Pedro de Navarra ( eu, Petri Nafarroakoa; before 1471 - 24 November 1522) was a nobleman in
Navarre
Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
and its highest military authority as
Marshal of Navarre during the kingdom's last years of independence, as well as the following tumultuous period.
Lineage
Pedro's ancestry goes back to Leonel, illegitimate son of King
Charles II of Navarre
Charles II (10 October 1332 – 1 January 1387), called Charles the Bad, was King of Navarre 1349–1387 and Count of Évreux 1343–1387.
Besides the Pyrenean Kingdom of Navarre, Charles had extensive lands in Normandy, inherited from his father ...
(1332-1387). Later in time, Felipe de Navarra was appointed marshal in 1428, dying in 1450. Pedro, his son with Juana de Peralta, succeeded him in the position, but the marshal fell dead at Pamplona in obscure circumstances at the hands of the Beaumont party (1471). Pedro the father had two sons with Ines de Lacarra—Felipe and Pedro. The former and eldest was murdered in 1481, making the latter automatically eligible for the marshal position after his father's death.
Before his marriage to Mayor, he had a son,
Francisco de Navarra y Hualde, with a lady surnamed Hualde, from Tafalla. In 1498, he married
Mayor de la Cueva, daughter of
Beltran de la Cueva, 1st Duke of Alburquerque, with whom he had a son, Pedro de Navarra (junior), who participated in the
Siege of Hondarribia (1523-1524) .
Spanish invasion of Navarre
Pedro, loyal to the
House of Foix-Albret, spearheaded frequent diplomatic tasks, standing out in them rather than in military operations. He was overshadowed by
Cesare Borgia
Cesare Borgia (; ca-valencia, Cèsar Borja ; es, link=no, César Borja ; 13 September 1475 – 12 March 1507) was an Italian ex-cardinal and ''condottiero'' (mercenary leader) of Aragonese (Spanish) origin, whose fight for power was a major i ...
as skillful military commander when he turned up in Navarre on his flight from prison in Castile.
Queen Catherine and
King John III assigned the defense of the kingdom to the tenacious Roman commander. Eventually, on Cesare Borgia's death outside
Viana in 1507, Pedro took over as Marshal of Navarre.
He went on to become a cornerstone and prestigious figure in Navarre's defense on King
Ferdinand II of Aragón's
invasion of the kingdom (1512). However, he was captured at
Isaba (Roncal) during the failed 1516 expedition against the occupation forces of the Spanish regent
Cardinal Cisneros
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
. On 29 May 1518, while prisoner at the
Castle of Atienza (Castile), he was offered the apologies of the emperor Charles V should he pledge loyalty to him, in face of which he replied as follows:
With all humility once again I entreat his Majesty to prove with me the magnificence that could be expected from such immense Majesty, by giving my full freedom back, as well as permission to go and provide service to whom I am obliged. The loyalty, the cleanness His Highness wishes and requires from his servers, I will be able to entrust to those of my kind, so that I become captive and slave at their service.
Death
While in prison at
Simancas
Simancas is a town and municipality of central Spain, located in the province of Valladolid, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated approximately 10 km southwest of the provincial capital Valladolid, on the ro ...
(
Castile), the marshal was deprived by the governor of his long-time (23 years) trusted servant, Felipe de Vergara, who was transferred to Valladolid. His replacement, Pedro de Frías, bore witness to the marshal's fears of having his throat cut after the decision to separate Felipe de Vergara from him. After the Imperial failure to capture
Hondarribia in 1522 from the French-Navarrese, he died of severe wounds inflicted on his throat, probably assassinated. His death remained shrouded in obscurity, no official announcement was made by the Imperial authorities until 9 February 1523, when the viceroy, acting at the behest of
Emperor Charles V
Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Crown of Castile, Castil ...
, decreed the confiscation of all the marshal's holdings. Likewise, his will and correspondence vanished, and no return of remains or personal objects are attested.
[Esarte, P. 2012, p. 93]
See also
*
Principality of Béarn
*
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand II ( an, Ferrando; ca, Ferran; eu, Errando; it, Ferdinando; la, Ferdinandus; es, Fernando; 10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), also called Ferdinand the Catholic (Spanish: ''el Católico''), was King of Aragon and Sardinia from ...
*
Henry II of Navarre
Henry II (18 April 1503 – 25 May 1555), nicknamed ''Sangüesino'' because he was born at Sangüesa, was the King of Navarre from 1517, although his kingdom had been reduced to a small territory north of the Pyrenees by the Spanish conquest of 15 ...
*
History of the Basques
The Basques ( eu, Euskaldunak) are an indigenous ethno-linguistic group mainly inhabiting Basque Country (adjacent areas of Spain and France). Their history is therefore interconnected with Spanish and French history and also with the history o ...
Footnotes
References
*{{cite book , last=Esarte , first=Pedro , date=2012 , title=El mariscal Pedro de Navarra , location=Pamplona-Iruña , publisher=Pamiela , isbn=978-84-7681-738-4
1522 deaths
16th-century nobility from the Kingdom of Navarre
Year of birth uncertain