Fortún Garcés Cajal (died 1146) was a Navarro- Aragonese nobleman and statesman, perhaps "the greatest noble of

Alfonso the Battler Alfonso I (''c''. 1073/10747 September 1134), called the Battler or the Warrior ( es, el Batallador), was King of Aragon and Navarre from 1104 until his death in 1134. He was the second son of King Sancho Ramírez and successor of his brother Pet ...

's reign". He was very wealthy in both land and money, and could raise two to three hundred

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

s for his retinue, funded both out of his treasury and

enfeoffed In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of ti ...

on his lands. In 1113 Fortún replaced

Diego López I de Haro Diego López I de Haro (died 1124×6) was the third Lord of Biscay, and also the ruler of Álava, Buradón, Grañón, Nájera, Haro, and perhaps Guipúzcoa: the most powerful Castilian magnate in the Basque Country and the Rioja during the f ...

in the large and important tenancy of

Nájera Nájera () is a small town, former bishopric and now Latin Catholic titular see, former capital of the Kingdom of Navarre, located in the "Rioja Alta" region of La Rioja, northern Spain, on the river Najerilla. Nájera is a stopping point on the F ...

and

Viguera Viguera is a municipality in La Rioja, Spain. It includes the villages Castañares de las Cuevas, El Puente, and Panzares. History The earliest documentary evidence is in the Berber historian Ajbar Machmua, who told that Abd ar-Rahman I recover ...

. He held it until 1135. After the death of Alfonso the Battler in 1134, Fortún became a vassal of King

Alfonso VII of Castile Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

Lordships

Fortún was probably born around 1075. Nothing is known of his life before he appears at the court of Alfonso the Battler in 1110. In that year he witnessed Alfonso's arbitration of a dispute between the

diocese of Pamplona The Archdiocese of Pamplona y Tudela ( la, Pampilonen(sis) et Tudelen(sis)) is an archdiocese located in the cities of Pamplona and Tudela in Spain.

and the abbey of Saint-Sernin at Toulouse over possession of the church of

Artajona Artajona is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto ...

. Thereafter, Fortún's rise was rapid. As a servant of the crown, Fortún held several lordships (''tenencias''), compact territorial

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

s where a nobleman governed on behalf of the crown. These were not hereditary lordships, but were granted by the king, the lords (''tenentes'') holding them as long as the king wished. In 1113, Fortún replaced

in the large and important lordship of

and

. This territory was in the

Kingdom of Castile The Kingdom of Castile (; es, Reino de Castilla, la, Regnum Castellae) was a large and powerful state on the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region. It began in the 9th centu ...

, on the border with Aragon, and Fortún was able to hold it only because of Alfonso the Battler's marriage to Queen

Urraca of Castile Urraca (also spelled ''Hurraca'', ''Urracha'' and ''Hurracka'' in medieval Latin) is a female first name. In Spanish, the name means magpie, derived perhaps from Latin ''furax'', meaning "thievish", in reference to the magpie's tendency to collect ...

in 1109. Although the marriage was annulled in 1112, Alfonso had a base of support in the Castilian kingdom and substantial influence in the contested border region that had once belonged to Navarre. Fortún managed to hold onto Nájera until after Alfonso's death in 1134, when he accepted the overlordship of King

, who had succeeded his mother in 1126. The last record of Fortún's tenancy comes from 1135, and sometime before 1139 he had been replaced by his predecessor's son, Count Lope Díaz de Haro. Fortún campaigned extensively alongside the king in the ''

Reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

'' ("reconquest") of the Muslim states of the

Ebro valley , name_etymology = , image = Zaragoza shel.JPG , image_size = , image_caption = The Ebro River in Zaragoza , map = SpainEbroBasin.png , map_size = , map_caption = The Ebro ...

. In 1121, as a reward, Alfonso granted Fortún the lordships of Tudela (conquered in 1119) and

Daroca Daroca is a city and municipality in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, situated to the south of the city of Zaragoza. It is the center of a judicial district. It is located in the basin of Calatayud, in the valley of the Jiloca river. N- ...

(conquered in 1120). In 1127, the lordship of Tudela was transferred to Count

Rotrou III of Perche Rotrou III (bef. 1080 – 8 May 1144), called the Great (''le Grand''), was the Count of Perche and Mortagne from 1099. He was the son of Geoffrey II, Count of Perche, and Beatrix de Ramerupt, daughter of Hilduin IV, Count of Montdidier. He was ...

, a visiting Frenchman who had come to aid in the ''Reconquista''. The accession of Alfonso VII in 1126, weakened the position of Alfonso the Battler in the frontier district of the

Bureba La Bureba is a ''comarca'' located in the northeast of the Province of Burgos in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is bounded on the north by Las Merindades, east by the Comarca del Ebro, south-east by the Montes de Oca and ...

, where he had been able up until then to install his own appointees as lords. There is evidence that at a local level the king of Castile's man was recognised and active as tenant, but that when the king of Aragon was present, his choice of tenant was enforced. In 1129, the former was the Castilian Rodrigo Gómez and the latter was Fortún Cajal, as illustrated by two charters from

Briviesca Briviesca is a municipality and a Spanish city located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, head of the judicial district of Briviesca, capital of the comarca of La Bureba and province of Burgos, autonomous community of Castile and León. Acco ...

. One was drawn up by the chancery of Alfonso the Battler during the king's stay in Briviesca on 10 October 1129. It names Fortún as tenant of Briviesca. From November of the same year, a private charter from the abbey of San Salvador de Oña recognises the lordship of Rodrigo Gómez over Briviesca. In 1130–31, Fortún's household took in two ''criatores'', children who were raised and educated in the house of a higher nobleman. At some point, Fortún was appointed lord of Ullé, near

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 ...

, in the heart of old Aragon. By 1133, he had delegated responsibility for his tenancies to two relatives, García Cajal and Lope Cajal. In 1133, this had received formal approval and confirmation from the king.

Counsellor of Ramiro II

After Alfonso the Battler died on 7 September 1134, Aragon and Navarre separated. The Navarrese chose as their king García Ramírez, lord of

Monzón Monzón is a small city and municipality in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. Its population was 17,176 as of 2014. It is in the northeast (specifically the Cinca Medio district of the province of Huesca) and adjoins the rivers Cinca and ...

, while the Aragonese chose Alfonso's younger brother, Ramiro II. Part of the old kingdom of Navarre was including Nájera was seized by

. During Ramiro's short reign (1134–37), Fortún was his closest and most influential counsellor. In January 1135 he helped negotiate the

Pact of Vadoluengo The Pact of Vadoluengo was an agreement between García V of Navarre and Ramiro II of Aragon signed in January 1135 at the hamlet of Vadoluengo, near Leyre. It subordinated Navarre to Aragon and defined their boundary. It was effective for five mo ...

with Navarre, which gave Aragon suzerainty over Navarre and defined their border. The events of 1134–35 left Fortún's lands and tenancies spread across three kingdoms. He managed to maintain his control of Nájera, where in May 1135 Alfonso VII made a large gift to him in the presence of the leading regional nobility. In mid-1136, while traversing Navarre to negotiate with Alfonso VII an anti-Navarrese alliance, he was captured by agents of King García. In order to raise the cash for his ransom, he had to sell numerous properties in both Aragon and Navarre to the wealthy monastery of

San Salvador de Leire The Monastery of San Salvador of Leyre ( eu, Leireko San Salbatore monasterioa; es, Monasterio de San Salvador de Leire) is a religious complex to the south of the Sierra of Leyre, in northern Navarre, Spain, representing one of the most importa ...

. The lands previously granted to the monastery of Nájera were exempted from sale by order of King Ramiro, but in fact the estates at Aibar and Alcatén were taken over by Leire at this time. Fortún, reduced in wealth and status, regained his freedom in 1137.

Attempts to found a church

Sang%C3%BCesa_-_Ermita_de_San_Adri%C3%A1n_de_Vadoluengo_04

In 1133, Fortún and his wife Toda (or Tota) made a donation the

Cluniac The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wit ...

monastery of Santa María de Nájera and its prior, Peter. It consisted in a

proprietary church {{Short pages monitor In 1130 or 1131 Fortún and Toda purchased property at a place called

Uli Uli may refer to: *Uli, Iran, a village *Uli, Anambra, a town in Nigeria * Uli I of Mali * Uli (design), by the Igbo people of Nigeria * Uli figure, from New Ireland, Papua New Guinea *Uli (food), a rice-based food * ISO 639 code for the Ulithian ...

in interior Navarre. Besides his Navarrese estates at Vadoluengo, Sangüesa and Uli and his grants from the king, Fortún land at Alagón in the valley of the Ebro; at Cabañas and

Calatayud Calatayud (; 2014 pop. 20,658) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Province of Zaragoza, within Aragón, Spain, lying on the river Jalón (river), Jalón, in the midst of the Sistema Ibérico mountain range. It is the second-larges ...

in the valley of the

Jalón Xaló (; es, Jalón ), is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Marina Alta in the Valencian Community, Spain. Geography The town of Jalón is located in the Jalón Valley. The Jalón or Gorgos river crosses the town, which has a length of . ...

; and at Agreda and Cunchilla in the valley of the

Queiles The Queiles is an tributary of the Ebro. Its arises in Vozmediano (Soria). It flows through Tarazona and empties into the Ebro near Tudela, Navarre Tudela is a municipality in Spain, the second largest city of the autonomous community of Nava ...

. There is only fleeting evidence of how Fortún and Toda managed their holdings. A document from 1141, shows they had a ''clavero'' (overseer) in charge of their estate at Uli. At Alagón and Cabañas, their lands were worked by exarics (Muslim peasant farmers). Fortún and Toda did sometimes invest in their properties. They built a mill, probably for grinding grain, at Murillo de Limas beside the bridge over the Ebro in the Christian quarter of Tudela. It became known as the ''molino de Cajar''. This was a commercial development. They also built a mill and ''tienda'' (store) at Tarazona. Around 1120 at Gronium, a ford of the Ebro two kilometres from Munilla, Fortún founded a bridge with a hospital and a church dedicated to Saint John. This foundation served the pilgrims along the

Way of Saint James The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint ...

. The "tower of Cajal" in Zaragoza along the

Gállego river Gallego may refer to: * Gallego (surname) * Galician language, the language spoken in northwestern Spain * Gállego (river), a tributary of the Ebro, a river in the north of Spain * Del Gallego, Camarines Sur, a municipality in the Philippines * ...

, mentioned in contemporary documents, presumably belonged to Fortún.

Will and death

Fortún and Toda drew up a will for the first time in October 1133. This will benefited the military orders of the

Templars , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

and

Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

as well as the cathedral of Saint Mary of Bethlehem in the Holy Land. The Hospitallers received land at Tarazona, Tudela and Zaragoza, while the Templars received land at Tudela, Fontellas, ''Castellane'', ''Mariano'' and ''Soiset'', as well as a mill and grove at ''Alcaten''. Late in 1133, while campaigning with Alfonso the Battler against

Mequinenza Mequinenza (Aragonese and ) or Mequinensa () is a town and municipality of the province of Zaragoza, in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It is located beside the river Segre, close to its confluence with the river Ebro between the Mequi ...

, García Cajal, Fortún's son, was killed in battle. Fortún's nephew, Lope Cajal, died at the

Battle of Fraga The Battle of Fraga was a battle of the Spanish Reconquista that took place on 17 July 1134 at Fraga, Aragon, Spain. The battle was fought between the forces of the Kingdom of Aragon, commanded by Alfonso the Battler and a variety of Almora ...

in 1134, willing his lands to the Templars. In 1141, Fortún and Toda drew up a second and final will. In it, he "divided his honour between his nephews", Fortún Íñiguez and Sancho Íñiguez, respective lords of

Grañón Grañón () is a village in the province and autonomous community of La Rioja, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin ...

and

Belorado Belorado is a village and municipality in Spain, belonging to the Province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon. It has a population of approximately 2,100 inhabitants. It is also known for being a city in the Way of Saint Ja ...

. Fortún Íñiguez had governed Grañón under the authority of his uncle from 1120 to 1131, while Belorado too had belonged to Cajal between 1120 and 1133, when he was represented there by Esteban Gassion. Fortún died in 1146, as two charters of the Templars attest.

Notes

Sources