Arjona is a municipality in the province of Jaén,

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, Spain. It is located from the provincial capital, Jaén, and from the city of Córdoba. It has an area of , and as of 2017 it had a population of 5,662. It belongs to the ''

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

'' of Campiña. Its land area is primarily agricultural, with an emphasis on

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

trees. Its economy relies primarily on agriculture and

olive oil Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...

production, but it is also known for its furniture and baking industries. Arjona is known as the birthplace in 1194 of Muhammad I, founder of the

Emirate of Granada The Emirate of Granada, also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, was an Emirate, Islamic polity in the southern Iberian Peninsula during the Late Middle Ages, ruled by the Nasrid dynasty. It was the last independent Muslim state in Western ...

History

Excavations in Arjona's central square revealed a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

settlement from around 3000 BC.

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

ns and

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

also left their mark on the municipal territory, with the name ''URGABON'' appearing on Greek coins. During the

Roman Era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, Arjona was known as ''Urgavo'' or ''Urgao Alba''. After

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

's victory at the Battle of Munda in 45 BC, Urgavo received a privileged juridical statue for its support of Caesar, as did Illiturgis, Isturgis (now Andújar), and Obulco (now Porcuna). Inscriptions have been found attesting to the city's importance during the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, probably connected to the existence of temples dedicated to

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

and Plotina, the wife of

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

. Arjona was one of the first places on the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

that was awarded the

Roman citizenship Citizenship in ancient Rome () was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, traditions, and cu ...

(''Municipium Albium Urgabonense''). In 308, the execution of the brothers and Christian martyrs Saints Bonosus and Maximianus took place in Arjona. After the 8th century

Umayyad conquest of Hispania The Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (; 711–720s), also known as the Arab conquest of Spain, was the Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom, Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania in the early 8th century. The conquest re ...

, Urgavo came to be known as ''Qal'at Arjuna'' in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and was controlled by the Banu Bayila family. After the fall of the

Caliphate of Córdoba A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

in 1031, the city participated in the internal fights of the ''

taifa The taifas (from ''ṭā'ifa'', plural ''ṭawā'if'', meaning "party, band, faction") were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), referred to by Muslims as al-Andalus, that em ...

'' period, during which time its city walls were reinforced. Around the middle of the 12th century, Arjona was taken by the

Almohad Caliphate The Almohad Caliphate (; or or from ) or Almohad Empire was a North African Berbers, Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) and North Africa (the Maghreb). Th ...

. In 1195, Arjona was the birthplace of Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn Nasr, also known as Ibn al-Aḥmar, who would go on to become Muhammad I, the first ruler of the

and founder of the

Nasrid dynasty The Nasrid dynasty ( ''banū Naṣr'' or ''banū al-Aḥmar''; ) was an Arab dynasty that ruled the Emirate of Granada from 1232 to 1492. It was the last Muslim dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula. Twenty-three sultans ruled Granada from the foun ...

. He was born in the Alcázar, which is now the Hospital of San Miguel and was formerly known as the Casa del Rey. The Almohad Caliphate went into decline after 1212, and

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

came under control of Ibn Hud. In 1232, Muhammad started a rebellion in Arjona against Ibn Hud. Muhammad lost the rebellion, but retained Arjona and Jaén. In the following years, he gained control over several other cities, but in 1244 Arjona was taken by the Christian forces of

Ferdinand III of Castile Ferdinand III (; 1199/120130 May 1252), called the Saint (''el Santo''), was King of Castile from 1217 and King of León from 1230 as well as King of Galicia from 1231. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berengaria of Castile. Through his ...

. In 1246, Muhammad agreed to surrender Jaén as well and accept Ferdinand's overlordship, creating the Emirate of Granada as a

tributary state A tributary state is a pre-modern state in a particular type of subordinate relationship to a more powerful state which involved the sending of a regular token of submission, or tribute, to the superior power (the suzerain). This token often ...

and becoming its first ruler. Under Christian rule, Arjona and Jaén were incorporated into the

Kingdom of Jaén The Kingdom of Jaén () was a territorial jurisdiction of the Crown of Castile since 1246 and until Javier de Burgos' provinces of Spain, provincial division of Spain in 1833. This was a "kingdom" () in the second sense given by the : the Crown ...

, a territory of the

Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...

. Arjona was initially managed by the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

, which was dissolved in 1312, then by the

Order of Calatrava The Order of Calatrava (, ) was one of the Spanish military orders, four Spanish military orders and the first Military order (society), military order founded in Kingdom of Castile, Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bu ...

knights. File:Arjona - 008 (30621654032).jpg, alt=A bust statue of Muhammad I in Islamic garb, A bust statue of Muhammad I in Arjona File:Torre del Cortijo de los Salineros 24J 07.jpg, alt=Olive orchards with Arjona in the distance, Olive orchards with Arjona in the distance

References

{{authority control Municipalities in the Province of Jaén (Spain) Roman towns and cities in Spain

History

See also

References