Monumento a Francisco Navarro Villoslada

''Amaya o los vascos en el siglo VIII'' (''Amaya, or the Basques in the 8th century'') is a Romantic

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

published in 1877 (in the magazine '' Ciencia cristiana'') and in 1879 (as a book) by Francisco Navarro-Villoslada, a noted novel by a

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

se author.''Saltus y ager vasconum. Cultura y política en Navarra (1870-1960)''. Mainl
Chapter 3
Thesis by Iñaki Iriarte López, 11 December 1998. Includes a summary and analysis of some aspects of the novel. The story is placed during the invasion of

Visigoth The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

by the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...

Plot summary

Mixing history and legend, it presents a situation in which

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

and

Christianized Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...

Basques The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...

unite under the first

king of Navarre This is a list of the kings and queens of kingdom of Pamplona, Pamplona, later kingdom of Navarre, Navarre. Pamplona was the primary name of the kingdom until its union with Kingdom of Aragon, Aragon (1076–1134). However, the territorial desig ...

and ally with Pelayo, the first king of Asturias to defend Catholic Iberia against the invading Muslims. Amaya is a Christian noblewoman, daughter of a Basque woman and Ranimiro, the ruthless Visigoth general. She is a niece to pagan leader Amagoya, who prefers her other pagan niece as heiress to the secrets of

Aitor Aitor is a Basque masculine given name, created by Agosti Xaho for a Basque ancestral patriarch descending from the Biblical Tubal in his work "The Legend of Aitor" (published in French in the journal ''Ariel'', 1845). Koldo Mitxelena believes th ...

, the Basque ancestral patriarch. Pacomio is a Jew conspiring in disguise among Muslims, Visigoths and Basques. Eudes, duke of

Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...

, is Pacomio's son, but, by hiding his Jewish origin, has reached a high post in the Visigoth kingdom and aspires to power beyond what his allies and his father would allow. At the end, the secret of Aitor is revealed, to recommend Christianity; the pagan Basques (except for Amagoya) convert and Amaya marries the Basque resistance leader, García, becoming the first monarchs of Navarre. The legends of Teodosio de Goñi and San Miguel de Aralar, the

Caba Rumía Florinda la Cava, or simply La Cava, is a character who, according to legend, played a central role in the downfall of the Visigothic kingdom in Spain in 711. Although she was treated as historical in Spain for centuries, there is no evidence for ...

, the

Table of Solomon Table may refer to: * Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs * Table (landform), a flat area of land * Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and columns * Table (database), how the table data ...

in Toledo, and others are also mentioned in the plot.

Influences

The novel is influenced by the works of

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...

Arozamena Ayala, Ainhoa
Navarro Villoslada, Francisco

Auñamendi Encyclopedia The Auñamendi Encyclopedia is the largest encyclopedia of Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque peopl ...

n line N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet# ...

2019. ate of consultation: July 05 2019 and the Catholic movement

Carlism Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty – one descended from Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855) – ...

presenting the

se as the defenders of Spanish monarchy and Christianity. The myth of Aitor as an ancestral Basque patriarch comes from

Joseph-Augustine Chaho Augustin Chaho in French or Agosti Xaho in Basque was an important Romantic Basque writer. He was born in Tardets (Atharratze in basque), Soule, French Basqueland on 10 October 1811 and died in Bayonne (Baiona in Basque), Labourd 23 October ...

. The young

Miguel de Unamuno Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (29 September 1864 – 31 December 1936) was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright, philosopher, professor of Greek and Classics, and later rector at the University of Salamanca. His major philosophical essay w ...

was impressed after reading ''Amaya'' and

Arturo Campión Arturo is a Spanish and Italian variant of the name Arthur. People *Arturo Álvarez (footballer, born 1985), American-born Salvadoran footballer * Arturo Álvarez (footballer, born 1959), Mexican footballer * Arthuro Henrique Bernhardt (b. 1982), B ...

's '' Blancos y negros''. Domingo de Aguirre decided to produce a similar work in Biscayan Basque and published '' Auñamendiko lorea'' ("The flower of the Pyrenees") " Amaia" and "Amagoia" (in modern spelling) are used today as Basque female names. "

Asier is a male given name of Basque origin, meaning 'the beginning' ( in Standard Basque). It was created for a character in Fernando Navarro Villoslada's 1877 novel . Notable people with the name include: Given name * Asier Antona Gómez (born 1976 ...

" is used today as a Basque male name.

Jesús Guridi Jesús Guridi Bidaola (25 September 1886 – 7 April 1961) was a Spanish Basque composer who was a key player in 20th-century Spanish and Basque music. His style fits into the late Romantic idiom, directly inherited from Wagner, and with a stron ...

's opera ''Amaya'' (inspired by the novel) debuted at the Coliseo Albia of Bilbao in 1920. A film version appeared in 1952.

References

External links

Spanish text
at Biblioteca Virtual Miguel Cervantes. * Estornés Lasa, Bernardo
AMAYA

2019. ate of consultation: July 5, 2019 {{Authority control Basque literature Spanish-language novels Carlism 1879 novels Historical novels Novels set in Spain Reconquista in fiction Romanticism Navarre culture Novels set in the 8th century