'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. His origin is obscure, but his
patronymic indicates that he was the son of an Íñigo. It has been speculated that he was kinsman of García Jiménez, who in the late 8th century succeeded his father Jimeno in resisting
Carolingian expansion into
Vasconia. He is also speculated to have been related to the other Navarrese dynasty, the
Jiménez.
His mother also married (chronology suggests it was after her marriage to Íñigo)
Musà ibn Fortún ibn Qasi, by whom she was mother of
Musà ibn Musà ibn Qasi, head of the
Banu Qasi and
Moslem king of
Tudela, one of the chief lords of Valley of the
Ebro. Due to this relationship, Íñigo and his kin frequently acted in alliance with Musà ibn Musà and this relationship allowed Eneko to extend his influence 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 Musà, 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
Aeblus and
Aznar Sánchez 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 Musà ibn Musà. Either his brother Fortún Íñiguez ("the premier knight of the realm", also half-brother of Musà) or his son
García acted as
regent, and they joined Musà ibn Musà in an uprising against the
Caliphate of Córdoba. In the ensuing campaign Fortún Íñiguez was killed. In 850, envoys of ''Induo'' and ''Mitio'' (thought to refer to Eneko and
Jimeno), "Dukes of the Navarrese", were received at the
French court. Eneko died in 851 or 852, and was succeeded by
García Íñiguez (as reported by chronicler ibn Hayyan) although it is likely that
Jimeno continued to function as a semi-autonomous ruler in "another part of the kingdom", as his son
García Jiménez later would. Eneko's own male line lost the throne to the latter's son in
905, but later kings of Pamplona were Eneko's descendants through the female line.
The name of the wife (or wives) of Eneko is not reported in contemporary records, although chronicles from centuries later assign her the name of Toda or Oneca. There is also scholarly debate regarding her derivation, some hypothesizing that she was daughter of Velasco, lord of Pamplona (killed 816), and others making her kinswoman of
Aznar I Galíndez:
★ Assona Íñiguez, who married her father's half-brother, Musà ibn Musà ibn Fortún ibn Qasi, lord of Tudela and
Huesca
★
García Íñiguez, the future king
★ Galindo Íñiguez, father of
Musà ibn Galindo,
Wali of Huesca in 860, assassinated in
870 in Córdoba
★ a daughter, wife of Count García ''el Malo'' (''the Bad'') of
Aragón (some modern sources call her Nunila, but no name is given by the earliest sources).
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.