Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre

Spanish conquest of the Iberian part of Navarre was commenced by Ferdinand II of Aragon and completed by Charles I of Spain in a series of military campaigns extending from 1512 to 1524, while the war lasted until 1528 in the Navarre to the north of the Pyrenees. Ferdinand the Catholic was in 1512 both king of Aragon and regent of Castile. When Pope Julius II declared a Holy League against France in late 1511, Navarre tried 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 Italian armies.

Several attempts were made to reconquer Iberian Navarre starting right after the Castilian invasion (1512), notably a halfhearted reconquest attempt in 1516 and a fully-fledged French-Navarrese reconquest campaign in 1521. All were defeated by the Spanish, and clashes came to halt to the north of the Pyrenees in 1528, when the Spanish troops withdrew from Lower Navarre. The Treaty of Cambrai between Spain and France in 1529 sealed the division of Navarre along the Pyrenees, while the independent Kingdom of Navarre survived in Lower Navarre ruled by the lineage of the Albrets united to their principality of Béarn, showing close links with France. The kingdom was absorbed into France in 1620 (nominally in 1790).

Background
Navarre was mired in instability over the throne since the mid 15th century. At the same time Navarre split in two main parties and warring factions: the Beaumonts and the Agramonts, with ramifications both within and out of Navarre and subject to external meddling. When Catherine I of Navarre married John III of Albret, many in Navarre contested this arrangement. South of the Pyrenees, in 1492 King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile definitely subdued Granada after a 10-year war, with Castile annexing the emirate and putting an end to the Reconquista. He started to set his eyes now on the neighbouring kingdom of Navarre.

After Isabella I of Castile's death in 1504, Ferdinand II of Aragon unexpectedly married the French princess Germaine of Foix, daughter of claimant to the throne of Navarre John of Foix, Viscount of Narbonne, so any children from Ferdinand's marriage could entitle him to a claim over the crown of Navarre. Ferdinand also wanted to spite his son-in-law and successor Philip, new ephemeral king of Castile. As of 1507, with Ferdinand again administering the politics of Castile as a regent, the defiant count of Lerín Louis Beaumont, Ferdinand's key ally in Navarre, revolted along with other Beaumont party lords in the context of the Basque inter-clan feuds (see Foix and Albret dynasties, but the royal authority&mdash;Catherine, John III&mdash;warned Ferdinand that this time no demands from the count would be accepted and no pardon would be granted to the latter. After an year long stand-off, in 1508 the crown launched an offensive to quell the count's rebellion, Lerín was occupied, and a severe defeat inflicted on Louis. The Navarrese authorities struggled to achieve a diplomatic balance in two fronts, but adverse new winds were blowing from France too. Ferdinand and King Louis XII were getting along after the former's marriage to Germaine of Foix, with the French king putting pressure on the Albrets to give up on their principalities outside Navarre&mdash;Béarn, Bigorre, Foix, etc.&mdash;but was met with their strong refusal. In 1507 the Parliament of Navarre appointed a diplomatic task force to France led by John of Jaso, bishop of Lescar and father of Francis Xavier, but that and other diplomatic attempts were halfhearted. Louis XII coveted the Albrets' territories and resorted to the Parliament of Toulouse, where his ambitions took the form of a confiscation decree. When the Parliament of Navarre (The Three States) and the States-General of Béarn were confronted with the possibility of a French takeover in 1510, a military mobilization was decreed and a bill passed to create a Béarn-Navarre confederation securing a permanent joint defense provision against any external assault. Ferdinand II waited and saw, took good note of those fears, and searched again allies for his own designs in the Navarrese Beaumont party.

However, in summer 1510 the international scene took a sharp turn in the Italian Wars. Pope Julius II was one of the most ambitious Popes of the era. He had declared a Holy League against Venice in 1508, and successfully defeated it. The formerly allied Papal States and France went to war with one another, and Julius II declared a new Holy League against France on 4 August 1511 after siding with King Ferdinand in the French-Spanish struggle for power in Italy. Navarre refused to join and kept neutral in a shaky balance, but Ferdinand II declared war on France in March 1512. Just a month later, Gaston of Foix died, so the full claim over the Pyrenean territories of the Albrets would fall in the hands of Ferdinand's wife Germaine of Foix.

King Louis then started to show a conciliatory tone with Queen Catherine and King John III, conceding to back down on his territorial demands. Catherine and John III kept negotiations with Ferdinand too, who intertwined proposals, pressure and menaces with actual movement of troops right on the outer borders of Navarre. In February 1512, Ferdinand allied with England in a move leading to a prompt military intervention in the French royal territory of Guyenne, present-day region Aquitaine, but could hardly disguise his intentions to indefinitely occupy an inconvenient kingdom for the king's ambitions. The Navarrese authorities made arrangements for the defense of Navarre, while Ferdinand designed a plan to invade the kingdom, including a propaganda scheme in which the Navarrese crown would be labeled as schismatic with the back-up of Julius II's papal bulls. For the purpose, Castilian diplomats negotiated with Rome for months.

Invasion of Navarre
In June 1512, tension mounted when the Holy League made a formal petition to send English and Castilian troops through Navarre over to France. At the same time a Navarrese diplomatic panel sent to France was holding a round of talks with Louis XII that lasted for a month, while Ferdinand threatened to cross the border if an agreement was reached. The talks led to the 4th Treaty of Blois on 18 July 1512, providing for a mutual assistance to keep Navarre's neutrality, and bringing also the attention to the impending English threat on France after their disembarkation in Hondarribia, Gipuzkoa (bordeging Basque territory suzerain to Castile). The next day Ferdinand sent his troops across the border from Álava into Navarre, commanded by his general Don Fadrique de Toledo, Duke of Alba, one that was involved in the conquest of Granada (1492). However, by that time a Gipuzkoan militia had broken into Navarre from the north-western border and captured Goizueta, a village and fortress bordering on Gipuzkoa (10 July 1512).

In a few days Castilian troops advanced without resistance onto the outskirts of Pamplona, where Ferdinand's ally count Juan of Beaumont played host to the invading troops in his fortified palace of Arazuri. The assault troops of the expedition numbered 6,000 veterans, but the whole caravan including the rearguard amounted to 15,000. The population of Pamplona did not exceed 10,000 inhabitants. Catherine and John III left for Tudela in quest for troops among loyal lords, but managed to get only 500. Overwhelmed by the sheer size of the Spanish expedition, the loyalists veered east to Lumbier (Irunberri), and on to Lower Navarre. Catherine, John III and their troops retreated to Orthez, Béarn.

Pamplona's peripheral defense walls were flimsy, and a threat of looting pronounced by the Duke of Alba loomed over the town. In view of the royal family's retreat to Lumbier, local authorities surrendered (25 July 1512). Without delay, messengers were sent out by the Castilians to the main fortresses across Navarre demanding to follow suit. Most of them submitted, except for Amaiur (Baztan), Estella-Lizarra, Tudela and St-Jean-Pied-de-Port. The authorities of Pamplona were required to vow loyalty to Ferdinand, but they alleged that they could not inasmuch as they had pledged allegiance to king John III, their natural lord, and he was alive. The Spanish king went on to claim that he was King of Navarre de jure propio (late August 1512).

Tudela in turn was besieged, and resisted the Aragonese push led by Alfonso of Aragon, a bastard son of Ferdinand II and archbishop of Zaragoza, who was commanding 3,000 infantry and 300 cavalry. The determined loyalty of the local authorities to the Navarrese crown could not hide their low morale on account of the Pope's bull and the hopelessness of their resistance, as set down on letters to the king by the defenders. The position surrendered by 9 September 1512 in order to avoid pillaging, further confiscations in town, and futile bloodshed. Alfonso took an oath to respect the Navarrese laws that day, following his father Ferdinand's instructions.

By late August 1512, virtually all Iberian Navarre was under Spanish sway. The Duke of Alba, commanding a force of 3,000 infantry and 300 cavalry supported by a further 400 artillery, occupied the Pyrenean valleys of Aezkoa, Salazar, and Roncal, and undertook the crossing of the Pyrenean passes northbound, taking the Chapel of Roncevaux by surprise, and setting fire to the village. The Castilian forces spearheaded by Colonel Villalba (or the Beaumont party lord Martin of Ursua, depending on sources) arrived in St-Jean-Pied-de-Port on 10 September 1512, only to find that its garrison under the lord of Miossens (an Albret) was abandoning the stronghold. Not contented with the takeover of the position and the town, the Castilian forces set about pillaging, burning and spreading out terror throughout the villages of Lower Navarre, a tactic the Castilian commander tried to justify on his letters. Roman Church appears to have approved of the enslavement of the subdued Navarrese population.

The Castilians demanded the submission of the all the lords in Lower Navarre (Ultrapuertos, Deça-Ports), while the Duke of Alba ordered to pull down all the tower houses in the territory. All the apple and fruit orchards in the St-Jean-Pied-de-Port (Donibane Garazi in Basque) area were chopped off, leaving the local population struggling for subsistence. At this point, Ferdinand demanded a capitulation of Catherine and John III, but offered to negotiate their hold on the throne on condition that they sent their new heir apparent to be raised in the court of Castile. The demand was met with a frontal refusal.

Meanwhile a French army was stationed in Bayonne (Labourd, in Guyenne) watching out for possible English or Castilian moves on the ground. Ferdinand still stack to his plan to invade Guyenne, home to both Albrets' possessions and French royal lands, or at least Bayonne, a strategic port for Navarre. However, time was running out for the Castilians in Lower Navarre, short of food, supplies and under adverse weather conditions. Discontented veteran troops in St-Jean-Pied-de-Port numbering 1,000 mutinied, but managed to negotiate with the Duke of Alba their removal to the less hostile rearguard of Burgui and Salazar, so breaking up the uprising.

Navarrese counterattack
By mid-October, John III had raised an army of 15,000 Navarrese, Gascons and landsknechts ready to counterattack. Three columns advanced into Gipuzkoa and the heartland of Navarre. The first laid siege to Hondarribia and Donostia, and occupied a number of small towns of the area to divert the attention of a Castilian relieve on the besieged troops in Pamplona. By then, tired of Ferdinand II's unreliable intentions, the English had decided to leave the theater of war back to England after sacking a number of villages and towns (Errenteria). A second expedition commanded by the Duke of Longueville was made up of 8,000 Gascons, 1,000 Navarrese, 1,500 landsknecths, and corresponding artillery. It set off from Peyrehorade, engaged the Castilians in Ainhize, and defeated them on 19 October 2012.

A third column crossed the Pyrenees from Roncal (Erronkari) and reached Burgui. Fearing of having his communication line with Pamplona cut off, the Duke of Alba withdrew to the capital, but not before leaving a well equipped detachment in St-Jean-Pied-de-Port. The Navarrese column advanced south across the Pyrenees from Salazar towards Pamplona. On hearing the news of the Navarrese army's approach, Estella-Lizarra and the fortress of Monjardin next to it revolted against the occupiers. On 24 October 1512, the Duke of Alba made it to Pamplona, followed by Navarrese loyalist forces, who laid siege to the capital.

In Estella-Lizarra, the rebels led by John Ramirez de Baquedano and Jaime Velaz de Medrano were soon opposed by the forces of Peter of Beaumont, supported by the Castilians Duke of Nájera and the Marquis of Comares. The Navarrese leaders made a last stand on the Monjardin fortress, but eventually a capitulation was signed. The investment of Pamplona lasted for a month, but the coming of winter and new reinforcements from Castile thwarted any prospects of a successful conclusion to the operation. The loyalists retreated and the Castilian troops made their way back across the Pyrenees to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port and Lower Navarre, keeping control of the position, but engaging in regular skirmishes with the disgruntled Beaumont party lord of Luxe (Lukuze).

On 7 December 1512, a detachment of Navarrese army's decimated landsknechts on retreat was guarding twelve artillery pieces at the Belate pass, when they encounter a patrol led by the governor of Gipuzkoa Juan de Silva. The Gipuzkoan militia took on the landsknechts, who retreated in disarray, were chased and largely slaughtered. The skirmish was later pumped up to a wholesale battle, with the canons seized being added in 1513 to the official coat of arms of Gipuzkoa.

Spanish reoccupation and aftermath
As of December 1512, the clashes got confined to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port and its hinterland, occupied still by the Castilians. The above Diego Fernandez de Córdoba was appointed first viceroy of Navarre, and on 13-23 March 1513 the Parliament of Navarre, greatly reduced to the Beamount party representatives who had sided with the Castilian conquest, was called and accepted Fernando as their "natural lord and king." Fernando in turn agreed to keep Navarrese institutions and identity. At the same time, the first Castilian viceroy, Diego Fernández de Córdoba, took an oath to respect Navarrese law (fueros).

Initially the kingdom was attached to Ferdinand&mdash;and therefore to the Crown of Aragon&mdash;as an earned good, falling back on the Papal bulls. Aragon was a Pyrenean realm of a similar confederate institutional make-up, as opposed to the authoritarian Castile, but the pressure of the latter tipped the scale in favour of bequeathing Navarre to Castilian Queen Isabella's daughter Joanna of Castile and annexing the Basque kingdom to Castile in 1515. The annexation was confirmed after taking an oath to respect Navarre's laws and institutions (the pactum subjectionis), since that was Ferdinand II's will. The Cortes of Burgos (11 June 1515) was not attended by any Navarrese representatives, even the Navarrese count of Lerin Louis of Beaumont, Ferdinand II's accomplice up to that point, protested at this annexation to Castile, and was incarcerated.

Notwithstanding the formal oath requirement, both kingdoms had different institutional and legal systems, and fairly different social and ethnic make-up. Once the Castilian and Aragonese military confirmed their occupation of all the strongholds, the ground was paved for the progressive institutional takeover marked by the centralizing drive of the Spanish-Castilian Crown, source of frequent frictions and tensions. 1513 and 1514 were marked by the Castilian military control of Navarre, with the diplomat and writer Niccolò Machiavelli anticipating an prompt and easy understanding of Ferdinand II with France "on the only condition of keeping Navarre, giving up instead on the Duchy of Milan for its vicinity to the Helvetians."

It was decreed the expulsion of the formerly buoyant Jewish community of Navarre and also the Moriscos of Tudela, who became the main victims of the Spanish Inquisition..

Construction of the case for the conquest
Ferdinand showed a deep concern in presenting his military intervention against a backdrop of legal grounds. He was quick to commission a report to the skilled law specialists Antonio de Nebrija and Juan López de Palacios Rubios in order to make the case for his actions with a wide array of claims over the Basque kingdom. During the following decades and centuries the reports were to become a compelling reference when it comes to the debates on the (im)morality of the Spanish conquest of Navarre in the following decades and centuries. At any rate, both scholars were acting as servants of their masters King Ferdinand II and the Duke of Alba when they accepted these propaganda assignments, as pointed out by the historian Alfredo Floristan. López de Palacios would design later the doctrine legitimizing the conquest of the West Indies.

In late August 1512, once the conquest of the heartland of Navarre was achieved, Ferdinand issued a statement defending his right to attack France by means of Navarre according to the iure belli or "fair war" passed by the Roman Church in 1511. With Pamplona on his hands and the royal family in Béarn, Ferdinand used this gain on the ground to further justify his claim over the kingdom of Navarre, insisting on his entitlement as king of Navarre de iure propio.

Another claim insisted on a so-called "right of way" across Navarre in order to achieve military goals in Guyenne, supported by Ferdinand's divine and natural right. In addition, Ferdinand would be "observing international treaties", so allowing him to invade Navarre in order to help his ally England. An additional, peculiar argumentation consisted of claiming that the Navarrese lineage starting with Iñigo Arista (824-851) was an usurpation of the righteous claimant, Castile, the alleged heir to the Visigothic kingdom (via Kingdom of Asturias), holder of Roman Emperor Honorius' mandate for Hispania. Lastly, Fernando stated a number of claims to the Navarrese throne related to his marriage to Germaine of Foix, and his father John II of Aragon.

Ferdinand was informed by spies of the progresses in the negotiations between Navarrese diplomats and Louis XII at Blois. On the eve of the beginning of the invasion, 17 July 1512, Ferdinand had a forged draft copy of the Treaty of Blois (signed on 18 July) circulating aimed at smear. The Papal ruling Pastor Ille Caelestis issued on 21 July, just 3 days after the start of the invasion, authorized to wage war on Church enemies and stake a claim over their lands and subjects providing they lie outside Italy, which would apply to Louis XII's France and the "heretic" crown of Navarre. This provision was added at the instigation of Ferdinand himself in December 1511.

Back on 5 June 1512, Ferdinand had addressed a letter to the Pope Julius II urging him to issue a bull excommunicating "everyone in the kingdom of Navarre and the principality of Béarn" and allocating him Navarre, or failing that, the right to take over it, and appealing for that to the Pope's own interests in Spain ("you just need a scroll and ink", he added). On 7 June 1512 the Spanish king addressed another letter to his ambassador in Rome urging him to secure the bulls as soon as possible, for "our army is up and the artillery ready" to invade Navarre.

However, the Navarrese crown was not cited explicitly in the Pastor Ille Caelestis bull. Echoing Ferdinand's claim in late August 2012, the Exigit Contumatium Papal bull was issued half an year later (18 February 1513). This time Catherine I and John III were labelled as schismatic and therefore unworthy holders of the royal title, imposing on them an excommunication and confiscation of all their properties. The attending members of the Parliament of Navarre session held in Pamplona on 13-24 March 1512 accepted Ferdinand II as king.

Despite all the Papal support to his actions, Ferdinand&mdash;and his successors&mdash; was haunted by tyranny and usurpation allegations, and these concerns were to leave an imprint in the future status Navarre would take after the invasion. The Spanish king made all the necessary arrangements to present the invasion as a mere dynastic change, trying to conceal the fact of the military takeover. Despite the fact that Navarre was considered an "earned good" for the free disposition of Ferdinand, the pactum subjections was applied&mdash;taking an oath to respect the Navarrese law and identity. Navarre was no Granada, which was considered not only a legitimate conquest by Roman Christian standards but a "reconquest" of the Visigoth Kingdom. On the other side, Navarre was widely held as an old Christian kingdom, with secular institutions and an entrenched identification of its population with the native social order. Prior tempore, potior iure, or "earlier in time, stronger in law", the kingdom was stronger than the crown itself.

1516 reconquest attempt
By 1516 Ferdinand was dead and his sixteen-year-old grandson by Isabella, Charles of Ghent, had ascended to the throne of both Castile and Aragon. However, in 1516 he still lived in the Burgundian Netherlands. John III of Navarre saw a new opportunity to reconquer the Iberian Navarre. The king raised an army in Sauveterre-de-Bearn made up of two columns, one commanded by himself and the other by Peter, Marshal of Navarre. The first column failed to bring to heel the Castilian garrison occupying St-Jean-Pied-de-Port, while the second column was defeated in Isaba, valley of Roncal, so thwarting any advance into the heartland of Navarre.

The Spanish cardinal Cisneros acted as regent for the newly proclaimed emperor Charles. As such, that year he decreed all Navarrese castles be pulled down to avoid any resistance, and the expulsion of the Muslim inhabitants in southern Navarre. Not only that, prominent figures of Navarre who had stood up for the Navarrese monarchs were imprisoned in Atienza or forced to exile, while the commander Peter of Navarre was murdered later in Simancas while in custody. The repression was aimed, in cardinal Cisneros' words, at further "subjugating and constraining [Navarre], so that no one in that kingdom dares or ventures to rebel."

1521 French-Navarrese expedition


From 1520–1521, Castile was distracted by the Revolt of the Comuneros. The Crown of Aragon was also suffering economic difficulties as well as the Revolt of the Brotherhoods. As a result, Spain was seen as a ripe target of opportunity by the French King Francis I. Meanwhile, the young King Henry II of Navarre, based in his domains of Béarn, saw a way through to reconquer Navarre. Taking advantage of the synergies with France, Henry began raising a 12,000-strong army, mainly Gascons and Navarrese exiles, to recapture the Navarre occupied by the Spanish. The large French-Navarrese army commanded by General Asparros (or Esparre) crossed the Pyrenees, consisting exactly of 12,000 infantry, 800 mounted knights, and 29 pieces of artillery.

The Castilian Viceroy of Navarre, Antonio Manrique de Lara, 2nd Duke of Nájera, was caught off-guard. The Duke had the responsibility for guarding the Navarrese lands conquered in 1512, but he had moved the bulk of his troops away from Navarre to suppress peasant uprisings and raids in his home territory of Castile, within the context of the Revolt of the Comuneros. Much of his artillery and other troops as well had gone to Castile to fight the organized comunero armies. Rumors had abounded of a "French" invasion, with former comunero noble Pedro Girón warning of the impending invasion in April 1521.

Angry at the Castilian takeover of the ecclesiastic, administrative and judiciary institutions in Navarre, the Navarrese quickly rose up across Navarre in support of Henry II and the House of Albret as King on hearing the news of Henry II's expedition. Volunteer parties were created in many places to expel the Castilians. As the force approached Pamplona, the citizens revolted and besieged the Castilian military governor, Iñigo de Loyola, in his newly built castle. The garrison surrendered after a few days of resistance in late May 1521 in the Battle of Pampeluna (Pamplona). In less than three weeks, all of Navarre was reconquered.

Still, not all was settled. The absence of young King Henry II was disquieting to the population. Additionally, the French general was treating Navarre like a conquered country, which caused some to wonder if the French King Francis wanted the territory to himself. The French-Navarrese then moved out of friendly territory over to Castile, crossing the Ebro and besieging the bordering town of Logroño, where the count of Lerin was stationed with a 4,000-strong force. Here the army commanded by Esparros encountered its first serious resistance.

Unfortunately for the King of Navarre and the French, the Revolt of the Comuneros had been crushed at the Battle of Villalar in April. Now, not only was the Castilian government able to send its soldiers back to respond, but a large number of Castilian nobles who had supported the comuneros or vacillated between sides were now presented an opportunity to prove their loyalty to Castile. Many formerly rebel-held towns sent soldiers to Navarre as well. Backed by a suddenly reunified Castile, a huge army of 30,000 men approached Navarre to retake it. On June 11, Asparros abandoned his siege of Logroño and retreated back to Tiebas, Navarre. Asparros desperately requested reinforcements from Béarn, but Henry II refused the request, presumably not wanting to risk them in a battle that was likely already lost in any case.

Near Pamplona, the French (Gascons) and the Navarrese were completely defeated at the Battle of Esquiroz (Noáin) on 30 June 1521. The French-Navarrese force did not have sufficient artillery to defend themselves, and were outnumbered by more than two-to-one. French and Navarrese losses numbered more than 6,000 dead, and General Asparros was captured. The Castilian human losses numbered only 50 to 300 deaths. The victory of Charles I's troops was followed by an occupation in which the defeated were subject to abuse, pillaging, marginalization and exile. The new scenario bred despair among many Navarrese, with many lords conveniently opting to switch sides to the victorious Castilians.

The Castilians did not relent though, and continued to send reinforcements to the area as Charles V and France went to war across Europe. Charles I's goals aimed farther beyond Navarre, including the invasion of Guyenne, supported initially by English troops. The French-Navarrese had reconquered several spots on the Pyrenees in September 1521 under the command of Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet. After recapturing Baztan (fortress of Amaiur), Guillaume Gouffier headed to Behobia, its fortress was captured, and went on to lay siege on Hondarribia (Fuenterrabía, Fontarabie) dated 6 October 1521, at the tip of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country. The besieging French-Navarrese forces included the Claude of Lorraine besides the above Guillaume Gouffier.

Next year, two hundred Navarrese lords staged a heroic last stand against the Castilians at Amaiur castle, Baztan, where a monolith now commemorates them, but ultimately the position fell to the Count of Miranda on 19 July 1513. The Battle of Fuenterrabía (Hondarribia) would last until September 1524. The French and Navarrese were able to hold the city for almost three years, but conflict wouldn´t expand back into Navarre. France's loss of the wider war, with King Francis's capture, ensured that the Iberian part of Navarre would remain under Spanish control. While the Spanish troops struggled to keep the lands of Lower Navarre for a while (Nafarroa Beherea, see map), but for an outpost in (Luzaide/Valcarlos) the region was abandoned in 1528 due to Charles I's loss of interest and the difficulties to defend it.