Íñigo I of Pamplona
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Íñigo I Íñiguez, called Arista in Spanish and Aritza or Aiza in Basque (his Basque name was Eneko Enekones) (c.781 – 852) was the first king of Pamplona (810 or 824-851 or 852). He was also apparently count of Bigorre and Sobrarbe. He was the son of Íñigo Jiménez and Oneca. His elder brother (or kinsmen of some sort), García Jiménez, held a veritable principality in Vasconia. He was the father of the other Navarrese dynasty, the Jiménez.
After the death of his father, his mother married secondly Musa ibn Musa ibn Fortún of the Banu Qasi, Moslem king of Tudela, one of the chief lords of Valley of the Ebro. This marriage made Eneko influential over large territories in the Pyrenean valleys.
The family of Velasco was the chief rival of Eneko and the Banu Qasi and the chiefest of allies of the Franks in Spain. In 799, pro-Frankish assassins murdered Mutarrif ibn Muza, governor of Pamplona, who belonged to the Banu Qasi. A Velasco moved into the vacuum and the Frankish influence spread westwards in Iberia. In 824, the Frankish counts Elbe and Aznar made another expedition against Pamplona. This led Eneko to overthrow the Frankish underlings. He was pronounced "King of Pamplona" in that city by the people. Eneko was a Christicolae princeps (Christian prince), according to Eulogio de Córdoba. However, his kingdom combined both Moslem and Christian to maintain independence against outside powers. All was not peace between the Moors and the Basques, however. Abd-ar-Rahman II, emir of Córdoba, made reprisals against Pamplona.
This was a time of conflict with the Vikings and, according to Moorish chronicles, Eneko's son [1] was captured by the Norse and released for an immense ransom [2]. In 841 [3], Eneko fell victim to paralysis [4] in battle against the Norse with Musa ibn Musa. His son García acted as regent. Eneko died in 851 or 852, and apparently was succeeded by his kinsman Jimeno Garcés, lord of Álava, and apparently a ruler in Vasconia. Eneko, however, also left a son, the aforementioned García, who managed to become the sole king in 860. The Basque dynasty (in the form of the Jiménez line) ruled Navarre from the 9th century to 1234. Eneko's own male line lost the throne in 905. Later kings of Pamplona were Eneko's descendants through the female line.
Eneko married Oneca Velázquez, daughter of Velasco, lord of Pamplona, and had following children:
- Assona Íñiguez, wife of Musá ibn Musá ibn Fortún, lord of Tudela and Huesca
- García Íñiguez, the future king
- Galindo Íñiguez, father of Musa ibn Galindo, Wali of Huesca in 860, assassinated in 870 in Córdoba
- Nunila, wife of Count García el Malo (the Bad) of Aragón.
As a trivial and interesting irony of history, it may be noted that the famous general of the Cuban Wars of Independence, Calixto García Íñiguez, [5] was a descendant on his mother's side of Íñigo Arista, and was held captive in, and escaped from, Pamplona in the 19th Century.
| New Title | King of Pamplona 824–851 |
Succeeded by Jimeno I |
