This week marks 495 years since the Navarrese king Henry of Labrit escaped from the fortress of Pavia. This king is of fundamental importance in the history of the Basque language, but the events and anecdotes of his life are worthy of several books and films. In the following entries we will discuss Henry's life and coinage; we will not have time to be bored.
Henry of Labrit, Henry II of Zangotzarra, was born in 1503 in Zangotzarra, where his parents, Catherine of Foix and Juan of Labrit, were at the time. He was born in the house of Juan Sebastian, a merchant and moneylender to the kings of Navarre, on the main street.
His older brothers, Juan in 1496 and Andrés Phoebus in 1503, died before his birth, and as a result, Henry remained the firstborn and heir general of the kings of Navarre, and thus received the title of Prince of Viana.
Memorial erected at the birthplace of Henry II in Sangüeza
Henry's youth was spent in the castles and palaces of Pamplona, Olite-Erriberri, Tudela and Sangüeza, where, among others, he had Francis Xavier among his friends.
When Ferdinand the Catholic or the usurper began the conquest of Navarre in 1512, Henry was forced to leave Pamplona and flee with his parents to the lands of the Lordship of Béarn. From there, in 1515, he was sent to the court of Paris, with his cousin Francis I.
Henry was barely nine years old when he last saw the Navarre of his time, and he would soon realize that the kingdom of Navarre (and at the same time himself and his entire family) was a mere pawn in the game played between the Valois and Trastamara-Habsburg royal houses.
After the deaths of King Juan III of Labrit (1516) and Queen Catherine (1517), the young Prince of Viana and heir to the royal house had to face the complicated political problems that plagued his kingdom at this time. He was only fourteen years old when he became King of Navarre in 1517.
Meanwhile, in 1516, Ferdinand the Catholic and usurper also died. Ferdinand, King of Aragon and Viceroy of Castile, was unable to produce an heir from his second marriage to Germana of Foix. Prince John, born in 1509, if he had survived, would have inherited the kingdom of Aragon (with its Mediterranean territories) and Navarre, and the union with Castile would have been broken. But John died a few days after his birth.
Now Henry will face Charles I of the House of Habsburg Austria (Charles V of Germany), king of Castile, Aragon, Naples and Sicily, lord of Burgundy, the Netherlands and the territories of Austria-Tyrol, and soon emperor of the Holy Roman-German Empire, the latter having won against the I of France in the election of 1519.
Henry's mother left the guardianship of Henry in the hands of his paternal grandfather, Alain of Labrit. Difficulties quickly arose, as Francis I wanted to keep Henry in his care and therefore asked to be placed in his care. But the estates of Béarn, meeting at Lescar, accepted Alain as guardian and administrator and Alain took the oath of office. Nevertheless, Francis I kept Henry in his care as a guarantor, until he allowed him to return to Béarn in 1520; and in 1517 he went so far as to request that his sister be sent to Paris to ensure the loyalty of the Labrit family.
Before his death in 1522, and according to contemporary documents, Alain taught Henry how to lead the people of Lower Navarre and Béarn with courage, nobility and political balance.
Henry II of Labrit, King of Navarre – Unknown painter on wood panel – Musee Conde
Taking advantage of the wars between the Castilian communities and the Valencian Germans, in 1521 Francis I, as a support for Henry, sent Andre d'Foix Lesparrou, or Lord of Asparrots, to recover Navarre.
Preparations for the Navarrese expedition were delayed until the spring of 1521. The revolts of the Castilian communities, although they left Navarre without Castilian soldiers, began late, as Charles I had regained control of all of Castile at the end of April, following the victory at Villalar.
However, in May 1521, and without waiting for the soldiers who were to arrive from the north, a general uprising began in the heart of Navarre. Most of the urban areas, many of which were former Beaumont residents, and including Pamplona, Estella, Tafalla, Olite-Erriberri and Tudela, rose up against the Castilians.
At the same time, General Asparrots' troops, with 12,000 infantry (mostly Gascon) and heavy artillery, surrendered Saint-Jean-de-Port on May 15, having previously taken Roncesvalles and Auritz. On May 17, the Lady of Foix, in the name of Henry II, took the oath of allegiance at Atarrabia.
Antonio Manrique de Lara, Duke of Najera and Viceroy of Navarre, fled that same day from Pamplona towards Alfaro, and was attacked and plundered on the way.
During the Pamplona uprising, the few Castilian soldiers who remained in the city held out in the fortress for two or three days. Among the Navarrese attackers of the fortress were the brothers of Francisco de Jasó (Saint Francis Xavier), Miguel and Juan, sons of Juan de Jasó, who had been the leader of the royal council. Miguel and Juan were left in charge of the city of Pamplona.
The recovery of the kingdom was not too bloody. There were battles with a thousand Gipuzkoan Oñazians on Mount Zengarren, where seventeen were killed. In addition to the casualties suffered in the Pamplona fortress, four more were killed near Yesa, blocking the way for the fleeing soldiers. In the aftermath, there was no significant displacement of the Beaumont population, and many charges continued to be filed. The kingdom was recovered in a fortnight, a shorter period than the attack by the Duke of Alba in 1512.
After securing the capital, the troops of Andre de Foix, French, Lapurt, Béarn, Behenna, and of course the southern Navarrese who had now joined them, crossed the kingdom with the intention of attacking Logroño. The French general, instead of securing the kingdom, decided to approach the city of Logroño and besiege it. On June 5, Asparrots' artillery bombarded the city, but on June 11, he was forced to raise the siege and retreat towards Navarre, after reorganizing and surrounding the army of Charles I.
According to the figures given by Pierre Boissonnad, the Castilian army mustered about 30,000 soldiers to recover Navarre. We can break this number down as follows: about 7,000 soldiers brought by the Constable of Castile, about 5,000 from Gipuzkoa, Araba and Bizkaia, about 4,000 from the Count of Lérins, leader of the Beaumonts; the Castilian cities of Segovia, Valladolid, Palencia, Burgos, Salamanca, Toro, Medina del Campo and Avila, in addition to many smaller cities, contributed between 10,000 and 14,000 soldiers. Among these, many soldiers were forcibly recruited from among those defeated in the war of the Castilian communities.
As Asparrots's troops retreated, and due to the superior numbers of the Castilians, the Castilians took Gares and Estella. Asparrots finally confronted them on June 30, 1521, in the open fields of Noain, near Pamplona, with his army of between 8,000 and 10,000 soldiers. They could not do much against a Castilian army that was three times larger and by the end of the day, they had left about 5,000 dead on the bloody battlefield. Asparrots himself was also wounded and taken prisoner. Five days later, the Viceroy of Navarre, the Duke of Najera, entered Pamplona after negotiating the surrender of the city. Part of this negotiation was the release of General Asparrots. At the end of July, the Castilians returned to San Juan de la Garza.
Bridge over the Saint-Jean-de-Luz and the River Rovi
The fighting would continue for almost another three long years.
A year later, on July 22, 1522, the castle of Amaiur surrendered. The defenders were taken prisoner and taken to Pamplona. After the capture of the fortress, trials and subsequent executions increased. Marshal Pedro de Navarra, who had been taken prisoner during the attempted reconquest of 1516 and had been repeatedly pressured to break his oath of loyalty to the kings of Navarre, turned up dead on November 24 in the prison of Simancas, stabbed to death.
During the winter of 1523 and until January 1524, a punitive expedition burned Oloron, Navarrenx, Garris, Sordes, Hastingues, Maule, Sauvaterre and Bidache and plundered many others. Then, in February 1524, they laid siege to the fortress of Hondarribia. The bombardment began on February 2. While negotiations were underway for surrender, the French soldiers abandoned the fortress on February 27, leaving the Navarrese soldiers alone. On February 29, a decree of amnesty was issued to the Navarrese in exchange for surrender and submission to King Charles. As the two-month period was about to expire, the Navarrese garrison of Hondarribia surrendered in April 1524, two and a half years after the fortress had been taken.
Hondarribi – Saint Nicholas Gate
The northern part of the kingdom did not experience a permanent and continuous occupation until the Castilians abandoned their last positions in Lower Navarre in 1530. In the area of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, the capture and reconquest of various valleys was the result of continuous guerrilla conflict.
Henry took advantage of this situation to promote a reorganized administration in Lower Navarre, taking as a model the kingdom of Navarre that existed during the reign of his father and mother.
On 28 August 1523, as a successor to the Navarrese courts, the Estates General of Navarre met for the first time in Donapala. Before them, and through the chancellor of Navarre, Henry swore to preserve and enforce the charters, regalia, liberties and laws of the kingdom. The Estates General met twice a year between 1523 and 1535, and once a year from that year onwards. In the Estates General, the three estates of the kingdom were represented: the nobility, the clergy and the townspeople or the third estate.
The general assemblies of the estates were different from the general estates. These were extraordinary and urgent meetings of the same persons who made up the general estates, designed to make temporary, particular decisions. The general assemblies also met twice a year.
Henry created the Navarrese Chancellery or high court of justice in Donapala in 1524. The Navarrese Chancellery replaced the General Court of Navarre and judged all civil and criminal matters in the kingdom in the final instance. The Chancellery was composed of a president or vice-chancellor appointed by the king, six councilors, and an attorney general. Henry ordered that everyone should know Basque, the language of the common people.
When he resumed coinage, he ordered the reorganization of the royal mint of Donapaleu. However, as we will see in the analysis of the coinage, the documents of the time have been lost and although many data are missing, it does not seem that any coinage was carried out in Donapaleu until Henry of Labrit's nephew, Henry III of Bourbon, reopened the mint of Donapaleu in 1579. The coinage of Henry of Labrit will present the same types for both the kingdom of Navarre and the lordship of Béarn, and will be produced in the mints of Morlaas and Pau. Due to the lack of documents and information, we will not be able to distinguish between the original mints of the coins.
On the night of 24–25 February 1525, the French army suffered 10,000 casualties on the battlefield of Pavia. Francis I, King of France, and Henry II, King of Navarre, were taken prisoner by the troops of Emperor Charles V. Henry, 22 years old, had gone as far as Pavia, where he helped Francis I in his efforts to recover Navarre to support his Italian campaign.
Pavia Battlefield – Captivity of Francis I – Bernard Van Orley, 16th century – Tapestry – Capodimonte Museum, Naples
After the defeat and captivity, the Navarrese king was imprisoned in the fortress of Pavia. In the meantime, Francis I was transferred to Madrid, awaiting the start of peace and vassal negotiations. After ten months of captivity, on December 13, 1525, Henry managed to escape by making a hole in the ceiling of his bedroom and descending to the street using a hand ladder provided by a hired guard. There, opposite the stairs, some men were waiting with horses. Despite all the patrols sent to arrest Henry, twelve days later he arrived victorious at the French court, which was in dire need of heroes. Emperor Charles was furious when he heard the news.
On 17 March 1526, Francis I was released on a pontoon built on the Bidasoa River, after signing the Treaty of Madrid and leaving his two sons as captives at the Habsburg court. According to the Treaty of Madrid (which Francis would later claim to have signed under duress and threats), the Valois royal family of France promised to withdraw from Burgundy and abandon their claims in Italy. At the same time, he agreed not to give any support to Henry of Labritja and to pressure him to abdicate the throne of Navarre.
Margaret of Navarre – Jean Clouet 1530 Around
After all these events, Henry courted Margaret of Angoulême, sister of King Francis I. Margaret, the Dowager Duchess of Alençon, was also Countess of Armagnac and Rodez, which were adjacent to the lands of the Labrit House. In fact, these lands had caused many conflicts between the two families in the past. Margaret brought both counties as a dowry to the wedding that took place on January 24, 1527. Margaret was eleven years older than her husband, having been 35 at the time of her second marriage. Like all marriages of the royal houses and nobility of this period, it was a marriage of convenience for both parties; in general, they had mutual respect and kindness, but we cannot find any intimacy or deep trust in the relationship between the couple.
Henry expanded his inheritance through this marriage. In addition to the original kingship of Navarre and the leadership of the Labrit (Albret)-Foix family, he also received the position of governor of Guyenne from King Francis I. Henry thus became a kind of viceroy of many southwestern territories bordering the Austrian crown. As a result, his many governmental and administrative duties kept him busy, in between the many wars waged with the Habsburg crown. However, among all these duties, and as we will see, Henry's deepest ambition and desire in life was to restore the reunited kingdom of Navarre.
The territories of the royal house of Navarre – Labrit-Foix-Bourbon – Béarn and Lower Navarre were sovereign states, and were not feudal territories of the French crown – the rest were
Margaret, a woman of letters and culture, was involved in diplomatic and writing activities. At the same time, she patronized many thinkers and humanists. They found refuge and support in the palaces of Pau in Bearn and Nerac in Labrit, to develop and express their reformist ideas. Margaret had relations with Erasmus of Rotterdam and Calvin, and after Jacques Lefevre became the tutor of her children, she supported him until his death. A fervent Christian, Margaret firmly believed that the Reformation should develop within the Church itself, and not apart from it, and as a result, she did not strengthen her relationship with Calvin.
When he was about to turn eighteen, in September 1528, Henry lost his younger brother, the Infante Charles of Navarre. Charles had been Henry's regent while Henry was held captive in Pavia. Having earned his brother's esteem for his work, he set out with the French army for Italy and Naples, leading the Navarrese troops. The French suffered another defeat at the end of August, and after receiving wounds, Charles ended his days as a prisoner. Charles died in prison in mid-September, weakened by illness and wounds.
But in the same year, hopes filled the hearts of the Labritas, and on November 16, 1528, after many hours of hardship, Juana or Jone, the future Juana III of Navarre, was born. Juan, the crown prince, was born on July 15, 1530. At this time, Margarita was already 38 years old, and her chances of succeeding were considered slim. However, the Prince of Viana died within six months, on Christmas Day 1530, to the grief of his parents.
Bibliography:
THE PROTESTANT COURT OF NAVARRE (1527-1563) - Victor Manuel Arbeloa Muru
HENRY II – KING OF NAVARRE – Wikipedia link
HENRY II OF NAVARRE – Wikipedia – link
BIOGRAPHIES - ENRIQUE II de ALBRET - Royal Academy of History - link
ENRIQUE II de ALBRET – Gran Enciclopedia de Navarre – link
MARGUERITE OF NAVARRE – Wikipedia – link
MARGARITA OF NAVARRA – Gran Enciclopedia de Navarre – link
LOS REYES DE LA BAJA NAVARRA AND SUS DOMINIOS – Blog de Antonio Leon – link
THE CONQUISTA DE NAVARRA – TERCER CONTRAATAQUE NAVARRO (1521) – Wikipedia – link
PRISON AND ESCAPE OF THE KING OF NAVARRA – Joseba Asiron -Nabarralde – link
33° REY OF NAVARRA: ENRIQUE II EL SANGÜESINO- casarealnavarra.com – link
THE FIGURE OF THE BLOOD ENRIQUE II OF LABRIT AND MARGARITA OF NAVARRA, IN THE CONGRESS OF HISTORIADORS OF NAVARRA. VIANA. SEPTEMBER 18-19, 2010. – Dr. Jon Oria Osés – link
THE LAST BASQUE HEAD OF STATE – Aitzol Altuna – Nabarralde – link
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