Navarre
a province and ancient kingdom of Spain, bounded on the N. by France, on the E. by Aragon, on the S. by Old Castile, and on the W. by the Basque provinces; area 6,046 square miles; pop. 304,122. The surface is generally mountainous and bleak, but in the valleys and along the river banks the soil is very fertile. The principal rivers are the Aragon, Zidacos, Arga, Ebro, and Bidassoa. Products, wheat, maize, barley, and oats. Minerals, iron, copper, and rock-salt. Principal towns: Pampeluna (capital), Tudela, Olite, and Arga, Ebro, and Estella. Navarre was inhabited at an early period by the Vascones, who were expelled by the Romans. It was seized by the Visigoths in 470, invaded by the Saracens early in the 8th century, and fell under the sway of Charlemagne in 778. It became an independent state in 855. In 1035 Navarre was divided into three kingdoms-Navarre, Aragon, and Castile. The first two became united in 1076, and again separated in 1134. In 1285, it became an appanage of France, but recovered its independence in 1328.
Ferdinand conquered it in 1512. The estates of Navarre took the oath of allegiance to him in 1513, and it was incorporated with Castile in 1515. After this act of spoliation, there remained nothing of the ancient kingdom of Navarre beyond a small territory on the N. side of the Pryenees, which was subsequently united to the crown of France by Henri IV. of Bourbon, King of Navarre, whose mother, Jeanne d'Albret, was granddaughter of Queen Catherine; and hence the history of Navarre ends with his accession to the French throne, in 1589.
NAVIGATION LAWS