa, Segura and Ordizia. These were granted the charter of Vitoria-Gasteiz. The aim of these ‘foundation’ awards was the defense of commercial routes which linked the Castilian trade centers with the sea ports on the Bay of Biscay. The town and stronghold line of the Oria-Urumea-Hondarria valley had a clear defensive character in order to repel all Navarrese attempts to reconquer lands recently seized by the Castilians. In the 60 years from 1240 to 1300 the Castilians re-founded only two more towns in present day Gipuzkoa, Mondragon (1260) in Arrasate and Bergara (1268).

2.2 – Araba

During the last third of the 12th century this territory underwent an important urbanization process with the foundation of several towns. Following the treaty of 1179, King Sancho VI supports the town growth in Araba in pursuit of different goals.

- To boost the territory’s economy by diversifying activities and expanding trade relations.

- To strengthen the defence of the area by building walls and battlements around the towns as well as other strategic emplacements, strongholds, castles…

- To reinforce the political power of the Navarrese monarchy. The new towns in Araba are granted the royal charter of Logroño which has a clear defensive nature. The first known charter granted by Sancho VI the Wise is that of Laguardia (1164), an important frontier locality. During the Middle Ages this is a commercial hub for trade in a wide range of products. The populations of other areas, such as in the region of Kanpetzu with its walled town of Antoñana chartered in 1182, were similarly encouraged. All in all the proximity of the Castilian border justified every precaution, as for example the construction of the important castle of Santa Cruz of Kanpetzu. The next cities were Vitoria-Gasteiz (1184), granted a royal charter aimed at the development of commerce between the inland areas and the coast, and for defensive reasons, La Puebla de Arganzon/Argantzun (1191). Labraza (1196) was also added during the reign of Sancho VII the Strong.

3 – Antecedents of the invasion and conquest of Gipuzkoa and Araba Between the assassination in 1076 of Sancho IV Gartzes, King of Iruñea-Pamplona, in Peñalen, and the year 1200, Castile and Aragon made many attempts to invade the Basque territory in what nowadays constitutes the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, La Rioja, and the residual Navarre of the Chartered Community of Navarre. This expansionist zeal would persist right through to the final conquest of 1512. 1158 – After the death of Sancho III of Castile his two year old son, Alphonse VIII, inherited the kingdom. This allowed Sancho VI the Wise to recover the territories of Araba and La Rioja that had been occupied by the Castilian troops. Between October 1162 and March 1163, Sancho VI recovered for Navarre the Basque territories of Araba, along with Estibaliz, Divina, the area of Durango and most of La Rioja. Of particular note were the fortified towns of Logroño, Navarrete, Entrena, Pazuengos, Ausejo, Resa, Autol, Quel and Ocon. However, the important cities of Najera-Naiara and Calahorra-Kalagorri were not reconquered. 1173 - The king of Castile invaded La Rioja and Araba again. 1175- Taking advantage of the death of Count Vela, the Navarrese tenant officer in Biscay and Araba, the king of Castile invaded and took control of Biscay and part of La Rioja.

1179 - King Henry II of England arbitrated in the territorial conflicts between Navarre and Castile and the Arbitration Award of Henry II, which determined their boundaries, was finally signed by the Kings of Navarre and Castile, although it pleased neither of them. The frontiers between Navarre and Castile were demarcated along the river Deba in Gipuzkoa, and in Araba by the rivers Bayas and Zadorra. The western part of Biscay and Araba, with its strongholds of Malvecin and Morillas guarding Bilbao and Araba, came into Castilian hands. The rest of Biscay, the Duranguesado, central and eastern Alava-Araba and all Gipuzkoa, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Estibalitz and Itziar, remained Navarrese. 1195-1197 - Sancho VI the Strong recovered part of the lands which had been occupied by Castile in 1179. Kings Alphonse VII of Castile and Peter II of Aragon claimed before Pope Celestine III that the Navarrese had breached the treaty of 1179 and demanded their excommunication. This was merely an excuse to share out the Kingdom of the Basques. 1198 - Innocent III, the new pope, reconsidered the excommunication decree, but the Castilians and Aragonese had already launched their military machine.

4. 1199 - 1200 Castilian-Aragonese invasion and conquest

1198 - As affirmed by historian Jose Maria Lacarra, during the second half of the 12th century the crowns of Aragon and Castile pursued “their old aspiration to amicably share out the Kingdom of Navarre between themselves”. On 20th May 1198, Alphonse VIII of Castile and Peter II of Aragon, met in Calatayud and agreed to share out Navarre. Not only were Araba and Gipuzkoa invaded but the whole Kingdom of Navarre suffered the combined attack of both armies. The aim was the total extermination of the independent kingdom of the Basques. 1199 - The pretext for the invasion was the death on 8th April of Richard I (the Lionheart) of England, brother-in-law, friend and ally of Sancho VII the Strong. The absence of King Sancho, away in

Africa to renew his alliance with the new sultan Al-Nasir and to request military aid against the King of Castile, and the death of Richard I of England, allied to the Navarrese cause in case of war, favoured the success of the joint Castilian-Aragonese invasion. On 5th of June 1199 King Alphonse VIII of Castile launched the siege of Vitoria-Gasteiz before the inhabitants of the Navarrese city had been able to harvest. Castile attacked Araba and Gipuzkoa with a clear aim: to open a new trade route that linked the market centre of Burgos with France without having to cross alien frontiers. Castile and Aragon were able to mobilize a much bigger contingent of armed men than all the Navarrese lands

ever could. The defence of the Kingdom hinged on the “tenant officers” (lieutenants) in command of the defence of relatively small districts, with castles and strongholds raised in strategic places. They had a military function as well as being in charge of civil administration and collecting part of the tributes and rents.

4.1 – The Castilian invasion:

According to the 12th century English chronicler Roger of Hoveden (or Howden), the Castilian troops besieged and conquered twenty four castles or strongholds in the Navarrese territory. Eleven of these castles are believed to have been in present day Gipuzkoa, three or four of them in the current province of Navarre, and eight in Araba. 4.1.1 - Araba-Alava The Castilian troops broke into Araba, at first without halting to subdue castles and strongholds. These were small and did not pose a real threat. They concentrated upon the conquest of bigger Vitoria-Gasteiz. According to father Moret, a Navarrese historian of the 17th century who quotes Rodrigo Ximenez de Rada (a Navarrese-born Castilian bishop and historian), “the besiege was launched with batteries and assaults, and the full rigor of weapons”. The defence of the walls was constant and unfortunately “much blood was shed”. The stamina of the besieged population and their loyalty to the Navarrese king enabled an effective resistance.

owever, after a siege of seven months, H

Vitoria-Gasteiz finally surrendered on receiving authorization and license from King Sancho VII the Strong. The other castles or strongholds seized by Castile were: - Arluzea-Arlucea (in the present

County of Trebiño) in the middle of the Basque territory of Alava-Araba but still under the administration of Castile-Leon even nowadays.

- Vitoria the Old (Vitoriano). - San Vicente de Atana. - Zaitegi-Zaitegui and Azprozia. The territory of Kanpetzu was also occupied. This area of Araba-Alava was an important parade ground during the reigns of Sancho VI and Sancho VII. Its strategic importance is attested by two of the castles and settlements that integrate the area: the town and castle of Antoñana and the settlement and castle of Santa Cruz of Kanpetzu. 4.1.2 - Trebiño Very few castles withstood the onslaught. The ones that managed to resist were much better fortified, or could call on better resources. Besides, the Castilian invaders had had to divide

on several and simultaneous fronts. In Trebiño and Portela de Cortes the Navarrese resistance withstood the invasion troops and the attack was repelled. Trebiño resisted for another 4 years. When it was eventually occupied, in exchange for other Navarrese castles, it passed directly into the hands of the Castilian crown and was later awarded to a feudal count. This is the reason it is still detached from the rest of Araba and the Basque Country that had been conquered in the initial attack of 1200. 4.1.3 – Gipuzkoa - Donostia-San Sebastian, Hondarribia

and Belagoa (in the valley of Oiartzun according to the chronicles) were occupied between the Urumea and the Bidasoa rivers.

- The castles of Ataun, Asua (Auza Gaztelu) and Mendikute in the upper basin of the Oria river, were conquered.

- In the Upper Deba valley, the castles of Aitzorrotz (Arlaban), Arrasate and Elosua (Bergara) were also conquered.

4.1.4 - Upper Navarre (the present Spanish Autonomous Chartered Community of Navarre) The territories of present day Upper Navarre (residual Navarre) also suffered the Castilian invasion. The invaders only seized three or four of the targeted strongholds and these were later recovered: - Inzura (Ameskoa), swapped for Trebiño after the armistice - Irutita (tenancy of Iruñea-Pamplona,near Gipuzkoa) - Marañon (tenancy of Lizarra-Estella, near La Rioja) - according to some authors also Miranda de Arga. However, Moret affirmed it was Miranda de

Ebro (in the present province of Burgos). However, after the armistice the castles of Trebiño and Portela, still unconquered, were swapped in the final deal and offered to Castile in exchange for Inzura and Miranda.

4.2 – The Aragonese invasion The Navarrese fought the Aragonese troops who occupied Aibar, Burgi and other villages after bursting into the tenancy of Zangotza-Sangüesa and the valley of Erronkari-Roncal.

According to the chronicle of Roger of Hoveden, or Howden, the King of Aragon seized sixteen castles and strongholds which were recovered by the King of Navarre soon afterwards.

5 – Conquest or voluntary submission? Under these circumstances therefore, can we speak of a Pact with the Castilian Crown, or of a “voluntary submission or territorial cession”? This is the Spanish version, elaborated and repeated throughout the centuries in order to justify their total refusal to meet the reiterated Basque demand for the reintegration of their independent territory and statehood. However, during the attack of 1200 Joan of Bidaurre was tenant officer of Donostia-San Sebastian (and the rest of its tenancy, Hernani, Belagoa, Hondarribia, Pasaia, Lezo and Irun) and later held the same administrative and military responsibility in the castles of Irurita, Mendigorria and Gares. Between 1201 and 1210 he was also commissioned to defend the Arakil valley. It is difficult to believe that he would have been entrusted with such a military reponsibility if he had been suspected of treason or compromising with the Castilians. The theory of “voluntary submission or cession” is hardly credible if we read the last will made by King Alphonse VIII of Castile on 8th December 1204, when he was seriously ill. According to the will he promised to return to Navarre the territories occupied in 1200 if he did not die.

“I promise, if God restores my health, to restore to the King of Navarre everything I possess from the bridge of Araniello to Hondarribia-Fuenterrabia, and the castles of Burandon, San Vicente de Toro, Marañon, Alcazar, Santa Cruz of Kanpetzu, the borough of Antoñana and the castle of Atauri and of Portelas of Cortes, because I do know that all those places mentioned must be of the Kingdom of Navarre and belong to it”. Some years later, in 1256, when King Theobald II of Navarre and Alphonse X the Wise of Castile met, the latter agreed to return the towns of Donostia-San Sebastian and Hondarribia to the Kingdom of Navarre. To this day the Castilian kings have never honoured their word.