County of Durango

County of Durango
County of Durango; Durangoko Merinaldea; Merindad de Durango
	c. 1050–1212
	Elizates and town that composed the County of Durango
Status	Part of the Kingdom of Pamplona, then incorporated into the Lordship of Biscay
Capital	Durango
Government	County
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Established	c. 1050
• Annexation to the Lordship of Biscay	1212
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Kingdom of Pamplona
Lordship of Biscay

Last updated March 21, 2019

The County of Durango (Basque : Durangoko Merinaldea), also known as Land of Durango and Merindad of Durango, was the ancient political administration of the territory that is now known as Durangaldea, in the Basque region of Biscay. This political administration included all the towns and elizates that existed within its territory. The elizates were all governed by the Foral law, while the towns had their own law. The county of Durango was a vassal state of the Kingdom of Pamplona (later, Navarre), and in the 13th Century it became a constituent part of the Lordship of Biscay.^[1] It has been part of the territory of Biscay since then. Its capital city was the town of Durango.

Basque language language of the Basque people

Basque (; euskara[eus̺ˈkaɾa]) is a language spoken in the Basque Country, a region that straddles the westernmost Pyrenees in adjacent parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. Linguistically, Basque is unrelated to the other languages of Europe and is a language isolate to any other known living language. The Basques are indigenous to, and primarily inhabit, the Basque Country. The Basque language is spoken by 28.4% (751,500) of Basques in all territories. Of these, 93.2% (700,300) are in the Spanish area of the Basque Country and the remaining 6.8% (51,200) are in the French portion.

Durangaldea is a comarca of Biscay located in the Basque Country, Spain. It is one of the seven comarcas or regions that compose the province of Biscay. The capital city of Durangaldea is Durango.

The Basque Country is the name given to the home of the Basque people. The Basque country is located in the western Pyrenees, straddling the border between France and Spain on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. Euskal Herria is the oldest documented Basque name for the area they inhabit, dating from the 16th century.

History

The first known reference of the existence of a political organization in the territory of Durango was in the year 1050, when Eneco Lupiz is appointed regent of "the territories of Biscay and Durango". It appears again in the record of a committee that took place in the church of San Agustin-Etxebarria in the year 1053, this time with the name Duranko.^[2] The County of Durango is also mentioned along the County of Álava in relation to its close relationship with the Kingdom of Navarre. During the 11th century the lands of Durango, along with the Lordship of Biscay, moved back and forward between the kingdoms of Castile and Navarre, that kept losing and reconquering the land. In the year 1200, Alfonso VIII of Castile invades the county of Alava and lays siege to the city of Vitoria.^[3] Alava and Durango are then ultimately conquered by Castile. In the year 1212, Castilian king Alfonso VIII merges the County of Durango into the Lordship of Biscay, which is awarded to Diego López II de Haro for his war efforts in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. However, Durango maintained its economical and political autonomy, despite being now part of the Lordship.

The Lordship of Biscay was a region under feudal rule in the region of Biscay in the Iberian Peninsula between c.1040 and 1876, ruled by a political figure known as the Lord of Biscay. One of the Basque señoríos, it was a territory with its own political organization, with its own naval ensign, consulate in Bruges and customs offices in Balmaseda and Urduña, from the 11th Century until 1876, when the Juntas Generales were abolished. Since 1379, when John I of Castile became the Lord of Biscay, the lordship got integrated into the Crown of Castile, and eventually the Kingdom of Spain.

The County of Álava was one of the Basque señoríos, a feudal territory during the 9th and 13th centuries that corresponds to present-day Álava, in the Basque Country. Until its final incorporation into the Kingdom of Castile in the year 1200, the County was governed by counts vassals of the Kingdoms of Asturias, Leon and Navarre, being under the sphere of influence of one or the other at different times. The figure governing Alava received the title of Count of Álava.

The Kingdom of Navarre, originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a Basque-based kingdom that occupied lands on either side of the western Pyrenees, alongside the Atlantic Ocean between present-day Spain and France.

Territory

The County of Durango was formed by twelve elizates and four towns or cities that occupy the same territory that today does Durangaldea, a region of the province of Biscay and successor of this county. The elizates were Abadiño, Berriz, Mallabia, Mañaria, Iurreta, Garai, Zaldibar, Arrazola, Axpe, Apatamonasterio, Izurtza and San Agustin-Etxebarria, while the four towns were Durango (also the capital), Elorrio, Ermua and Otxandio.

An elizate, is an early form of local government in the Basque Country which was particularly common in Biscay but also existed in the other provinces. The terms elizate and elexate literally translate as "church door". The Spanish term anteiglesia translates as "before [the] church" or "parvise".

Biscay is a province of Spain located just south of the Bay of Biscay. The name also refers to a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao. It is one of the most prosperous and important provinces of Spain as a result of the massive industrialization in the last years of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. Since the deep deindustrialization of the 1970s, the economy has come to rely more on the services sector.

Abadiño is a town located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, in the north of Spain, about 35 km from the provincial capital of Bilbao. The area of the municipality is about 36 km² (13.9 sq mi) and according to the 2014 census, the population is 7504. The original name of the town was Abadiano Celayeta.

In 1630 Elorrio annexed the elizate of San Augstin-Etxebarria, and in present time the elizates of Axpe, Arrazola and Apatamonasterio are joined together forming the municipality of Atxondo.

Atxondo is a municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country, Spain. Atxondo is part of the comarca of Durangaldea and has a population of 1.447 inhabitants as of 2007 according to the Spanish National Statistics Institute.

Political institutions

Audience House

The ordinary meetings between the representatives of the elizates and towns took place in the called the Audience House. The first documented Audience House was located in the neighborhood of Kurutzesaga in Durango, which was known as "the Old Audience" and it is known that there were issues about its ownership between the County and the administration of the town of Durango.

Durango is a town and municipality of the historical territory and province of Biscay, located in the Basque Country, Spain. It is the main town of Durangaldea, one of the comarcas of Biscay. Because of its economical activities and population, Durango is considered one of the largest towns in Biscay after the ones that compose the conurbation of Greater Bilbao.

In 1578, long after the incorporation of the county into the Lordship of Biscay, the House of Astola is acquired and the meetings start taking place there. This house dates the year 1570 and takes place of a previous one, destroyed in a fire. In the House of Astola lived some of the authorities of the County and was also the location of the county's prison.

The Foral Field

The extraordinary meetings between the representatives of the County were held in a field between the hermitages of San Salvador and San Clemente in the neighborhood of Gerediaga, Abadiño, under an oak and seated on stones positioned on a semicircle. The building still stands on its original location and has been recently reformed by the Government of Biscay. The oak was lost around the 18th century.

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References

↑ Incorporation to the Lordship at the Auñamendi Entziklopedia (in Spanish)
↑ History of Durangaldea: early history entry at the Auñamendi Entziklopedia (in Spanish)
↑ History of Durangaldea: Year 1200 entry at the Auñamendi Entziklopedia (in Spanish)