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

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community and provinces of Spain, province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other List of municipalities in La Rioja, cities and towns in the ...

(

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

). 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 World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 1997. There were 293 inhabitants registered in 2009, the population having fallen significantly during the twentieth century.

Etymology and local languages

In a

papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

from 1199 where Privileges were granted to the monasteries of San Millán de la Cogolla it appears with the name ''Coculla'', which comes from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

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 ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

. The other part of the name is taken from a 6th-century saint ( Saint Emilianus or ''San Millán'') who lived here. San Millán has a claim to being the birthplace of the Spanish language. This claim is based on its monasteries being the home of a medieval manuscript which contains the '' Glosas Emilianenses'', and is reinforced by the proximity of the village to Berceo which is associated with Gonzalo de Berceo, the first Spanish poet known by name. The area is now Spanish-speaking, but some of the local place-names are of

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 ...

origin, and the ''Glosas Emilianenses'', provides evidence that in medieval times Basque was spoken alongside an early form of Spanish. ''Glosas en vascuence''
article by Juan Ángel Nieto Viguera on the Basque glosses

History

In medieval times the monastery had a large estate. and benefited from being on one of the variants of the Camino de Santiago. The monastery and the surrounding area suffered in the civil war between Peter of Castile and Henry II of Castile which involved a major confrontation nearby, the Battle of Nájera (April 1371). Those affected included the small Jewish community ('' aljama'') of San Millán. In 1369 Henry II of Castile made an order in their favour, "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.San Millan
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Politics

Notable people

* Juan de San Millán * Antonio Segura * María de la O Lejárraga * Leandro Nieto Bolandier * Joaquín Peña * Tarsicio Lejárraga

References

External links