Fortún Garcés (

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 ...

: ''Orti Gartzez''; died 922) nicknamed the One-eyed (''el Tuerto''), and years later the Monk (''el Monje''), was

king of Pamplona The Kingdom of Navarre ( ), originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, with its northernmost areas originally reaching the Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay), between present-day Spain and France. The me ...

from 870/882 until 905. He appears in Arabic records as ''Fortoûn ibn Garsiya'' (''فرتون بن غرسية''). He was the eldest son of García Iñíguez and grandson of Íñigo Arista, the first king of Pamplona. Reigning for about thirty years, Fortún Garcés would be the last king of the Íñiguez dynasty.

Biography

Fortún was born at an unknown date, being the eldest son of García Íñiguez, king of Pamplona, and a woman named Urraca, who could have been the granddaughter of

Musa ibn Musa al-Qasawi Musa ibn Musa al-Qasawi () also nicknamed the Great (); died 26 September 862) was leader of the Muwallad Banu Qasi clan and ruler of a semi-autonomous principality in the upper Ebro valley in northern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia in the 9th century. ...

, the leader of the Banu Qasi clan. Little is known about his early life. King García Íñiguez had worked towards a closer relationship with the

Kingdom of Asturias The Kingdom of Asturias was a kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula founded by the nobleman Pelagius who traditionally has been described as being of Visigothic stock. Modern research is leaning towards the view that Pelagius was of Hispano-Roman ...

, distancing himself and his kingdom from the Banu Qasi dynasty that ruled the lands near the

Ebro The Ebro (Spanish and Basque ; , , ) is a river of the north and northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain. It rises in Cantabria and flows , almost entirely in an east-southeast direction. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea, forming a de ...

river. He was involved in repeated armed conflicts with the Muslim forces of the Banu Qasi, and Emir

Muhammad I of Córdoba Muhammad I of Cordoba (; 823–886) was the Fifth Umayyad ruler of al-Andalus. He ruled during a time of thriving art, architecture and culture in Islamic Iberia in the 9th century, turning Cordoba into a cultural and political center. Reign ...

, who invaded Pamplona in the year 860 and captured Fortún in Milagro, along with his daughter Onneca and took them hostages in Córdoba. The

wali The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, Muhammad ibn Lubb, besieged and ultimately destroyed the castle of Aibar, resulting in the death of the King García Íñiguez. After the death of his father, Fortún Garcés was allowed to return to Pamplona to take his place as king. Fortún Garcés reigned with a policy very accommodating to the wishes of the Banu Qasi clan, which caused anger within the Pamplonese nobility. He would frequently retire to the Monastery of Leyre. A drastic change took place in 905, when Sancho Garcés was chosen by the Pamplonese nobility to replace Fortún Garcés as king. The reasons behind this decision reside in the fact that Sancho Garcés had a very well respected military prestige and had the support of important figures such as Count Raymond I of Pallars and Ribagorza, Count Galindo Aznárez II of

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

and King

Alfonso III of Asturias Alfonso III (20 December 910), called the Great (), was king of Asturias from 866 until his death. He was the son and successor of Ordoño I. After his death, the Kingdom of Asturias was split between his sons, with García inheriting León, ...

. Fortún Garcés permanently retired to the Monastery of Leyre in 905, where he died in 922.

Marriage and descendants

Fortún was married to Auria, whose undocumented origin has been subject to conflicting speculation, to whom the

Códice de Roda The ''Códice de Roda'' or ''Códice de Meyá'' (Roda or Meyá codex) is a medieval manuscript that represents a unique primary source for details of the 9th- and early 10th-century Kingdom of Navarre and neighbouring principalities. It is current ...

assigns the following children: * Íñigo Fortúnez, married to Sancha Garcés, daughter of García Jiménez of Pamplona and Onecca 'rebel of Sancosa'. * Aznar Fortúnez; little is known about him. * Velasco Fortúnez, who had three children: Jimena, wife of Íñigo Garcés, son of García Jiménez of Pamplona. * Lope Fortúnez * Onneca Fortúnez, according to the ''

'' first married to Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Umawi of Córdoba and later to Aznar Sánchez of Larraun, with whom she had three children, including Queens Toda and Sancha of Pamplona. However, the order of Onneca's marriages has been questioned, as has the identity of Fortún's daughter as the Onneca who married Abdullah.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortun Garces of Pamplona 9th-century births 922 deaths 9th-century Navarrese monarchs 10th-century Navarrese monarchs Year of birth unknown Fortun Prisoners and detainees of Al-Andalus Monastery prisoners