A FEW DATES IN THE HISTORY OF THE EGÜÉS VALLEY

1. 1.500 a.d. The polished trapezoidal axe found at Elcano is dated to this period. This enables us to say that, at least from this time onwards, the Egüés Valley was inhabited by settlements of the primitive Vascons (ancestors of the Basques). The first settlers probably settled there long before that time, during the Stone Age.

2. 75 a.d. The Roman general, Pompeio establishes his camp in what is now Pamplona, furthering the romanisation of the inhabitants of the area, including the settlers at Egüés. Relations were friendly, with mutual collaboration and enrichment. Some ceramic and metallic remains have been found at Sarriguren.

3. 1032 all the property of the Cathedral of Pamplona was restored to it by Sancho III the Great, and amongst this property, there was some located in the Egüés Valley. Particularly significant is the mention of how the Monarch cedes part of the use of the mill known as Atea (Huarte) to the Pamplona Cathedral, this gives us an idea of the economic importance of the Egüés Valley as a centre for agricultural production for the Navarre Monarch. Probably since the beginning of its expansion (7C to 9C) this dynasty already depended on the Egüés Valley to establish its economic power. It was trying to achieve precisely this with the Pamplona Cathedral at the time of the cession of the land and rights recorded in the mentioned document.

4. 12C. This is the century when, by making an unprecedented financial effort, the valley carries out the construction of the 17 important Romanesque religious buildings that are still conserved today. Likewise, this is the century when the great boom of the Way of St James begins, with important consequences for the Egüés Valley.

5. 1162-1174. War against Castile and Aragon. After his initial victories, the king of Navarre, Sancho VI the "Wise" is forced to withdraw to Pamplona and later to flee from here and take temporary refuge in Urroz. Paris, the Bishop bravely defends his lord from the North, finally reaching an agreement to halt the hostilities. In exchange for returning the conquered cities to Castile, the king of Navarre frees himself from the vassalage relations that tied him to the Castilian monarch and he rewards his loyal bishop with new donations to the Cathedral in the town of Huarte.

6. 1184 Villaba receives the municipal charter of Pamplona, setting itself up as a chartered town with the new name of Villa Nova, from which the current name is derived and it separates from the Valley. This is a consequence of the progressive importance that the Way of St James has on the life of the valley and the subsequent increase in the number of people and merchandise passing through.

7. 1192 The settlements of Eguesibar together, receive a global municipal charter similar to that of Villaba and other towns and villages along the Route to St James.

8. 1233 The bishop of Pamplona, Don Ramiro cedes to Sancho VII the fort of the town of Huarte in recognition of the favours that the monarch has given the church of Pamplona.

9. 1263. Teobaldo II grants the Valley exemption from some taxes whilst making provisions for the Valley not to be expropriated from the Crown's patrimony.

10. 1286. The name of the valley is already recorded as the Egüés Valley at least from this date onwards, in which it is named in the book of Redemption, as well as in the older accounts texts.

11. 1348 The plague, coming from Europe, strikes the Egüés Valley and, like the rest of Navarre, its population is reduced by 1/3 of the total.

12. 1420 Carlos III grants Juan Coxe of Suescun the perpetual hereditary feudal estate of Egüés as payment for a loan of 4,000 florins.

13. 1423 Huarte is perpetually exempted from all the royal "cuarteles" (taxes approved by the Court and collected by the monarchy) in exchange for ceding to Carlos III a mill called Valuerrota.

14. 1512 The kings of Navarre, Juan and Catalina de Albrit, flee through the Egüés Valley corridor after the capitulation of Pamplona to the Castilian troops, which led to the definitive annexation of the "Old Kingdom" by the Crown of Castile. Subsequently, in 1521, the King of Navarre, would go into the interior of Navarre along this same route, which gives us an idea of how safe it was. As a result of the decree made by Cardinal Cisneros (1516) the upper halves of all palaces and churches in Navarre were demolished and rebuilt with less resistant materials (bricks). Egüés was no exception, as we are reminded by the church towers at Elcano and Ibiricu.

15. 1547 The "Ordinances of 1547" are established unifying the system of government of the various towns and villages and lasting almost 300 years, until the reform of 1828.

16. 1558 80 men from Egüés, under the command of Lanzarot of Gorraiz, are recruited by the Viceroy of Navarre to attack San Juan de Luz, in a manoeuvre to distract attention during the Spanish - French war.

17. 1665 Huarte, which was until then the administrative and financial centre of the Valley, receives from Pamplona the rank of chartered town (Villa) and separates from the Egüés Valley.

18. 1710 The troops of the Austrian archduke Carlos of Austria, a rival of Philip of Anjou to the Spanish crown, pass through the Egüés Valley plundering it. However, in Huarte, faced with the concentration of volunteers from the valley, backed by 400 dragoons, the Austrian's troops are forced to withdraw,

19. 1813 Napoleon's defeated troops cross the valley in retreat, causing damage such as the demolition of the house of the brotherhood at Elcano. During the time a French garrison was established in Huarte, Napoleon's army imposed a levy on the inhabitants, which was so high that it even had to be paid by selling silver and gold from the parish churches of the Valley.

20. 1829. Municipal Law of 1829. It grants greater freedom of action to the municipalities and modernises these organisations. It repeals the former ordinances of 1547 and leads the way to the reform made between 1935 to 1945 in the way the Valley was governed, which up till then was by a Valley Representative and an Alderman elected by the residents of each town or village.

21. 1833-39.During the 1st Carlist war, the orography of the Valley made it an ideal terrain for the military skirmishes of the Carlist band in an attempt to block communications between the Capital and Aoiz and the North, the real centre of Carlist resistance.

22. 1872-76. As in the first war, the Valley takes the side of the Carlist band in this second war against the Liberals. The Egüés Valley became a fundamental part of the blockade of Pamplona. In Mendillorri, the batteries were placed that battered down the capital on the northern side and in Burlada "barriers" were constructed to prevent the besieged from getting through. Huarte was converted into the Carlist headquarters of the Pamplona blockade. On 22nd November 1875, one of the final encounters of the war takes place at Gorráiz, Alzuza and on the heights of Miravalles in Huarte. During this encounter, the liberal forces, superior in number, are severely beaten by a group of Carlists that had been operating in the area for some time with the more or less secret connivance of the inhabitants.

23. 1911. On the 23rd April, the "Irati" train makes its first journey, and its route goes partly through the Egüés Valley. After 44 years of service, it would make its last journey on 31st December 1951. At this time the first tractors appear and communications improve. Likewise this marks the beginning of the industrial development of the valley, to the detriment of agriculture.

24. 1970. Burlada separates from the Egüés Valley and becomes an independent Council. This is the fruit of the economic boom of the sixties and of the phenomenon of the interior migrations that occur during this period.

25. 1975. The Errikotxiki residential development is constructed in Alzuza.

26. 1976. The Ubarmin Clinic is inaugurated in Elcano, by the Agrupación Intermutual.

27. 1991. The construction work for the homes in Mendillori begins, ending with the incorporation of Mendillori in Pamplona in 1998.

28. 1993. Construction of the Gorraiz residential development begins.

Bibliography:
* Encyclopaedia of Navarre.
* Monumental Catalogue of Navarre
* Introducción Histórica del Valle de Egüés: Xavier Irujo Ametzaga. Bachelor of History, Spanish Philology and Arts.
* Historia de Egüés, Miguel Larrañaga - Doctor in History and a member of C.S.I.C.