Translation of part of an article published in Spanish:
“Numismática Medieval de Navarra I. Gaceta
Numismática 185; Junio 2013:
pp. 25-56”
The Navarrese numismatics, both from the Middle Age and from the
Modern Age, is an unexplored field long to be investigated into. Navarre was a
little kingdom with few economic resources, so few coins are normally found
because foreign currency was frequently used; in contrast there is a rich
documentation (often unknown) which is preserved in the Navarrese General
Record Office, main referent for further investigations.
The medieval numismatics is not an exact science and it makes
difficult for some coins to be attributed to specific kings, even at recent
ages. We have to bear in mind that coins were used as propaganda or to sustain
territorial claims, because of that, the interpretation must be found in the
sociopolitical context of the time. There are numerous examples, such as the
Navarrese King Charles II "The Bad", who issued his coins with the
tittle of Earl of Evreux, just when the French king gained this territory. Many
emissions of Ferdinandus "The Catholic King" were made in later age,
being inmovilized types that lasted long in time etc...
On the other hand, some coins described and drawn in the late XVIIIth
Century, have been copied from author to author up to the present (but these
pieces have not been seen during this time), which doesn't allow us to prove
their existence.
The biggest dificulties and
different opinions about the Navarrese Numismatic field, have arisen
with regard to those considered the first emissions until recent times.
Maybe because of the influence of the traditional Historiography
where the Christian Iberic Kingdoms were the heritage of Sancho III "The
Great" of Navarre, the first coin
was thought to have been emited by this king, being the later coins Aragonese,
Castillian and Navarrese, an heritage of the first and singular coin, a unique
piece preserved in the National Archeological Museum (VVAAA, 1999), which was
for long considered the first coin emited in the kingdom of Pamplona/Navarre,.
This coin, shows in its obverse a face looking to the right and the legend
"+IMPERATOR" and on its reverse a pedestal holds up a cross with
symetrical floral ornaments, and with the legend "NAIARA" (Fig.
1).
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Figure 1: Coin with legend
"IMPERATOR / NAIARA" attributed to King Alfonso VII of Castile and
Leon.
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This piece was firstly described by Heiss, 1869, who attributed it
to Sancho III "the Great". He also had a second piece (already known
by Gaillard) with a similar type and legend reverse with "GARCIAREX"
in the obverse. Both authors attributed it to Garcia III. Poey d'Avant (1860)
reproduced this last piece, but considering it as a piece of Garcia IV and
said, with reference to the attribution to Garcia III: "Cette date me paraît trop reculée pour le
style de cette monnaie". Caron (1882/84) and Dieudonée (1936) copied
this piece with legend "IMPERATOR/ NAIARA" following Heiss'
attribution, although Boudeau (1913) remarks in this regard: "les premières monnaies connues sont
attibuées à Garcia Ramirez (1134-1150)".
According to these French authors (Gaillard, Poey d'Avant, Heiss and
Caron) the reverse legend would be "NAVARA" because they consider
that the second and third letters are linked (as frecuently occurs in coin of
Sancho Ramirez with legend "ARAGON" and also in those attributed to
Sancho VI, where the letters "A" and "R" are linked).
If we consider the legend NAVARA, the attribution to Sancho III and
García III is not feasible, because the word Navarra appears for the first time
as a dependant earldom part of the Pamplona kingdom at the age of Sancho
Ramírez, substituting the name of the kingdom on the coins at the time of
García IV (1134-1150), and later in royal documents. Several authors such as
Campaner (1891) and Sánchez Albornoz, 1928, followed Heiss' attributions with
reference to the coin whose legend was "IMPERATOR/NAIARA", but
Menendez Pidal (1929) went further, and
considered the legend NAIARA as Nájera. This criteria was also followed
by P. Germán de Iruña (1935).
According to the second coin mentioned (attributed to Garcia and
with the same reverse), Berradondo (1932) and Beltran (1951, 1953) consider
this to be Garcia III's one. The last author published a new item with similar
characteristics and ARAGON Pamplona
but also over Aragon
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Figure 2: Coins with legend "IMPERATOR" Y "GARCIA" on
the face, and "NAIARA" or "ARAGON" on the back.
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Gil Farrés (1955), following Poey d'Avant’s hypothesis,
attribute the piece with legend IMPERATOR/NAIARA to Alfonso VII of
Castillia-Leon, subsequently, the coin whose legend was GARCIA REX/NAIARA, to
García IV (it is clear that the date of both pieces, if not the same, is close
in time). This new proposal had to face great opposition among the numismatic
researchers at that time and it was refused early by Thomsen (1956), so most of the later
authors have considered the classical attributions, considering Sancho III as
the first monarch who minted coins in the Peninsular Christian kingdoms (Mateu y Llopis (1946, 1955, 1969); Crusafont
& Balaguer (1986); Jusué &
Ramirez (1987); Pérez (1988); Ibáñez (1990), Ibáñez et al. (1991); Crusafont (1989, 1991, 1992) & Beltrán (1999)).
Recently, Gil Farrés' hypothesis has been reassumed, considering the
affinities of the face that is shown on the coin attributed to Sancho III (Fig.
3), similar to other coins of Garcia IV, so that issues of Sancho IV
"of Peñalén" are desestimated. Subsequently, the beginning of the
monetary emissions in the Peninsular Christian kingdoms must be placed at the
age of Sancho V Ramírez, probably on a date close in time to the anexation of
the kingdom of Pamplona Pamplona ,
could have been the main cause for the massive emissions of Sancho Ramírez, as
it would take place a few years later, after the conquest of Toledo
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Figure 3: Affinities of the face that is
shown on the coin attributed to Sancho III (a), and other of a coin of Garcia
IV (b).
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Considering the coin with legend IMPERATOR/NAIARA as if it were from
Najera, it would belong to the time of Alfonso VII (Naiara is the most common
way to designed Najera in the reign of Alfonso VII (Ibáñez, 1993). At earliest,
this coin could be attributed to the time of Alfonso "The Fighter",
who had a political dispute for this village againts his former wife Urraca and
her son, the future Alfonso VII. The interpretation of Najera in the coin of
Garcia IV of Navarre causes bigger trouble, because even if he never reigned in
Aragon, a royal document from Alfonso VII where Garcia IV is named "rex
aragonensis" exists (Fig.4).
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Figure 4: Document of Alfonso VII, where García IV was named "Rex Garsia Aragonensis" dated on 4th
July 1144, written due to the marriage between the Navarrese king and the
Emperor's illegitimate daughter (Cathedral of Oviedo).
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If this legend is interpreted as Navarra, these attributions also
agree, with no trouble when it comes to Garcia IV, and the one of Alfonso VII
can be attributed to the years 1134-1135,
the time when Garcia, King of Navarre showed respect to the Emperor,
exactly in Najera. So the legend NAIARA can be understood at the same time as
Najera/Navarra (this similarity between both forms often causes confusion in
many documents). If the die stamp artisan produced this multiple interpretation
legend intentionately, he never imagined how many discussions and disputes this
legend would provoke after eight centuries!
As Sancho V Ramírez was the only Aragonese monarch with this name,
the coins with legend Aragon Pamplona
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| Figure 5: First issue of Sancho VI, imitating coins Sancho V of Aragon. |
