Aznar Galíndez I (also '' Asnar Galí'') (died 839) was a

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

Count of Aragon and Conflent from 809 and

Cerdanya Cerdanya (; , ; , ) or often La Cerdanya is a natural region, natural comarca and historical region of the eastern Pyrenees divided between France and Spain. Historically it was one of the Catalan counties, counties of Catalonia. Cerdanya has a ...

and

Urgell Urgell (), also known as ''Baix Urgell'' (''baix'' meaning "lower", by contrast with Alt Urgell "Upper Urgell"), is a ''comarca'' (county) in Ponent, Catalonia (Spain), forming only a borderland portion of the region historically known as Urgel ...

from 820. Aznar has been confused with Aznar Sánchez,

Duke of Gascony The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia was a duchy located in present-day southwestern France and northeastern Spain, an area encompassing the modern region of Gascony. The Duchy of Gascony, then known as ''Wasconia'', was originally a Franki ...

, and some authorities have even considered the two like-named contemporaries to be one and the same person. Aznar succeeded

Aureolus Aureolus was a Roman military commander during the reign of Emperor Gallienus before he attempted to usurp the Roman Empire. After turning against Gallienus, Aureolus was killed during the political turmoil that surrounded the Emperor's assass ...

as count of the valley of the River Aragón on the latter's death in 809. Some sources indicate him as count of

Jaca Jaca (; in Aragonese language, Aragonese: ''Chaca'' or ''Xaca'') is a city of northeastern Spain in the province of Huesca (province), Huesca, located near the Pyrenees and the border with France. Jaca is an ancient fort on the Aragón (river), ...

, which was probably the seat of his authority within the valley. He was installed by king

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (; ; ; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only ...

(a son of emperor

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

), and remained a Frankish

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

. In 820, he was overthrown by his son-in-law García the Bad, supported by Íñigo Arista's Navarrese forces. He took refuge in the

Vasconia The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia was a duchy located in present-day southwestern France and northeastern Spain, an area encompassing the modern region of Gascony. The Duchy of Gascony, then known as ''Wasconia'', was originally a Frankis ...

that remained

suzerain A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state (polity)">state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy and economic relations of another subordinate party or polity, but allows i ...

to the Franks, and was appointed count in Urgell and Cerdanya. He had four children: *Matrona, who married García the Bad, but was repudiated when he overthrew her father *Eilona, named as daughter of count Aznar Galíndez in an 862 charter of her nephew, Guntislo *Centullo, murdered by his brother-in-law García the Bad * Galindo Aznárez I, later Count of Aragon

Sources

Collins, Roger Roger J. H. Collins (born 2 September 1949) is an England, English medievalist, currently an honorary fellow in history at the University of Edinburgh. Collins studied at the University of Oxford (The Queen's College, Oxford, Queen's and Saint ...

. ''The Basques''. Blackwell Publishing: London, 1990. * Higounet, Charles. ''Bordeaux pendant le haut moyen age''. Bordeaux, 1963. * Lewis, Archibald R.
The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718–1050
'. University of Texas Press: Austin, 1965. , - , - Counts of Aragon Counts of Cerdanya Counts of Urgell 839 deaths Year of birth unknown 9th-century counts in Europe {{France-noble-stub