Kingdom of Navarre , former independent kingdom Spain (until the last half of the 12th century as a kingdom Pamplona known after its capital and capital) by the time it ceased to exist as such (1512), the territory of today's province Navarre (about 10,390 square kilometers) along with the Tierra de Allién Puertos to the north approaching the pass of Roncesvalles .
Geography
This was a small region between Labord and Béarn, whose capital was Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. In Medieval spoke in Most of Navarre basque . The other language was Navarro-Aragonese dialect , which together with French (after 1234) was the language of administration. The whole empire was mountainous with Tudela Exception pronounced to the southeast, where the arid plain called Las Bardenas provided an important grazing area.
Although Navarra relatively early no more border to the Mauren had , a sizeable Moorish population lived there, particularly in Tudela. The Navarrese Moors were allowed to serve in the army and were an important source of skilled craftsmen. Into the Capital cities there was large jewish Aljamas (communities) protected by the Navarran kings when the tracking elsewhere serious . Another important population were the Francos - mostly French and Gascon immigrants - who inhabited separate neighborhoods in Pamplona and other cities. Their relations with the native Navarrese population were often strained.
Despite its small size in the later Medieval Navarre played a significant role in international politics. Not only was the kingdom closely involved in French affairs, the kingdom also controlled the main passport to Spain in the western Pyrenees and was a buffer state between the Gascony , Castile and Aragon . The main pilgrimage routes from north to Santiago de Compostela so traverse you. From the earliest days to 1234, after which a series of French Dynasties Navarre ruled, the history of the kingdom fell into a purely Spanish context and was closely related to that of Aragon. Then France's strong political and institutional influences can be identified.
History
Pamplona was Moorish territory after 711, but its Basque rulers reached a degree of Autonomy . About 798 one of them, Iñigo Arista established himself as an independent ruler. For a time, Iñigo accepted Frankish suzerainty, and as Garcia Iñiguez took power in the late ninth century, this was Dynasty strong enough to assume royal titles and have diplomatic and family ties Asturias . Under Sancho Garcés, the rulers of Pamplona, extended their dominion south of the Ebro and conquered Nájera and much of La Rioja . Under him and his immediate successors, Navarre reached the zenith of its power. By a combination of diplomatic Skill and military strength, the kingdom survived the peak of the influence des Caliphate in Spain in the 10th century relatively intact . During the reign of Sancho III Garcés ("the great one") from about 1000 to 1035, the Navarrese could have a short Hegemony throughout Christian Spain. Sancho's empire was short-lived, however, and 1076 occupied Sancho Ramírez by Aragon Pamplona.
The Aragonese ruled Navarre until 1134. They regained their independence when the Navarrese proclaimed García V ("the restorer") as king. The history of the Navarrese received a completely new orientation in 1234, when Sancho VII . From his nephew Theobald I. , count from Champagne , and a number of French rulers with important holdings in France ruled the kingdom. They at times included the kings of France themselves. Historically the most famous of these French rulers was Charles II ("The Evil"), Count of Évreux, under the Navarre due to the King's involvement in French politics and the spread of the Hundred Years War to the kingdoms of Iberian Peninsula gained international importance . Charles himself had ambitions to reclaim for his kingdom the lands in Spain that had belonged to Sancho the Great. His cognome "evil" was inspired by the bold way he the foreign policy of Navarrese constantly changing to meet rapidly changing foreign pressures. Charles, however, managed to retain the loyalty of his subjects and preserved Navarre's independence. However, he lost all his French possessions except Allién Puertos and was forced to host Castilian garrisons in his southern castles in 1379.
The Reign Charles III War relatively quiet, but John II of Aragon became ruler of Navarre by marriage (1425–79), and then the kingdom was torn apart by years of civil war. John II's forces fought with those of his son and heir Charles, Prince of Viana , and other factions that favored union with France or with Castile. In 1484 the throne passed to John II of Albret, but independence had become impossible due to Navarre's position between two large and mutually hostile states, France and Spain. 1512 Ferdinand the Catholic occupied the Spanish part of Navarre and was officially annexed to the Castilian crown in 1515. The French part of Navarre, on the northern slope of the western Pyrenees, remained a separate kingdom until 1589, when it was incorporated into France. Spanish Navarre retained its status, institutions and rights as an independent kingdom until the 19th century. As Province (Province) of Spain, it continues to retain its own civil administration and law as Comunidad Autónoma (Autonomous Community).
Management
In the later Middle Ages Navarre was divided administratively into five merindades :La Ribera (Tudela), Sanguesa, Pamplona (La Montana), Estella, and Allién Puertos. In Allién Puertos, the functions of royal merino (administrative official) were carried out by the castelán of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. Under the merinos were the sozmerinos and, in the towns, the bailes . The chief military officer of the kingdom was the alférez . The treasury (cámara de comptos ) was partly modeled on the French system under a recibidor general (receiver general) or tesorero (treasurer), with recibidores in each merindad .
The somewhat ambiguous international status of Navarre was reflected in its coinage:apart from local currency, French, Gascon, and Aragonese money circulated freely. The law of the land was based on the Fuero General de Navarra (a body of customary law built up before 1155) but much modified in different localities by local fueros . Efforts by some of Navarre's French rulers to undermine customary law were strongly and effectively resisted, though feudal grants sometimes appeared. In the 14th century one-sixth of the whole population claimed hidalguía (noble descent) and the tax exemption which went with it. The Corte General of Navarre controlled, in theory, not only extraordinary subsidies (pedidos ) but also ordinary taxation. However, since it was the king's prerogative to decide who should be summoned and when, the Navarrese parliament had little real power and its legislative importance was slight.
Ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Navarre was complicated. The bishops of Dax and Bayonne (in Gascony), Tarazona (Aragon), and Calahorra (Castile) had, or claimed, authority over outlying regions. Shortage of manpower was a constant concern from a military point of view, and the earliest fueros had not contemplated the existence of a formal army at all. Later the defense of the kingdom rested on a large number of small castles. To increase reserves in war, later kings (notably Charles II) enlisted large numbers of foreign knights and their retinues as mesnaderos . These undertook to serve at their conscription in Navarre in return for an annual pension. The Navarrese Culture in the late Middle Ages was heavily influenced by the pilgrimage route, and French influences were of course predominant.