The Lordship of Oñate (

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 ...

: ''Oñatiko jaurreria'',

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

: ''Señorío de Oñate'') was one of the Basque ''señoríos'', and represented a period of feudal rule in a region surrounding the city of

Oñati Oñati ( eu, Oñati, es, Oñate) is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the north of Spain. It has a population of approximately 10,500 and lies in a valley in the center of the Basqu ...

, in the present-day province of

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

, Basque Country. The lordship was ruled by a single family, the House of Guevara (in Basque, ''Gebara''), who all hailed from the town with the same name in

Álava Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see. Its ca ...

. Their titles as ''Lords of Oñati'' were first conferred by the monarchs of Navarre, as the Lordship acted as a vassal state of the former.''Señorío de los Guevara'' entry
in the Auñamendi Entziklopedia (in Spanish) Circa the year 1200 the Lordship was conquered and annexed by 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 ...

, but it was maintained until the year 1845, when Oñate was incorporated into the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

of Gipuzkoa and the title was lost.

History

Not much is known about the origins of the lordship itself as a political entity. The lordship is mentioned for the first time in a text from 1284, although some latter documents (dated in the 15th century) state that the

majorat ''Majorat'' () is a French term for an arrangement giving the right of succession to a specific parcel of property associated with a title of nobility to a single heir, based on male primogeniture. A majorat (fideicommis) would be inherited by th ...

over the land around Oñati was given to the Guevara family in the year 1149. The House of Guevara came from a village with the same name located in what then was part of the

Kingdom of Navarre The Kingdom of Navarre (; , , , ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona (), was a Basque kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, alongside the Atlantic Ocean between present-day Spain and France. The medieval state took ...

. The family had important contacts with the Navarrese monarchy and had been supporters of the Gamboino faction during the

War of the Bands The War of the Bands ( eu, Bando gerrak, es, Guerra de los Bandos) was a civil war, really an extended series of blood feuds, in the western Basque Country, Gascony, and Navarre in the Late Middle Ages. The main primary source for the War is '' ...

. The lordship had strong links with the

County of Álava The County of Álava ( eu, Arabako konderria) was one of the Basque ''señoríos'', a feudal territory during the 9th and 13th centuries that corresponds to present-day Álava, in the Basque Country. Until the final invasion and incorporation in ...

and remained a

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. W ...

territory of Navarre until the year 1200, when

and Álava itself were conquered by the

. From that point and until its dissolution, the lordship was under the sphere of influence of Castile, and it was eventually integrated into the kingdom, along with other Basque feudal lordships such as the

Lordship of Biscay The Lordship of Biscay ( es, Señorío de Vizcaya, Basque: ''Bizkaiko jaurerria'') was a region under feudal rule in the region of Biscay in the Iberian Peninsula between 1040 and 1876, ruled by a political figure known as the Lord of Biscay. One ...

.''Cofradía de Arriaga'' entry
in the Auñamendi Entziklopedia (in Spanish) In the year 1481 the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bot ...

confirmed the lands and title as Count of Oñate to Íñigo Vélez of Guevara and Ayala, 13th Lord of Oñate-Elenco de Grandezas y Títulos Nobiliarios Españoles. Instituto "Salazar y Castro", C.S.I.C. The Lordship of Oñate was dissolved and the title lost when Oñati was officially incorporated into the province of Gipuzkoa as a town in 1845.''Final incorporation to Gipuzkoa'' entry
in the Auñamendi Entziklopedia (in Spanish)

Lords

''Lord of Oñate'' or ''Count of Oñate'' was the title granted to those who ruled the Lordship of Oñate. Every lord of Oñate has belonged to the Guevara family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lordship of Onate History of Gipuzkoa Former vassal states

History

Lords

See also

References