The Spanish conquest of the Iberian part of the Kingdom of Navarre was initiated by King Ferdinand II of Aragon and completed by his grandson and successor Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in a series of military campaigns lasting from 1512 to 1529. Ferdinand was both the king of Aragon and regent of Castile in 1512. When Pope Julius II declared a Holy League against France in late 1511, Navarre attempted to remain neutral. Ferdinand used this as an excuse to attack Navarre, conquering it while its potential protector, France, was beset by England, Venice, and Ferdinand's own Italian armies.
Several attempts were made to reconquer Iberian Navarre immediately following the Castilian invasion. There was a half-hearted attempt in 1516 and a full-fledged Franco-Navarrese campaign in 1521. All attempts were defeated by the Spanish and clashes came to a halt in 1528, when Spanish troops withdrew from Lower Navarre north of the Pyrenees. The Treaty of Cambrai between Spain and France in 1529 sealed the division of Navarre along the Pyrenees.
The portion annexed by Castile also came to be known as Upper Navarre, while the portion north of the Pyrenees, also called Lower Navarre, remained an independent kingdom, ruled by the House of Albret, and maintained close links with France. The kingdom was in personal union with France after 1589 and absorbed into France in 1620. It ceased to exist as an administrative division in 1790. Upper Navarre lost its status as a kingdom at the end of the First Carlist War.
Background
External intervention in internal affairs
Navarre had been mired in instability over the throne since the mid-15th century, with Navarre's nobility splitting into two warring factions in the War of the Bands, i.e. the Beaumonts and the Agramonts. This caused ramifications in the Basque Country both within and out of Navarre, and made it susceptible to external meddling. In 1461, Navarre was invaded by Castilian troops, resulting in the territorial loss of the Sonsierra, as well as several strongholds, to the Castilians. Starting in 1474, Ferdinand II of Aragon instituted a combination of alliances and military efforts aimed at securing the control of neighbouring kingdoms. This included turning Navarre into a de facto protectorate of Castile in 1476. Ambitions over Navarre also came from north of the Pyrenees—the Count John of Foix had aspirations on its crown, based on Salic Law alien to Navarre.
The crown, effectively led by Magdalena of France, Princess of Viana, attempted a difficult diplomatic balance since 1483. For its part, King Ferdinand II looked among the magnates of Navarre for allies, finding it in Louis of Beaumont, Count of Lerin, who demanded to rule over Los Arcos and Laguardia. He also managed to buy the services of the viceroy Peter of Foix to have the young Queen Catherine married to John, prince of Castile-Aragon. Magdalena discovered the arrangement, removing Peter from office. Finally, an arrangement with Alain of Albret paved the road for the young Gascon noble John's accession to the throne of Navarre in February 1484, thwarting again the Aragonese king's plans. However, many in Navarre contested the marriage.
In 1488, Alain of Albret aspired to marry Anne of Brittany, supporting in turn an alliance with Castile-Aragon, England, and Burgundy against Charles VIII. In March that year, Alain signed the Treaties of Valencia with Ferdinand, including military agreements for the defense of Navarre against France, and recognition of Bearn as sovereign. An understanding of Magdalena with Ferdinand, by which the Navarrese monarchs' first-born Anne would marry John, Prince of Asturias, or any grandson by Ferdinand and Isabella, led to the coronation in Pamplona of Catherine and John in 1494. However, the Count of Lerin would not accept the agreement, prompting a revolt. The crown was now resolute to crush him and other rebellious earls once and for all, but needed to secure the control of all fortresses in the kingdom for the purpose.
Bearn offered a contingent of 1,000 archers, but Ferdinand warned against military support from the Pyrenean principality. The Navarrese monarchs in turn could not subdue the rebellious count, who remained in possession of several strongholds, and under Castilian control. However, by early 1495 the crown had managed to expel him from the kingdom, gain control of a number of strongholds, obtain the complete endorsement of the Courts of Navarre, as well as the allegiance of an important number of Beaumot supporters. Meanwhile, the appointment of Antonio Pallavicini as bishop of Pamplona became another point of contention with Rome, as it did not count with the approval of the Navarrese monarchs. The accession of Louis XII to the throne of France in April 1498 ignited mutual hostility. Alain of Albret attempted to ease up relations by supporting Louis XII's ambitions to marry Anne of Brittany, as well as offering Carlota of Albret to the pope Alexander VI as a bride for Cesare Borgia. The ensuing peace treaties between the crowns of Navarre, France, and Castile-Aragon inaugurated a 4-year-period of stability for the kingdom.
Count of Lerín defeated and ensuing peace
After Isabella's death in 1504, Ferdinand unexpectedly married the French princess Germaine of Foix, daughter of a claimant to the throne of Navarre John of Foix, Viscount of Narbonne. Any children from Ferdinand's marriage would have a claim on the crown of Navarre. Ferdinand also wanted to spite his son-in-law and successor Philip, the new King of Castile. The monarchs Catherine and John opted to support Philip after the expulsion of Ferdinand II from Castilian politics in July 1506, resulting in the Treaty of Tudela de Duero. This move empowered the Navarrese crown, but alienated them from Louis XII. On the other hand, they earned the support of Emperor Maximilian, especially against France, and the pope.
As of 1507, with Ferdinand again administering the politics of Castile as a regent, the defiant count of Lerín Louis Beaumont, Ferdinand's key ally in Navarre, revolted along with other lords. However, the royal authority—Catherine and John III—warned Ferdinand that this time no demands from the count would be accepted and no pardon would be granted to the Count of Lerín. A faction of the Castilian nobility started to reach out to the Navarrese monarchs against Ferdinand II after Philip's death. However, they remained cautious.
It was in 1507, during the fight for Viana, that the condottiero Cesare Borgia, an agent of Maximilian then in the service of John, was killed by Beaumont knights. In 1508, after a year-long stand-off, the crown launched an offensive to quell the Count's rebellion. Lerín was occupied, and a severe defeat inflicted on Louis.The count's defeat inaugurated a (short) period of peace and stability for the kingdom; the Courts of Navarre unanimously put an end to the Brotherhood of Navarre in early 1510 on the grounds that "regular justice is well established, which suffices to keep the kingdom in peace"; the Brotherhood, founded in 1488, aimed at a more effective implementation of justice and persecution of crime within Navarre.
King Louis XII's ambitions
Relations between Ferdinand and King Louis XII improved after the former's marriage to Germaine of Foix. The French king put pressure on the Albrets to give up on their principalities outside Navarre—Béarn, Bigorre, County of Foix, etc.—but was met with their strong refusal. In 1507 the Parliament of Navarre appointed a diplomatic task force to France led by John of Jaso—president of the Royal Council of Navarre and father of Francis Xavier—and the bishop of Lescar. The effort was weak, as were other diplomatic approaches.
Louis XII coveted the Albrets' territories and resorted to the Parliament of Toulouse, which issued a confiscation decree. When the Courts of Navarre (The Three States) and the States-General of Béarn were confronted with the possibility of a French takeover in 1510, a military mobilization was decreed and a bill passed to create a Béarn-Navarre confederation and a permanent joint defense provision against external assault. Ferdinand II again searched for allies among the Navarrese Beaumont party.
Preparation for the invasion
In summer 1510 the international scene took a sharp turn in the Italian Wars. Pope Julius II was one of the most ambitious Popes of the era. He had declared a Holy League against Venice in 1508, and defeated it. Then the formerly allied Papal States and France went to war with one another. Julius II declared a new Holy League against France on 4 August 1511 after siding with King Ferdinand in the French-Spanish struggle for power in Italy. Navarre refused to join and declared neutrality. Ferdinand II declared war on France in March 1512. A month later, Gaston of Foix died, meaning that Ferdinand's wife Germaine of Foix was able to claim the Pyrenean territories of the Albrets.
King Louis became more conciliatory with Queen Catherine and King John III, backing down on his territorial demands. Catherine and John III negotiated with Ferdinand too, who intertwined proposals and menaces with the movement of troops to the borders of Navarre. In February 1512, Ferdinand allied with England in a move leading to military intervention in the French royal territory of Guyenne, present-day region Aquitaine. The Navarrese authorities made arrangements for the defense, while Ferdinand designed a plan to invade the kingdom. This included a propaganda scheme in which the Navarrese crown would be labeled as schismatic with the support of a papal bull from Pope Julius. To obtain papal agreement to this, Castilian diplomats negotiated with Rome for months.
Castilian-Aragonese invasion of 1512
Invasion of Navarre
In June 1512, tension mounted when the Holy League made a formal petition to send English and Castilian troops through Navarre to France. At the same time a Navarrese diplomatic mission sent to France was holding talks with Louis XII lasting a month, while Ferdinand threatened to cross the border if an agreement was reached. The talks led to the Fourth Treaty of Blois on 18 July 1512, providing for mutual assistance to keep Navarre's neutrality. It also brought attention to the English threat to France after their disembarkation in Hondarribia, Gipuzkoa in Basque territory suzerain to Castile. The next day Ferdinand sent his troops across the border from Álava into Navarre, commanded by General Don Fadrique de Toledo, Duke of Alba, who had been involved in the conquest of Granada. By that time a Gipuzkoan militia had broken into Navarre from the north-west and captured Goizueta, a village and fortress bordering on Gipuzkoa on 10 July.
In a few days Castilian troops advanced without resistance to the outskirts of Pamplona, where Ferdinand's ally Count Louis of Beaumont played host to the invading troops in his fortified palace of Arazuri. The assault troops of the expedition numbered 6,000 veterans, but the whole caravan including the rearguard amounted to 15,000. The population of Pamplona was less than 10,000. Catherine and John III left for Tudela hoping to raise troops among loyal lords, but managed to recruit only 500. Overwhelmed by the sheer size of the Spanish expedition, the loyalists veered east to Lumbier (Irunberri), and on to Lower Navarre. Catherine, John III, and their troops retreated to Orthez, Béarn.
Pamplona's outer walls were flimsy, and the threat of a sack pronounced by the Duke of Alba loomed over the town. In view of the royal family's retreat to Lumbier, the local authorities surrendered on 25 July. Without delay, messengers were sent out by the Castilians to the main fortresses across Navarre demanding that they follow suit. Most of them submitted, except for Amaiur (Baztan), Estella-Lizarra, Tudela, and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. The authorities of Pamplona were required to vow loyalty to Ferdinand, but they alleged that they could not as they had pledged allegiance to John III, their natural lord, and he was alive. In late August 1512 Ferdinand claimed that he was King of Navarre in law: de jure propio.
Tudela in turn was besieged, and resisted the Aragonese assault led by Alfonso of Aragon, a bastard son of Ferdinand II and archbishop of Zaragoza, who was commanding 3,000 infantry and 300 cavalry. The determined loyalty of the local authorities to the Navarrese crown could not hide their low morale on account of the Pope's bull and the hopelessness of their resistance, as set down on letters to the King by the defenders. The town surrendered by 9 September 1512 in order to avoid being sacked, further confiscations, and futile bloodshed. Alfonso took an oath to respect the Navarrese laws, following his father Ferdinand's instructions.