Pedro, Marshal of Navarre

Last updated

Pedro de Navarra (Basque : Petri Nafarroakoa; before 1471 - 24 November 1522) was a nobleman in the Kingdom of Navarre and its highest military authority as Marshal of Navarre during the kingdom's last years of independence, as well as the following tumultuous period. He was active in diplomacy and war until 1516, when he was captured by Spanish troops. He was sent to prison in Castile and was found dead in his cell, probably assassinated, in 1522.

Contents

Lineage

Roncevaux, critical landmark in the 1516 reconquest attempt WLM14ES - 18082009 143502 E 9674 - .jpg
Roncevaux, critical landmark in the 1516 reconquest attempt

Pedro's ancestry goes back to Leonel, illegitimate son of King Charles II of Navarre (1332-1387). [1] Later in time, Felipe de Navarra was appointed marshal in 1428, dying in 1450. Pedro, his son with Juana de Peralta, succeeded him in the position, but the marshal fell dead at Pamplona in obscure circumstances at the hands of the Beaumont party (1471). [2] Pedro the father had two sons with Ines de LacarraFelipe and Pedro. The former and eldest was murdered in 1481, making the latter automatically eligible for the marshal position after his father's death.

Before his marriage to Mayor, he had a son, Francisco de Navarra y Hualde, with a lady surnamed Hualde, from Tafalla. In 1498, he married Mayor de la Cueva, daughter of Beltran de la Cueva, 1st Duke of Alburquerque, with whom he had a son, Pedro de Navarra (junior), who participated in the Siege of Hondarribia (1523-1524).

Siblings

Pedro de Navarra was the brother of María de Navarra, lady of Sartaguda, she married to Carlos Ramírez de Arellano, lord of Alcañadre. Pedro's sister Catalina de Navarra married in 1454 to Juan de Ezpeleta, viscount of Valderro (†1471). His sister Juana de Navarra married to Luis Enríquez de Lacarra, lord of Ablitas. Juana de Navarra married a second time, to Don Ladron de Mauléon. [3]

Pedro's niece was the daughter of Don Ladrón de Mauleón and Juana de Navarra y Enríquez de Lacarra, sister of Marshal Pedro de Navarra. Pedro's niece Ana de Mauleon y Navarra married the noble lord Don Juan Vélaz de Medrano y Echauz, lord of Igúzquiza, Learza and Agos, major knight of King John III of Navarre, alcaide of the Castle of Del Castillo, Monjardin and Santacara during the Spanish invasion of Navarre. [4]

Spanish invasion of Navarre

Pedro, loyal to the House of Foix-Albret, spearheaded frequent diplomatic tasks, standing out in them rather than in military operations. He was overshadowed by Cesare Borgia as skillful military commander [5] when he turned up in Navarre on his flight from prison in Castile. Queen Catherine and King John III assigned the defense of the kingdom to the tenacious Roman commander. Eventually, on Cesare Borgia's death outside Viana in 1507, Pedro took over as Marshal of Navarre.

He went on to become a cornerstone and prestigious figure in Navarre's defense on King Ferdinand II of Aragón's invasion of the kingdom (1512). However, he was captured at Isaba (Roncal) during the failed 1516 expedition against the occupation forces of the Spanish regent Cardinal Cisneros. [6] On 29 May 1518, while prisoner at the Castle of Atienza (Castile), he was offered the apologies of the emperor Charles V should he pledge loyalty to him, in face of which he replied as follows:

With all humility once again I entreat his Majesty to prove with me the magnificence that could be expected from such immense Majesty, by giving my full freedom back, as well as permission to go and provide service to whom I am obliged. The loyalty, the cleanness His Highness wishes and requires from his servers, I will be able to entrust to those of my kind, so that I become captive and slave at their service.

Death

While in prison at Simancas (Castile), the marshal was deprived by the governor of his long-time (23 years) trusted servant, Felipe de Vergara, who was transferred to Valladolid. His replacement, Pedro de Frías, bore witness to the marshal's fears of having his throat cut after the decision to separate Felipe de Vergara from him. [7]

After the Imperial failure to capture Hondarribia in 1522 from the French-Navarrese, he died of severe wounds inflicted on his throat, probably assassinated. His death remained shrouded in obscurity, no official announcement was made by the Imperial authorities until 9 February 1523, when the viceroy, acting at the behest of Emperor Charles V, decreed the confiscation of all the marshal's holdings. [8] Likewise, his will and correspondence vanished, and no return of remains or personal objects are attested. [9]

See also

Footnotes

  1. Esarte, P. 2012, p. 13
  2. Esarte, P. 2012, p. 13
  3. "Family tree of Juana de Navarra (1)". Geneanet. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
  4. "Family tree of Ana de Mauléon". Geneanet. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
  5. Esarte, P. 2012, p. 16
  6. Esarte, P. 2012, pp. 60-62
  7. Esarte, P. 2012, p. 94
  8. Esarte, P. 2012, p. 100
  9. Esarte, P. 2012, p. 93

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blanche II of Navarre</span> Titular queen of Navarre from 1461 to 1464

Blanche II was the titular Queen of Navarre between 1461 and 1464. She was the daughter of John II of Aragon and Blanche I of Navarre. She was also Princess of Asturias by marriage to Henry of Castile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor de Guzmán</span> Castilian noblewoman and long-term mistress to Alfonso XI of Castile

Leonor (Eleanor) de Guzmán y Ponce de León (1310–1351) was a Castilian noblewoman. After about 1330, she became the long-term mistress and favourite of Alfonso XI, with whom she had the illegitimate son Henry "the Fratricidal", future first monarch of the House of Trastámara. She held the lordship of Medina-Sidonia until she fell from grace in the wake of Alfonso's death in 1350. She was then executed by her enemies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jiménez dynasty</span> Medieval royal dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula

The Jiménez dynasty, alternatively called the Jimena, the Sancha, the Banu Sancho, the Abarca or the Banu Abarca, was a medieval ruling family which, beginning in the 9th century, eventually grew to control the royal houses of several kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula during the 11th and 12th centuries, namely the Kingdoms of Navarre, Aragon, Castile, León and Galicia as well as of other territories in the South of France. The family played a major role in the Reconquista, expanding the territory under the direct control of the Christian states as well as subjecting neighboring Muslim taifas to vassalage. Each of the Jiménez royal lines ultimately went extinct in the male line in the 12th or 13th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre</span> Conflicts over control of Navarre (1512–1529)

The Spanish conquest of the Iberian part of Navarre was initiated by Ferdinand II of Aragon and completed by his grandson and successor Charles V in a series of military campaigns lasting from 1512 to 1524. Ferdinand was both the king of Aragon and regent of Castile in 1512. When Pope Julius II declared a Holy League against France in late 1511, Navarre attempted to remain neutral. Ferdinand used this as an excuse to attack Navarre, conquering it while its potential protector, France, was beset by England, Venice, and Ferdinand's own Italian armies.

Ladrón Íñiguez, also known as Ladrón Navarro, was a leading nobleman of the Kingdom of Navarre during the reign of García Ramírez (1134–50), whose accession he was instrumental in bringing about. He is regularly titled count (comes), the highest rank in the kingdom, after 1135. He is recorded in contemporary documents with the title princeps Navarrorum. Between 1124 and his death he was the effective ruler of the Basque country (Euskadi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lordship of Biscay</span> Lordship in the Iberian Peninsula between c.1040 and 1876

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 was integrated into the Crown of Castile, and eventually the Kingdom of Spain.

Antonio Manrique de Lara, 2nd Duke of Nájera was a Spanish noble and military leader, and Viceroy of Navarre between 1516 and 1521.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfonso Enríquez</span>

Alfonso Enríquez, also known as Alonso Enríquez was Lord of Medina de Rioseco and Admiral of Castile.

Fructuoso Orduna y Lafuente (1893–1973) was a Spanish artist. He was born in Roncal, Navarre, on January 23, 1893 and died in Madrid on August 28, 1973. He was renowned as a sculptor of "urban sculpture" and won several awards for his outstanding work.

Louis of Beaumont was a noble in the Kingdom of Navarre. He was the 2nd Count of Lerín in southern Navarre, Marquis of Huesca, and Constable (condestable) of Navarre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vela Ladrón</span> Spanish nobleman of the 12th century.

Vela Ladrón or Latrónez was a Spanish nobleman who ruled the Basque counties of Álava, Biscay (Vizcaya) and Guipúzcoa. He succeeded his father as count of Álava in 1155 or 1156. He acquired Biscay around 1160 and Guipúzcoa around 1162. He was effectively an independent prince able to divide his allegiance between the kings of Castile and Navarre.

Francisco de Navarra y Hualde was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Valencia (1556–1563), Bishop of Badajoz (1545–1556), and Bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo (1542–1545) in emperor Charles V's Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Fuenterrabía (1523–1524)</span> Battle of the Italian Wars, 1523–24

The siege of Fuenterrabía took place in 1523-24 by a Spanish army, after a Franco-Navarrese army had taken it in 1521 in a new incursion to reconquer the Kingdom of Navarre, which had been occupied since 1512 by troops from the unified Crown of Castile and Crown of Aragon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marquisate of Vessolla</span>

The Marquessate of Vessolla is a Spanish noble title created by Royal Decree on September 6, 1702, by King Philip V of Spain, in favor of Don José de Elío y Ayanz de Navarra de Esparza Artieda y Vélaz de Medrano. He was a native of Elío, Navarra, and served as the equerry and royal steward to Queen Mariana de Austria. He held the rank of maestre de campo in the Tercios de Navarra, a captain of infantry in the valley of Urraúl, a nobleman of Navarra, mayor of Pamplona, and a representative of the military estate in the Kingdom in 1685.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Vélaz de Medrano IV</span> 15th century noble, Royal Chamberlain and Knight of King Charles III of Navarre

Juan Vélaz de Medrano IV was the royal chamberlain for King Charles III of Navarre in 1414 and King John II of Aragon and Navarre in 1432. Juan was a noble and knight from the Kingdom of Navarre. He was the baron and lord of Igúzquiza, Arguiñano, Arzoz, Artazu, Zabal, Orendáin, the 1st lord of Learza and the alcaide of Monjardín Castle and Viana. In 1437, Juan founded the Mayorazgo of Vélaz de Medrano, the oldest hereditary mayorazgo in Viana, Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palace of Vélaz de Medrano</span> Former seat of the Medrano family in Igúzquiza

The Palace of Vélaz de Medrano is the former seat and residence of the noble Medrano family in Igúzquiza, Navarre. The palace was directly linked to the lordship of Igúzquiza, perpetually held by the Medrano family. The castle-palace of Vélaz de Medrano is currently privately owned and listed in the Spanish Historical Heritage, obtaining the protection of the generic declaration of the Spanish Historical Heritage decree on April 22, 1949, and protected by Law 16/1985 of June 25, 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaime Vélaz de Medrano y Echauz</span> 15th century nobleman and military leader

Jaime Vélaz de Medrano y Echauz was a high ranking noble from the House of Medrano, a Knight of Navarre, royal guard of the king, captain of the kings standing army, alcaide and mayor of Amaiur-Maya and one of the leading defenders of the Independent Navarrese crown against the Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre. Jaime Vélaz de Medrano is believed to have served as the alcaide of Maya Castle from 2 October 1521, to 19 July 1522.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Vélaz de Medrano y Mauleon</span>

Juan Vélaz de Medrano y Mauleon y Navarra was a 16th-century baron, lord, nobleman and a knight from the ancient House of Medrano. He was the owner of the Palace of Vélaz de Medrano and the hereditary baron and lord of Igúzquiza, Agos, Aguinano, Orendain, Zabala, Arroniz, and the 5th lord of Learza during the reign of Henry II of Navarre and Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire. Juan is a descendant of Kings Henry I of Navarre from the House of Blois; Charles II of Navarre from the House of Évreux; and Philip III of Navarre and Joan II, Queen of Navarre, from the House of Capet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Vélaz de Medrano y Echauz</span> 16th-century Navarrese nobleman, baron and military leader during the Spanish conquest of Navarre

Juan Vélaz de Medrano y Echauz was a high ranking nobleman and military leader in the final years of an independent Kingdom of Navarre. Head of the ancient House of Medrano in Navarre and the Vélaz de Medrano mayorazgo, he was the Lord of Igúzquiza, Aguinano, Orendain, Zabala, Arróniz, and the 4th Lord of Learza. He was appointed merino of the merindad of Estella, governor of the castles of Del Castillo, Santacara, Monjardin, and major knight of King John III of Navarre and Henry II of Navarre. After the conquest of Navarre, Juan became a vassal of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

References