Home > Kingdom of Navarre

The name "Navarre" derives from nava a common name for a flat valley surrounded by hills (compares Las Navas de Tolosa) and Basque (?)erri, a region or country. The name "Navarra" began to appear towards the end of the Visigoth epoch in Spain in the 7th century.

The pass of Roncevalles in Navarrese trerritory was the scene of a major defeat of charlemagne that features in the Chanson de Roland. The first historic king of Navarre was Sancho I Garces , who ruled from Pamplona in the early years of the 10th century. Under him and his immediate seccessors Navarre reached the height of its power and its extension. Sancho III el Mayor married the heiress of Castile. On his death the kingdoms were divided once more, but a Navarrese line ruled as kings of Castile and Leon, and of Aragon). At its greatest extent the Kingdom of Navarre included all the modern Spanish province; the northern slope of the western Pyrenees called by the Spaniards the Ultra puertos ("country beyond the mountain passes") or French Navarre; the Basque provinces of Spain and France; the Bureba, the valley between the Basque mountains and the Montes de Oca to the north of Burgos; the Rioja and Tarazona in the upper valley of the Ebro.

The rich dowry of Berengaria the daughter of Sancho VI the Wise , and Blanche of Castile, made her a desirable catch for Richard I of England. His aged mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine crossed the passes to escort Berengaria to Sicily, eventually to wed Richard in Cyprus, May 12, 1191. She is the only Queen of England who never set foot in England.

In the 12th century the kings of Castile gradually annexed the Rioja and Alava. As long as Navarre was united to Aragon (I076–1234) it was free from aggression on the east, but never recovered the territory taken by Castile. About the year 1200 Alfonso VIII of Castile annexed the other two Basque provinces, Biscay ( VizcayaVizcaya ( Basque Bizkaia is a province of northern Spain, in the northwestern part of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. It is bordered by the provinces of Cantabria, Burgos, Guipuzcoa, and Alava, and by the Bay of Biscay. Of the 1,133,444 pe) and Guip%FAzcoa . Tarazona remained in possession of Aragon. After 1234 Navarre, though the crown was claimed by the kings of Aragon, passed by marriage to a succession of French rulers.

In 1511 or 1516 Spanish Navarra, the part of Navarre south of the Pyrenees (the majority of the Kingdom), was finally annexed by Ferdinand the CatholicFerdinand II of Aragon nicknamed the Catholic ( March 10, 1452 June 23, 1516) was king of Aragon, Castile, Sicily, Naples and Navarre and Count of Barcelona He became Ferdinand V of Castile when he married Isabella I of Castile. They united their two king; it was governed as a viceroyalty and not formally annexed to the kingdom of Spain until 1833.

The tiny portion of Navarre north of the Pyrenees known as Basse-NavarreBasse-Navarre Nafarroa Beherea in Basque) is a former French province, part of the present day Pyrenees Atlantiques departement. Along with Navarre of Spain, it was once ruled by the Kings of Navarre. Basse-Navarre is part of the traditional Basque Countr, along with the neighboring Principality of BéarnBearn is a former province of France. Viscounts of Bearn Centulf I of Bearn ?-866 Lupus I of Bearn 866-905 (son) Centulf II of Bearn 905-940 (son) Gaston I of Bearn 940-984 (son) Centulf III of Bearn 984-1004 (son) Gaston II of Bearn 1004-1022 (son) Centu survived as an independent little kingdom which passed by inheritance to King Philip IV of FrancePhilippe IV, the Fair ( French Philippe le Bel ( 1268 November 29, 1314) was King of France from 1285 to 1314. A member of the Capetian Dynasty, he was born at the Royal Palace of Fontainebleau, Seine-et-Marne the son of King Philippe III and Isabella of in 1304, and in the 15th century to the counts of FoixFoix is a small town (population around 11,000), the capital of the Ariege departement in France. It lies south of Toulouse, close to the border with Spain and Andorra. The main historical feature is the Chateau of the Counts of Foix, which overlooks the and then to the house of Albret. The last independent king of Navarre, Henry III (reigned 1572Events January 16 The Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England. April 1 The Sea Beggars, Netherlandish Calvinist rebels, capture the port city of Brielle. This leads to a wave of uprisings in– 1610Events January 7 Galileo Galilei discovers the Galilean moons of Jupiter. March 12 Swedish troops under Jacob de la Gardie take Moscow May 13- 14 Francois Ravaillac assassinates Henry IV of France July 5 John Guy sets sail from Bristol with 39 other colon), succeeded to the throne of France as Henry IV in 1589, founding the Bourbon dynasty. In 1620, French Navarre and Béarn were incorporated into France proper by Henry's son, Louis XIII of France. The title of King of Navarre continued to be used by the Kings of France until 1791, and was revived again during the Restoration, 1814– 1830.

As the Kingdom of Navarre was originally organized, it was divided into merindades, districts governed by a merino ("mayorino") the representative of the king. They were the Ultrapuertos (French Navarre), Pamplona, Estella, Judela and Sanguesa. In 1407 the merindad of Olite was added. The Cortes of Navarre began with the king's council of churchmen and nobles, but in the course of the 14th century the burgesses were added. Their presence was due to the fact that the king had need of their co-operation to raise money by grants and aids, a development that was being paralleled in England. The Cortes henceforth consisted of the churchmen, the nobles and the representatives of twenty-seven (later thirty-eight) "good towns"— towns which were free of a feudal lord, and, therefore, held directly of the king. The independence of the burgesses was better secured in Navarre than in other parliaments of Spain by the constitutional rule which required the consent of a majority of each order to every act of the Cortes. Thus the burgesses could not be outvoted by the nobles and the Church, as they could be elsewhere. Even in the 18th century the Navarrese successfully resisted Bourbon attempts to establish custom houses on the French frontier, dividing French from Spanish Navarre. Yet the Navarrese were loyal to their Spanish sovereigns, and no part of the country offered a more determined or more skilful resistance to Napoleon.

Navarre was staunchly Catholic and much under clerical influence. This, and the resentment felt at the loss of their autonomy when they were incorporated into Spain in 1833, account for the strong support given by many Navarrese to the absolutist Carlist cause.

Today, Navarre is an autonomous community of Spain and Basse-Navarre is part of France's Pyrénées Atlantiques département.