Medieval Igartza

Before it became a castle, Igartza was a tower. Therefore, the mission that it fulfilled in the Middle Ages has a certain military component. Our ancestors considered Igartza as a place of great strategic value. In fact, the oldest document that we have linked to this place, which dates to 1340, uses the bridge of Igartza as a key point to pass through Gipuzkoa.

As a result of this, the importance that Igartza acquired in the wars of the Elders should not come as a surprise. After all, it was built precisely for this reason, to be useful in these circumstances.

The fight that took place in Igartza at the beginning of the 15th century (approximately after 1420) is a good example of this. Our Igartza always appeared along side the Lord of Lazkano. However, Lope García de Loiola and Joan López de Igartza dared to question the leadership of Joan López de Lazkano, the main head of the faction. His response was terrific: together with their common enemy, Ladrón Balda, he closed in the house-tower of Loiola and he attacked it with bombards! Although the bombards -or Lombards - are wide-mouthed canons that shoot large boulders, they did not damage the strong walls of Loiola excessively, which is when the attack was directed against Igartza.

According to the writers of the time, the walls of Igartza could not support such a blow; a great number of deaths and murders were caused on that day.

If this was not enough, in 1456 the king of Castile, Enrique IV, ordered all the war elements of the house-tower to be demolished, which had to be to completely changed and re-built. This is an unequivocal sign that the Elders' time had run out.

The Lord of Igartza at that time, Martín Pérez de Altzaga, did not accept this decision kindly; he broke relations with the Castilian king and sort protection in the Navarre crown and fought against Castile for several years.

However, in 1475 he rectified his posture, by making the peace with the king from Castile and rebuilding Igartza.

Igartza had to face a different way of life. For this reason, instead of renovating the fort, the Lords and Ladies of Igartza built a Palace that was characteristic of the 16th century, exactly the same one that we can admire today.

After the death of any leader of Igartza, the task of making the ownership effective corresponded to their heir. For this purpose, there was a significant ritual, in which each gesture had a precise and deep meaning. In the Palace, for example, the new heir, Lord or Lady, would expel all the servants and close the doors and windows. A moment later, without anybody adducing even the slightest thing, they would open everything again, thus claiming the property. Afterwards, they would introduce tenants and servants in the house, by taking them by the hand, after they had previously given their confession of subordination.

As regards the ironworks, they would enter it when it was in operation, and with the fire lit, they would go through it from top to bottom. After this, they would cut off the water supply that activated the bellows and the mallet, throwing the workers out of the building. Only once they had opened the water supply again would they let the workers in again.

In the Igartza hospital they would open and close all the doors. They would then ask the person in charge of the hospital if they wanted to continue running it and, if they said yes, they would confirm it was in their charge.

Later they would go to the church of Beasain, where they visited the chapels and the seat that corresponded to Igartza and they would claim the priorities that corresponded to this house in the title and religious functions. In addition, the seat was high up with regard to the rest of the neighbours, on the Gospel side.

Finally, they would return to Igartza and ratify their authority over Dolare, by throwing out the tenant, and after closing the house, reopening it and readmitting them by the hand.