Olite (''Erriberri'' in
Basque language) is a town and
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
located in the
Comarca de Tafalla comarca,
Merindad de Olite merindad
''Merindad'' () is a Mediaeval Spanish administrative term for a country subdivision smaller than a province but larger than a municipality. The officer in charge of a merindad was called a merino, roughly equivalent to the English ''count'' or ...
, in
Navarre,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
History
According to
Isidore of Seville's ''
Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum
The ''Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum'' ("History of the Kings of the Goths, Vandals and Suevi") is a Latin history of the Goths from 265 to 624, written by Isidore of Seville. It is a condensed account and, due to its diver ...
'', the town of ''Oligicus'' was founded by
Swinthila
Suintila, or ''Suinthila'', ''Swinthila'', ''Svinthila''; (ca. 588 – 633/635) was Visigothic King of Hispania, Septimania and Galicia from 621 to 631. He was a son of Reccared I and his wife Bado, and a brother of the general Geila. Under Suintil ...
,
Visigothic
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
of
Hispania
Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hisp ...
(621-631) in order to control and punish the
Vascones
The Vascones were a pre-Roman tribe who, on the arrival of the Romans in the 1st century, inhabited a territory that spanned between the upper course of the Ebro river and the southern basin of the western Pyrenees, a region that coincides wi ...
. However, this town was not heard of again until five centuries later, when the present-day town was founded and chartered.
The
Palacio Real de Olite
The Palace of the Kings of Navarre of Olite or Royal Palace of Olite is a castle-palace in the town of Olite, in Navarre, Spain. It was one of the seats of the Court of the Kingdom of Navarre, since the reign of Charles III "the Noble" until its ...
, a fine
Gothic castle-palace, was the royal seat of
Charles III of Navarre
Charles III (1361 – 8 September 1425), called the Noble, was King of Navarre from 1387 to his death and Count of Évreux from 1387 to 1404, when he exchanged it for the title Duke of Nemours. He spent his reign improving the infrastructure of ...
.
Twin towns - sister cities
References
Bibliography
* Alejandro Díez. ''Olite, historia de un reino''. Gráficas Lizarra. 1984.
External links
Olite in Medieval History of NavarreWeb del Ayuntamiento
OLITE in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa)
{{Authority control
Gothic cities and towns
Populated places in Navarre