The War of the Bands (Basque: Bando gerrak, Spanish: Guerra de los Bandos) was a civil war, really an extended series of blood feuds, in the western Basque Country, Cantabria, Gascony, and Navarre in the Late Middle Ages. The main primary source for the War is Las Bienandanças e fortunas by Lope García de Salazar, written c.1471. The war is named after the aristocratic networks of familial alliances and their armed followings, known as bandos (bands), that carried out constant wars for power and honour across three kingdoms. The wars ceased only with the imposition of royal authority under Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, the Catholic Monarchs.
The pacification of the sides on the Banco de Vizcaya at the Plaza de España in Sevilla.
The wars resulted partly from the destabilising effect of the Castilian Civil War and the ensuing political weakness of the House of Trastámara. That the Seniory of Biscay effectively ceased to exist after 1370 and was subsumed in 1379 into Castile only exacerbated the effects of political anarchy on Biscay. The rise of the towns, notably Bilbao and Bermeo, caused jockeying for municipal power between the rich urban families. The landed nobility, enfeoffed in the heavily encastellated countryside, nursed feuds that dated back centuries. The Legizamon and Zamudiano had been enemies since 1270. Many minor noble families were caught in the feuds of the great families by ties of marriage.
In 1362, in the early stage of the conflicts, the Legizamon and Zurbarán families fought a battle in the streets of Bilbao. They battled again in the market of Bermeo in 1413. Thereafter until 1433 the fighting between the two bands continued without a truce. The Basurto, who had been enemies of the Legizamon over the rights to a salmon, fought on the side of the Zurbarán. The urban warfare was less fatal than the pitched battles often fought in the countryside: only five men died in a fracas in Bilbao in 1440 and only ten in the streets of Bermeo in 1443.
In 1413 a private war broke out between Juan de Sant Pedro, from the Labourd in the English Duchy of Gascony, and the Navarrese houses of the Espeleta and the Alzate. After the head of the Alzate and his son were killed, Lord Fernando of the Gamboa family of Gipuzkoa married his son to the daughter and heiress of the Alzate. In consequence he led an attack on Juan de Sant Pedro to avenge his daughter-in-law's family. He was defeated and killed and 150 men died in the battle.
Around 1420 the Gamboinos extended their feuding with an assault by night on the Oñaz family, also of Guipúzcoa. On Christmas, the Oñaz' manor was set alight and the head of the house plus nine others died in the blaze. The Oñaz family lands were then ravaged by the Gamboinos and their allies, but the allies of the Oñaz came to their defence. Of the latter, the Lezcano attacked the Gamboino-allied Balda family and killed its leader. With the end of this little war a whole new network of blood feuds had come into being.
The Gamboinos and the Balda fought against the Oñaz and the Lezcano at Zumarraga in 1446. The Oñaz were victorious and burnt the Gamboino fortress at Azkoitia. Seventy men and twelve of the leaders were killed. The families, with every wider networks of allies, engaged again in 1447 and 1448.
As early as 1390 and 1393 warring in Biscay had been reduced by the intervention of the royalist hermandades, capable of drawing on the revenues of royal estates. In 1415 the corregidor, the royally-appointed governor of the hermandad, acting on royal orders, siphoned off Biscayan wheat to the Asturias, inciting a rebellion. The Biscayans were defeated at Erandio with the loss of sixty men and the wheat transfers continued. In 1442 the hermandades interfered successfully in Bilbao and Mondragón, but the peace established did not endure. In 1457 the war between the Gamboinos and the Oñaz was brought to an abrupt end when the hermandades rebelled against them both, seized their manors, and expelled their leaders from Guipúzcoa.
Collins, Roger. The Basques. London: Blackwell Publishing, 1990. ISBN0-631-13478-6.
January 01, 1970
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This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article does not cite any sources Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources War of the Bands news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2021 Learn how and when to remove this message This article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations July 2021 Learn how and when to remove this message Learn how and when to remove this message The War of the Bands Basque Bando gerrak Spanish Guerra de los Bandos was a civil war really an extended series of blood feuds in the western Basque Country Cantabria Gascony and Navarre in the Late Middle Ages The main primary source for the War is Las Bienandancas e fortunas by Lope Garcia de Salazar written c 1471 The war is named after the aristocratic networks of familial alliances and their armed followings known as bandos bands that carried out constant wars for power and honour across three kingdoms The wars ceased only with the imposition of royal authority under Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile the Catholic Monarchs The pacification of the sides on the Banco de Vizcaya at the Plaza de Espana in Sevilla The wars resulted partly from the destabilising effect of the Castilian Civil War and the ensuing political weakness of the House of Trastamara That the Seniory of Biscay effectively ceased to exist after 1370 and was subsumed in 1379 into Castile only exacerbated the effects of political anarchy on Biscay The rise of the towns notably Bilbao and Bermeo caused jockeying for municipal power between the rich urban families The landed nobility enfeoffed in the heavily encastellated countryside nursed feuds that dated back centuries The Legizamon and Zamudiano had been enemies since 1270 Many minor noble families were caught in the feuds of the great families by ties of marriage In 1362 in the early stage of the conflicts the Legizamon and Zurbaran families fought a battle in the streets of Bilbao They battled again in the market of Bermeo in 1413 Thereafter until 1433 the fighting between the two bands continued without a truce The Basurto who had been enemies of the Legizamon over the rights to a salmon fought on the side of the Zurbaran The urban warfare was less fatal than the pitched battles often fought in the countryside only five men died in a fracas in Bilbao in 1440 and only ten in the streets of Bermeo in 1443 In 1413 a private war broke out between Juan de Sant Pedro from the Labourd in the English Duchy of Gascony and the Navarrese houses of the Espeleta and the Alzate After the head of the Alzate and his son were killed Lord Fernando of the Gamboa family of Gipuzkoa married his son to the daughter and heiress of the Alzate In consequence he led an attack on Juan de Sant Pedro to avenge his daughter in law s family He was defeated and killed and 150 men died in the battle Around 1420 the Gamboinos extended their feuding with an assault by night on the Onaz family also of Guipuzcoa On Christmas the Onaz manor was set alight and the head of the house plus nine others died in the blaze The Onaz family lands were then ravaged by the Gamboinos and their allies but the allies of the Onaz came to their defence Of the latter the Lezcano attacked the Gamboino allied Balda family and killed its leader With the end of this little war a whole new network of blood feuds had come into being The Gamboinos and the Balda fought against the Onaz and the Lezcano at Zumarraga in 1446 The Onaz were victorious and burnt the Gamboino fortress at Azkoitia Seventy men and twelve of the leaders were killed The families with every wider networks of allies engaged again in 1447 and 1448 As early as 1390 and 1393 warring in Biscay had been reduced by the intervention of the royalist hermandades capable of drawing on the revenues of royal estates In 1415 the corregidor the royally appointed governor of the hermandad acting on royal orders siphoned off Biscayan wheat to the Asturias inciting a rebellion The Biscayans were defeated at Erandio with the loss of sixty men and the wheat transfers continued In 1442 the hermandades interfered successfully in Bilbao and Mondragon but the peace established did not endure In 1457 the war between the Gamboinos and the Onaz was brought to an abrupt end when the hermandades rebelled against them both seized their manors and expelled their leaders from Guipuzcoa References editThis article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations October 2015 Learn how and when to remove this message Collins Roger The Basques London Blackwell Publishing 1990 ISBN 0 631 13478 6 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title War of the Bands amp oldid 1208698243, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
