Aznar Galíndez I (also ''Asnar'') (died 839) was a

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 people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

Count of Aragon The County of Aragon ( an, Condato d'Aragón) or County of Jaca ( an, Condato de Chaca, link=no) was a small Frankish marcher county in the central Pyrenean valley of the Aragon river, comprising Ansó, Echo, and Canfranc and centered on the ...

and Conflent from 809 and

Cerdanya Cerdanya () or often La Cerdanya ( la, Ceretani or ''Ceritania''; french: Cerdagne; es, Cerdaña), is a natural comarca and historical region of the eastern Pyrenees divided between France and Spain. Historically it was one of the counties ...

and

Urgell Modern-day Urgell (), also known as ''Baix Urgell'' (''baix'' meaning "lower", by contrast with Alt Urgell "Higher Urgell"), is a ''comarca'' (county) in Catalonia, Spain, forming only a borderland portion of the region historically known as Ur ...

from 820. Aznar has been confused with Aznar Sánchez,

Duke of Gascony The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia ( eu, Baskoniako dukerria; oc, ducat de Gasconha; french: duché de Gascogne, duché de Vasconie) was a duchy located in present-day southwestern France and northeastern Spain, an area encompassing the ...

, and some authorities have even considered the two like-named contemporaries to be one and the same person. Aznar succeeded

Aureolus Aureolus was a Roman military commander during the reign of Emperor Gallienus before he attempted to usurp the Roman Empire. After turning against Gallienus, Aureolus was killed during the political turmoil that surrounded the Emperor's assass ...

as count of the valley of the River Aragón on the latter's death in 809. Some sources indicate him as count of

Jaca Jaca (; in Aragonese: ''Chaca'' or ''Xaca'') is a city of northeastern Spain in the province of Huesca, located near the Pyrenees and the border with France. Jaca is an ancient fort on the Aragón River, situated at the crossing of two great ea ...

, which was probably the seat of his authority within the valley. He was installed by king

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquit ...

(a son of emperor

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...

), and remained a Frankish

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

. In 820, he was overthrown by his son-in-law García the Bad, supported by Íñigo Arista's Navarrese forces. He took refuge in the Vasconia that remained

suzerain Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is calle ...

to the Franks, and was appointed count in Urgell and Cerdanya. He had four children: *Matrona, who married García the Bad, but was repudiated when he overthrew her father *Eilona, named as daughter of count Aznar Galíndez in an 862 charter of her nephew, Guntislo *Centullo, murdered by his brother-in-law García the Bad * Galindo Aznárez I, later Count of Aragon

Sources

* Collins, Roger. ''The Basques''. Blackwell Publishing: London, 1990. * Higounet, Charles. ''Bordeaux pendant le haut moyen age''. Bordeaux, 1963. * Lewis, Archibald R.
The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718–1050
'. University of Texas Press: Austin, 1965. , - , - Counts of Aragon Counts of Cerdanya Counts of Urgell 839 deaths Year of birth unknown 9th-century rulers in Europe {{France-noble-stub