Nájera () is a small town, former bishopric and now Latin Catholic

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...

, former capital 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 ...

, located in the "Rioja Alta" region of

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous community and province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, a ...

, northern Spain, on the river

Najerilla The river Najerilla is a tributary of the river Ebro, Spain's most voluminous river. The Najerilla rises in the province of Burgos and then flows through La Rioja. Archaeology The valley has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Two Iron Age h ...

. Nájera is a stopping point on the

French Way The French Way ( gl, Camiño francés, es, Camino francés, , literally the "way of the Franks") is the GR 65 and the most popular of the routes of the Way of St. James ( es, Camino de Santiago), the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Co ...

the most popular path on the Way of St James.

History

The area attracted the Romans, who built the town of ''Tritium ''on land which now falls within the boundaries of Nájera and the neighboring municipality of Tricio. Subsequently, the area was under Muslim rule and the name Nájera (''Naxara'', meaning "town between the rocks") is of Arabic origin. The town, while still an Islamic possession, was the location of the legendary 3-day struggle between

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

, one of Charlemagne's nobles, and the Islamic giant Ferragut. The town was conquered by Ordoño II of Leon for

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, ...

in 923. Nájera was the capital city 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 ...

until it was conquered by Castile in 1054 after the battle of Atapuerca. However, it continued to be multicultural. For example, in 1142 the French abbot

Peter the Venerable Peter the Venerable ( – 25 December 1156), also known as Peter of Montboissier, was the abbot of the Benedictine abbey of Cluny. He has been honored as a saint, though he was never canonized in the Middle Ages. Since in 1862 Pope Pius IX ...

used his visit to Spain to commission translations of important Islamic works, including the first translation of the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...

into a European language, and it has been suggested he met with his four translators at Nájera. From the tenth century onward, Nájera had a prosperous Jewish community, which was granted relatively favorable legal status after the Christian conquest.

Edward, the Black Prince Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and the heir apparent to the English throne. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, suc ...

fought in the Battle of Nájera in 1367, intervening in a Castilian Civil War on behalf of Pedro I of Castile. :''See also Najara family, a Sephardic Jewish family, originally from Nájera.''

Ecclesiastical history

* Established in 923 as Diocese of Nájera, on territory split off from the suppressed

Diocese of Calahorra In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

. * Gained territory twice : in 1077 from Diocese of Pamplona and

Diocese of Osma The Roman Catholic Diocese of Osma-Soria ( la, Oxomen(sis)–Sorian(a)) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in northern Spain. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan ...

, in 1088 from the suppressed Diocese of Álava. * Itself Suppressed in 1170, its territory being used to establish the

, to which its last incumbent was appointed.

Episcopal ordinaries

(all

Roman Rite The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the '' sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while d ...

) ;''Suffragan Bishops of Nájera'' * Gómez (1046–1064) * Munio (1065–1080) * Sancho (1080–1087) * Sigefredo (1088–1089) * Pedro (1089–1109) * Sancho de Grañón (1109–1116) * Sancho de Funes (1118–1146) * Rodrigo de Cascante (1146–1170); later Bishop of successor see

Calahorra Calahorra [] ( an, Calagorra, la, Calagurris) is a municipality in the comarca of Rioja Baja, near the border with Navarre on the right bank of the Ebro. During Ancient Rome, Ancient Roman times, Calahorra was a municipium known as ''Calagurris ...

(1170–1190)

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored in 1969 as Latin

Titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...

of Naiera (Curiate Italian and Latin; Latin adjective Naiaren(sis) / Nájera (Spanish). It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank : * Patrick Vincent Ahern (1970.02.03 – death 2011.03.19) as Auxiliary Bishop of

Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York ( la, Archidiœcesis Neo-Eboracensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the State of New York. It encompasses the borough ...

(USA) (1970.02.03 – retired 1994.04.26) and on emeritate * Timothée Bodika Mansiyai,

Sulpicians The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice (french: Compagnie des Prêtres de Saint-Sulpice), abbreviated PSS also known as the Sulpicians is a society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men, named after the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, ...

(P.S.S.) (2012.02.02 – 2016.11.19) as Auxiliary Bishop of

Archdiocese of Kinshasa The Archdiocese of Kinshasa (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Kinshasana''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Kinshasa'') is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its ecclesiastic territory includes the capital city ...

(

Congo-Kinshasa The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

) (2012.02.02 – 2016.11.19); later Bishop of

Kikwit Kikwit is the largest city of Kwilu Province, lying on the Kwilu River in the southwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kikwit is also known in the region under the nickname "The Mother". The population is approximately 458,000 ...

(Congo-Kinshasa) (2016.11.19 – ...) * Bernard Edward "Ned" Shlesinger III (2017.07.19 – ) as Auxiliary Bishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta (USA)

Politics

Main sites

The church of Santa María la Real was founded by

García Sánchez III of Pamplona García Sánchez III ( eu, Gartzea III.a Sanoitz; 1012 – 1 September 1054),''Europäische Stammtafeln'': II #56, III.1 #145; Moriarty, ''Plantagenet Ancestry of King Edward III and Queen Philippa of Hainault'', p80, 109 nicknamed García from ...

in 1052. It is the burial-place of kings of Navarre. The monks had to abandon the annexed monastic complex in the 19th century, as a result of the anti-clerical reforms of

Juan Álvarez Mendizábal Juan Álvarez Mendizábal (born ''Juan Álvarez Méndez''; 25 February 1790 – 3 November 1853), was a Spanish economist and politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 25 September 1835 to 15 May 1836. Biography He was born to Rafae ...

. Other sights include : * Bridge on the Najerilla river, rebuilt on Roman bridge foundations in 1090 by

San Juan de Ortega The old monastery of San Juan de Ortega is a Romanesque monument in Barrios de Colina, in the province of Burgos, Spain. History Located on the old Camiño Francés, it is commonly believed that the monastery was built by Saint John of O ...

and remade in 1880 Gitlitz & Davidson, The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago: The Complete Cultural Handbook, 2000, St Martin's Press, * Excavations of the

Alcázar An alcázar, from Arabic ''al-Qasr'', is a type of Islamic castle or palace in the Iberian Peninsula (also known as al-Andalus) built during Muslim rule between the 8th and 15th centuries. They functioned as homes and regional capitals for gover ...

(Moorish fort), abandoned in the 16th century * Monastery of Valvanera, from the town, built in the 11th century, but restored in Gothic style in the 15th century as it became a residence of queen

Isabella I of Castile Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as Queen consort of Aragon from 1479 until 1504 by ...

(Isabella of Spain). * Convent of St. Helena (18th century) * Najerillense Museum.

Notable people

Felix Morga Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

* Urraca López de Haro *

Diego López II de Haro Diego López II de Haro called ''the Good'' or ''the Bad'' (c. 1152 – 16 September 1214). Son of Lope Diaz I de Haro, count of Nájera (b. 1126–1170) and of countess Aldonza. He was a first rank magnate in the kingdom of Castile under King ...

Esteban Manuel de Villegas Esteban Manuel de Villegas (Matute, La Rioja, 5 February 1589 Nájera, La Rioja, 3 September 1669) was a 17th-century Spanish poet. Biography Villegas studied grammar in Madrid and later enrolled at the University of Salamanca on 20 Nov ...

* Pedro González de Salcedo *

Ángel Hidalgo Ibáñez Angel is a given name meaning "angel", "messenger". In the English-speaking world Angel is used for both boys and girls. From the medieval Latin masculine name ''Angelus'', which was derived from the name of the heavenly creature (itself derived ...

Sources and external links

GCatholic - ecclesiastical history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Najera Municipalities in La Rioja (Spain)