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 archbi ...

, former capital of the

Kingdom of Najera The kingdom of Najera (923–1076) was a kingdom located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula between the years 923 and 1076, it covered the territories of the Ebro Valley, valley of the Ebro River, from the current Miranda de Ebro to Tudela, N ...

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

, located in the "Rioja Alta" region of

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community and provinces of Spain, province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other List of municipalities in La Rioja, cities and towns in the ...

, northern Spain, on the river Najerilla. Nájera is a stopping point on the

French Way The French Way (, , ) follows the GR 65 and is the most popular of the routes of the Way of St. James (), the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. It runs from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side of th ...

the most popular path on the

Way of St James The Camino de Santiago (, ; ), or the Way of St. James in English, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tra ...

History

The area attracted the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

, who built the town of ''Tritium ''on land which now falls within the boundaries of Nájera and the neighboring municipality of

Tricio Tricio () is a village in the province and autonomous community of La Rioja, Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa ...

. Subsequently, the area was under

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

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 (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; 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 Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...

, one of Charlemagne's nobles, and the Islamic giant

Ferragut Ferragut (also known as Ferragus, Ferracutus, Ferracute, Ferrakut, Ferraguto, Ferraù, Fernagu) was a character—a Saracen paladin, sometimes depicted as a giant—in texts dealing with the Matter of France, including the ''Historia Caroli Magni ...

.Gitlitz & Davidson, The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago: The Complete Cultural Handbook, 2000, St Martin's Press, The town was conquered by Ordoño II of Leon for

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

in 923. Nájera was the capital city of the

until it was conquered by Castile in 1054 after the

battle of Atapuerca The Battle of Atapuerca was fought on 1 September 1054 at the site of Piedrahita ("standing stone") in the valley of Atapuerca between two brothers, King García Sánchez III of Navarre and King Ferdinand I of Castile. The Castilians won and ...

. 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 co ...

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

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

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 Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community, which was granted relatively favorable legal status after the Christian conquest. Letters from the Jewish community in Nájera have been found in the

Cairo Geniza The Cairo Geniza, alternatively spelled the Cairo Genizah, is a collection of some 400,000 Judaism, Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid administrative documents that were kept in the ''genizah'' or storeroom of the Ben Ezra ...

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

fought in the

Battle of Nájera The Battle of Nájera, also known as the Battle of Navarrete, was fought on 3 April 1367 to the northeast of Nájera, in the province of La Rioja, Castile. It was an episode of the first Castilian Civil War which confronted King Peter of Ca ...

in 1367, intervening in a

Castilian Civil War The First Castilian Civil War was a war of succession over the Crown of Castile that lasted from 1351 to 1369. The conflict started after the death of king Alfonso XI of Castile in March 1350. It became part of the larger conflict then raging ...

on behalf of

Pedro I of Castile Peter (; 30 August 133423 March 1369), called Peter the Cruel () or the Just (), was King of Castile and León from 1350 to 1369. Peter was the last ruler of the main branch of the House of Ivrea. He was excommunicated by Pope Urban V for his ...

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 associated ...

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

Diocese of Osma The Diocese of Osma-Soria () 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 Archdiocese of Burgos. Its cathedral e ...

, in 1088 from the suppressed

Diocese of Álava 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 associated ...

. * Itself Suppressed in 1170, its territory being used to establish the

, to which its last incumbent was appointed.

Episcopal ordinaries

;''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 (; ; ) is a municipality in the Spanish autonomous community and province of La Rioja. During Ancient Roman times, Calahorra was a municipium known as ''Calagurris Nassica Iulia''. Location The city is located on a hill at an altitude ...

(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 archbish ...

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 An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the New York (state), State of New York. It encompasses the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island in New York ...

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

Sulpicians The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice (; 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, where it was founded. The members of the Society add the ...

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

Archdiocese of Kinshasa The Archdiocese of Kinshasa (; ; ) is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its ecclesiastic territory includes the capital city of Kinshasa and surrounding districts. The archdiocese is the metropol ...

(

Congo-Kinshasa The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

) (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 (; 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 Nájera (, ) was King of ...

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 and remade in 1880 * Excavations of the

Alcázar An ''alcázar'', from Arabic ''al-Qasr'', is a type of Islamic castle or palace in Spain built during Al-Andalus, Muslim rule between the 8th and 15th centuries. They functioned as homes and regional capitals for governmental figures throughout ...

(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 (; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''Isabel la Católica''), was Queen of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon ...

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

Notable people

* Felix Morga *

Urraca López de Haro Urraca López de Haro ( – c. 1230) daughter of Lope Díaz I de Haro, Count Lope Díaz de Haro, Lord of Biscay and his wife countess Aldonza, founders of the Monastery of Santa María (Cañas), monastery of Cañas was Queen consort of Kingdom o ...

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 *

Pedro González de Salcedo Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

Ángel Hidalgo Ibáñez Angel is a given name meaning "angel", "wikt:messenger, messenger". In the English Language, 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 ...

References

External links

GCatholic - ecclesiastical history

Najera Travel Information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Najera Municipalities in La Rioja (Spain)