San Millán de la Cogolla () is a sparsely populated municipality in

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, and N� ...

, (

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 ...

). The village is famous for its twin monasteries, Yuso and Suso (Monasterio de San Millán de Yuso and Monasterio de San Millán de Suso), which were declared a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

in 1997. There were 293 inhabitants registered in 2009, the population having fallen significantly during the twentieth century. San Millán has a claim to being the birthplace of the Spanish language. The area is Spanish-speaking but some of the local place-names are of Basque origin, and there is evidence that Basque was spoken locally a thousand years ago (see ''

Glosas Emilianenses The Glosas Emilianenses (Spanish for "glosses of he monastery of SaintMillán/Emilianus") are glosses written in the 10th or 11th century to a 9th-century Latin codex. These marginalia are important as early examples of writing in a form of Ro ...

'').

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

were living here as early as at

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 they suffered greatly in the civil war between

Peter of Castile Peter ( es, Pedro; 30 August 133423 March 1369), called 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 ...

and

Henry II of Castile Henry II (13 January 1334 – 29 May 1379), called Henry of Trastámara or the Fratricidal (''el Fratricida''), was the first King of Castile and León from the House of Trastámara. He became king in 1369 by defeating his half-brother Peter th ...

. On October 15, 1369, at the request of the directors of the small

aljama ''Aljama'' (, , ) is a term of Arabic origin used in old official documents in Spain and Portugal to designate the self-governing communities of Moors and Jews living under Christian rule in the Iberian Peninsula. In some present-day Spanish cit ...

of San Millán, whose cause was advocated by "certain Jews who were received at court," Henry II of Castile ordered that "the Christian men and women and the Moorish men and women" should immediately discharge all their debts to the Jews, "that the last-named might be able to pay their taxes the more promptly." On September 10, 1371, however, the king released the abbot and all the monks of San Millán from whatever debts they had contracted with the Jews since 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 Casti ...

Etymology

In a papal bull from 1199 where Privileges were granted to the

monasteries of San Millán de la Cogolla The monasteries of San Millán de Suso (6th century) and San Millán de Yuso (11th century) are two monasteries situated in the village of San Millán de la Cogolla, La Rioja, Spain. They have been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO sinc ...

it appears with the name ''Coculla'', which comes from the Latin word ''cuculla'', small hill, hilltop; this word is typically used for high sites and those of defensive nature, coming from the times of 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 ...

. The other part of the name is taken from a 6th-century saint ( Saint Emilianus or ''San Millán'') who lived here.

Politics

Notable people

* Juan de San Millán *

Antonio Segura Antonio Segura (June 13, 1947 – January 31, 2012) was a Spanish comics writer. Biography Antonio Segura's earliest work appeared in the early 1980s after meeting the experienced artists José Ortiz, Luis Bermejo and Leopoldo Sanchez who we ...

* María de la O Lejárraga * Leandro Nieto Bolandier *

Joaquín Peña Joaquín or Joaquin is a male given name, the Spanish version of Joachim. Given name * Joaquín (footballer, born 1956), Spanish football midfielder * Joaquín (footballer, born 1981), Spanish football winger * Joaquín (footballer, born 1982) ...

* Tarsicio Lejárraga

References

External links

Official website of the monastery of San MillánExplore the San Millán Yuso and Suso Monasteries (La Rioja, Spain) in the UNESCO collection on Google Arts and CultureThe Art of medieval Spain, A.D. 500-1200
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on San Millán de la Cogolla (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:San Millan de la Cogolla Municipalities in La Rioja (Spain)

Etymology

Politics

Notable people

See also

References

External links