Navarre (Basque Nava, naba, 'a mountain plain,' and erri, 'country ;' there is also a Basque word Nabarra, 'variegated'), formerly one of the kingdoms which arose in the Pyrenees after the downfall of the Goths, has since 1512 been divided into Spanish Navarra, and French or Basse-Navarre (now Basses Pyrénées). Spanish Navarra, by far the greater, is bounded N. by France, E. by Aragon, S. partly by the Ebro, partly by Castile and Aragon, and W. by Alava and Guipuzcoa. The area is somewhat over 6000 sq. m. ; pop. 304,122, or 50 to the square mile. It is one of the most varied provinces of Spain in surface and climate ; within sight of the Atlantic at its north-west corner, the rainfall is there one of the heaviest in Europe, while in the south-east the steppes of the Bardenas Reales are almost sterile for want of water, and at Tudela we encounter Moorish modes of irrigation, supplemented by the canal of Charles V. The mountains of the northern frontier range, west to east, from 3000 to 8000 feet of altitude ; in the interior they reach occasionally 5000. With the exception of the Bidassoa, which enters the Atlantic at the inner angle of the Bay of Biscay, the numerous other streams flow at right angles to the Pyrenees, and are all affluents of the Ebro ; the principal are the Aragon, Arga, and Ega. The mountain-valleys are narrow but fertile. By the energy of the Basques, who do not live like the Spaniards only in towns and villages, cultivation is carried on almost everywhere. The chief productions are maize, wheat, chestnuts, apples, and a strong red wine. Cattle abound, but not many sheep or horses. Minerals are found in the Pyrenees, and mines of argentiferous lead, copper, and iron are worked ; rock-salt also is found in the province. The wild animals include the bear, wolf, roe-deer, izard (ibex) in the mountains of the Aragonese frontier ; foxes, wild cat, genetie, otter, marten, &c. are in sufficient numbers to make commerce of their skins. The population of Navarre is generally bilingual : from a little to the south of Pamplona northwards Basque prevails ; to the south Spanish only is spoken. Until now Spanish has encroached far more on Basque in Navarra than has French in Basse-Navarre.
History.—In Roman times the country now called Navarre was occupied by the Iberian Vascones, who have given their name both to Basques and Gascons. Within historic times there has been a strong Celtic element in the country. The capital, Pamplona (Pompeopolis), recalls the Roman Triumvir, but the older native name, Irun (Irunean), is often on books printed at Pamplona. The subjection of the Vascones to the Visigoths was nominal only. On the downfall of the latter and the incursion of the Arabs the mountains of Navarre became one of the early centres of resistance and of reconquest. From the native chiefs, or counts, arose the first dynasty of Navarre—García Jimenez (860) to Sancho the Strong (1234). The history of Navarre is full of interest. In 778 the rout of Charlemagne's rear-guard, and the death of Roland at Roncesvalles, furnished a theme for countless poems and romances. With Aragon and Castile Navarre shares the honour of being one of the first countries in which parliamentary rule with representation of towns and commons (Universidades) obtained. The Cortes (Curie) arose out of the Councils, and there was regular representation of the three orders before the close of the 12th century. During this period Navarra gained its name and modern limits, but under Sancho the Great (1028-35), and again (1109-34) under Alfonso I., it seemed as if the union completed under Ferdinand and Isabel would have taken place three or four centuries earlier. Sancho the Strong left no male heirs, and the future succession of Navarre was singularly broken from the same cause. The crown passed to Thibaut, count of Champagne, through the younger daughter. There were three kings of this house from 1234-84, when the crown passed by marriage to Philippe le Bel of France. Five kings of France (1284-1328) reigned over Navarre, when, through the female succession, it passed to Philippe, count of Evreux; three kings of this line succeeded—Philip III., Charles II. the Bad, and Charles III. Under them Navarre reached its highest prosperity; most of the architectural beauties of Navarre date from this period, 1328-1416. Navarre had been always closely connected with Aragon, and three of its kings had already borne the title of Aragon and Navarre. Blanca, the daughter of Charles III., married first Martin, king of Sicily, and after his death Juan II. of Aragon. Civil war arose between him and his son, Don Carlos, Prince of Viana, one of the most interesting characters of his time. The factions of Beaumont (Don Carlos) and of Agramont (Juan II.) proved the ruin of Navarra. Henceforth her jealous neighbours could always rely on the support of one or other in their encroachments. Leonor, the daughter of Juan II., married Gaston of Foix, and thus Navarre became united to Bearn; her granddaughter, Catharine de Foix, married Jean d'Albret in 1486, and during their reign in 1512 the Duke d'Alba conquered Navarra, which has since been united with the Spanish crown. French Navarre was joined to that of France by the accession of Henri of Navarre in 1589, but the formal union was not completed until 1620 by Louis XIII. After its union Spanish Navarre was governed by a viceroy, and retained its own cortes, mint, style of kings (Carlos III. of Spain was VI. of Navarra, &c.), power of taxation, and Fucros (q.v.). These privileges were almost wholly lost by the first Carlist war (1833-39), and were still more diminished by the second (1872-76). Navarra is now one of the forty-nine provinces of Spain, with merely local self-government in minor matters in certain districts. In France Basse
Navarre preserved its fucros till 1789, refused to send deputies to the States-general as part of France, and declared that it would only accept the new constitution if it were better than its own. The fucros of Navarre are more like those of Aragon than those of the Basque Provinces. In their written form they are probably not older than the 13th century, but many provisions point back to a higher antiquity. The seven Faznias (precedents) are in the form of apologues, animals are considered as morally responsible and guilty of homicide towards each other, marriage is a civil right, the children of a concubine (barragana) are provided for, compurgation is in full force, and social excommunication is inflicted on those who will not conform to the customs. Tolerance is extended to Moors and Jews, and the oath to be taken by the latter is very long and curious. In the Cortes the power of taxation was secured by supplies being withheld until all grievances had been redressed. With consent of the Cortes the king might amend, but could not impair the fucros. Navarre was a frontier of the English possessions in south-west France from 1152 to 1453. Richard I. and Henry IV. married princesses of Navarre; had the former had issue, they would have been heirs of Navarre in preference to the counts of Champagne. Charles the Bad was the ally of the Black Prince, who passed through his dominions to Navarre. Wellington blockaded Pamplona, and marched through Navarre in 1813-14.
See P. J. Moret, Investigaciones Historicas del reyno de Navarra (1 vol. 1665) and Anales del reyno de Navarra (3 vols. Pamplona, 1684)—both reprinted by E. Lopez of Tolosa in 1890-91; Tanguas, Diccionario de las Antiguedades de Navarra (4 vols. Pamplona, 1840-43); Fuero General de Navarra (Pamplona, 1869); La Navarre Française, par M. G. B. de Lagrèze (2 vols. Paris, 1881); the decisions of the Cortes under title Quaderno de las Leyes y Agrarios Reparados, &c., vol. vii., and V. de la Fuente, Estudios Críticos sobre la Historia y el Derecho de Aragon, vols. i. and ii. (Madrid, 1884-85).