Basque Fact of the Week, People, Sports

Basque Fact of the Week: Txikita de Anoeta, Erraketistak

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Last week I wrote about the women Erraketistak, professional racket ball players that were pioneers in the world of women’s sport. One of the very best to ever play was Maria Antonia Uzkudun, also known as Txikita de Anoeta. She began playing professionally at the age of 13 and had a stellar career that took her across Spain and to Mexico and Cuba until her retirement in 1967.

Txikita de Anoeta with her racket and students from the racket school at the fronton in Madrid. Photo from La Hora.
  • Maria Antonia Uzkudun Amunarriz, professionally known as Txikita (or Chiquita) de Anoeta, was born in 1927 in Anoeta, Gipuzkoa. Not much is known about her childhood (or at least, I couldn’t find much). She was born in a baserri and as a child she played handball in her hometown. In fact, she always had a pelota – or ball – in her pocket so she could play whenever she got a chance. She was the youngest of 13 children.
  • In 1941, at the age of 13, she was playing the pala variety of pelota – or better said, a version using a tennis-like racket instead of the wooden ones often seen – professionally, making her debut in the city of Salamanca. In fact, she falsified her vital records, lying about her age, so that she could begin playing, as the minimum age to play professionally was 14. This was only a few years before the Spanish government banned new licenses for professional women racket players.
  • In Salamanca, she earned a monthly salary of some 1000 pesetas, which was remarkable considering that the average salary for a professional player was 300-400 pesetas. However, she only stayed in Salamanca for 6 months before moving to Madrid where she played much of her career. By 1946, she was making 500 pesetas per match.
  • Her career took her around the world, playing all over Spain as well as in Mexico and Cuba. She ended her career in 1967 at the age of 40, retiring in Madrid, where she died in 2008.
  • Txikita de Anoeta was considered one of, if not the, best players in the world. She played the back position, but sometimes played by herself against a pair of opponents.
  • She rose to international fame. In Mexico, she was often called upon to present awards and prizes, ranging from horse races to literary awards. When she went to Mexico, she was met at the airport by a mariachi band – in the words of her daughter, she was “sort of a diva.”
  • Despite the negative view Franco’s government had of women’s sport, she was still awarded the Medal of Sporting Merit. This was but one of many accolades she received. She was on the cover of many magazines and publications. She was so famous that a pasodoble was composed in her honor, which described her game as a blend of “grace with emotion.”

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: “Ama de casa de día, raquetista de tarde”: la increíble historia de unas “adelantadas a su época” by Iñigo Corral, El Confidencial; Txikita de Anoeta pionera de la pelota vasca, Onda Cero; El debut de ‘la Messi de los frontones’ by Roberto Zamarbide, La Gaceta; Maria Antonia Uzkudun, Wikipedia

Basque Fact of the Week, History, Sports

Basque Fact of the Week: The Erraketistak, or Professional Women’s Racket Players

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While women have played sport for as long as humans have existed, it is only recently that that they have had the opportunity to play professionally, to make sport a career. In the early 1900s, women, primarily from the Basque Country, pioneered a professional league of racket ball that at one time dominated the professional sports world of Spain. These women, often from rural areas, were able to establish a lucrative life. However, stigmas associated with playing professional sport often led to their stories being erased.

A group of racket players in Donostia in 1938. Photo from Wikipedia.
  • While the idea of professional women’s racket ball had precedent, it didn’t take off until Luciano Berriatua and former pelota player Ildefonso Anabitarte created a school and league for the sport. The first fronton with a cadre of permanent professional players opened in Madrid in 1917. It was a huge success, particularly because of the high quality of play and the ease the sport made it to gamble on matches.
  • The game was adapted from the traditional pelota played in frontons across the Basque Country. Women used a strung racket much like a tennis racket but the ball was the heavier leather ball often used in pelota. To withstand the heavier ball, the racket was double strung.
  • To ensure the high quality, women trained for a year before becoming professionals. They had to foot the bill for the training and lodging themselves. This devotion to quality mean that matches were highly competitive and full of drama, attracting an adoring and dedicated public.
  • At one time, the number of professional women racket players was greater than the number of men playing professionally – in excess of 700 women were playing in 1943. At its peak, it was the most watched sport in Spain.
  • After the Spanish Civil War, women playing professional sports was discouraged and bans were pursued in some cases. It was deemed unfeminine to play sport. In Spain, to play professionally, one had to obtain a license from the government. Franco’s government stopped issuing these licenses in 1944. New licenses weren’t granted until 1957.
  • This led many women to leave Spain and instead play in places like Mexico, Brazil, and Cuba.
  • These women were pioneers, not only for women’s professional sport, but professional sport more broadly. They were the first athletes to contribute to Social Security and had rights recognized even before men’s soccer players. They made significant money for the time – their salaries met or exceed that of the highest government officials – and were at the top of the professional sporting world.
  • The stigma associated with playing professional sports meant that many of these women never talked about their experiences. They had already had to endure hardship in leaving their families to play, something many of their families disapproved of. And they rarely spoke about it even with their spouses. There were accusations that these women paraded themselves on the fronton for the enjoyment of men and thus, while they were pioneers in their field, they were somehow viewed as anti-feminist. Indeed, a leading Catholic magazine of the time wrote “We have a collection of unfortunate women who exhibit themselves in public for a salary, to promote, to a larger extent, the fatal vice of gambling among men.”
  • Further, their relationship with Basque nationalism is complicated. While they were pioneers of professional sport, and played a variant of Basque pelota, they were viewed as something outside of tradition: their sport wasn’t a true Basque sport. And men dominated the story of Basque nationalism with little room for women. This plus the stigma associated with women playing sport meant that much of their history was lost until recently, with new efforts to promote their pioneering role in women’s sport and society more broadly. The site Raketistak has profiles of players and history of the sport, while this Youtube video has interviews with some of these women.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Erraketista, Wikipedia; González Abrisketa, Olatz. “Basque women on court: The success, repression, and oblivion of professional racket pelota players in Spain, 1917–1980.” The International Journal of the History of Sport 35, no. 6 (2018): 554-574.

Books, Diaspora, History

Basques of the American West by Richard Etulain

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A while ago, I wrote about Jon Bilbao and his pioneering work Amerikanuak. Richard Etulain has just published Basques of the American West, which brings new perspectives to the Basques that helped shape the history of the western United States. It also explores newer topics such as the history of Basques in places such as Washington state.

Basques of the American West
New and Collected Essays on History and Ethnicity

Richard W. Etulain

DESCRIPTION

Basques of the American West: New and Collected Essays on History and Ethnicity brings together new and previously published work by Richard W. Etulain, blending historical analysis and literary criticism to explore the lives, stories, and representations of the Basques in this region. The essays examine key figures such as Robert Laxalt and Frank Bergon; survey historical studies, memoirs, and novels; and trace evolving interpretations of Basque identity in Western literature and scholarship. Etulain highlights major trends in both Basque and Western American historiography while identifying important topics that remain open for additional research.

This collection offers readers a thoughtful and engaging look at the enduring presence and influence of Basques across the cultural and historical landscape of the American West.

AUTHOR/EDITOR BIOGRAPHY

Richard W. Etulain, PhD, is professor emeritus of history at the University of New Mexico. He studied at Northwest Nazarene College in Idaho and received his graduate degrees from the University of Oregon. He was a Fulbright Lecturer in Ukraine and taught at the University of the Basque Country. Etulain is an author or editor of more than sixty books and has served as the president of both the Western History and Western Literature Associations.

Basque Fact of the Week, Euskadi

Basque Fact of the Week: Why is there a Hole in the Middle of Araba?

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Back in March, we took a quick trip to the Basque Country to see family. On the way, we had stopped at Burgos, just to see a new place. We were talking about Burgos when a friend said he had passed through Burgos when he participated in Korrika, the massive race in support of the Basque language. At first, we were a little confused – why would Korrika pass through Burgos – until they pointed out the big hole in the middle of Araba…

  • Let’s start with some definitions. An enclave is a territory belonging to one jurisdiction that is surrounded by an other. An exclave is the opposite – it is a piece of territory that is separated from the main jurisdiction. So, an enclave of one place can be an exclave of another.
  • The “hole” in Araba is the Treviño enclave. It is actual part of the province of Burgos, but it is surrounded by the province of Araba. It consists of two municipalities, Condado de Treviño and La Puebla de Arganzón. Puebla de Arganzón was founded (received its fueros) in 1191 from Sancho VI of Navarre (“Sancho el Sabio”, “Sancho the Wise”) in 1191. It is thought that Condado de Treviño is even older. When Araba was conquered by Castilla, the region that now forms the Treviño enclave was given to Manrique family and passed down as part of a noble title.
  • As one might expect, this has led to both some complications and challenges. The people of the enclave must travel to Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital of Araba, for many of their services. This creates a strange administration problem in which Araba provides the bulk of the services to the people of another province.
  • The people of the enclave have voted in the past to join Araba, but that vote was ignored. More recently, there have been votes to have a referendum on the issue, but that was also ignored. The current leaders of the enclave have deferred the discussion to higher level government officials.
  • Araba isn’t the only Basque province with an enclave. Bizkaia also has one, this one belonging to the province of Cantabria. Valle de Villaverde was purchased in the 15th century by one Pedro Fernández de Velasco, and at that time it ceased being a part of Bizkaia.
  • And, Bizkaia has an exclave. The city of Urduña is part of Bizkaia, but it sits on the border between Araba and Burgos – it is not an enclave as it is not surrounded by a single other territory, it is on the border. It has strong historical ties to Bizkaia with long standing economic agreements and commercial routes connecting to Bizkaia. Though Araba has tried to annex it in the past, the people of Urduña have reaffirmed their commitment to remain part of Bizkaia.
  • …AND, within Urduña there is yet another enclave. The Cerca de Villaño sits within the Urduña exclave but is part of Burgos.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: See the links in the main article.

Uncategorized

Under Construction…

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Unfortunately, Buber’s Basque Page was down for a few days due to a compromised server, which meant that some posts have been lost. My most recent backup dates to December, 2024, so I’ve lost about 1.5 years of posts. I’ll slowly work to replace those posts as I continue to add new content, but it will take me some time.

If you recently sent me an email or had a message that was awaiting a response from me, I likely don’t have it anymore, so feel free to write me again.

And, if you recently subscribed to the blog, you might have to subscribe again to continue to receive posts via email.

My apologies for this. Clearly, I should backup more often than I do (isn’t that what we all say???). I appreciate your patience as I slowly recover the posts that have been lost.

Books, Euskara, People

Language Speaks Louder Than Bones: The Story of The Basques Naming Themselves, ca. 500,000 BP

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Joxe Mallea-Olaetxe, a long-time friend, is a historian who has worked tirelessly to document the history of Basques in the American West. One very visible example is his work on the arboglyphs Basque sheepherders left behind as they roamed the hills, valleys, and mountains of states such as Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon, but he has done much more. But, as with any attempt to document history, there are always holes that can’t be filled through evidence alone, and that is particularly acute for any and all things Basque. Thus, Joxe has turned to fiction to fill that void, rooted in his long years of study. Below is a trailer for his first novel.

Language Speaks Louder Than Bones: The Story of The Basques Naming Themselves, ca. 500,000 BP
A Trailer by Joxe Mallea-Olaetxe

Joxe with his daughter’s doberman Zoe as they go for a hike. Photo by Nikane Mallea.

Most of my life I have been a historian and a history-writer, until recently when I embarked in a new career as a fiction writer. I am young enough to undertake it, because writing fiction is less taxing than historical research. Besides, Saint Augustin says that fiction is another aspect of history, therefore I am not running away from it.

I am also a linguist, and though I do not have a proper university degree in linguistics, I have taught several languages at the university and college level.

My first novel is finished. It is not your run-of-the-mill novel that happens tomorrow or a century ago. Action is set ca. 500,000 BP.

What,? you might say; What do you know about life half a million years ago? Not much, but that’s the point. Is there anyone else who knows much about it? A lot has been written about our cave-dwelling ancestors, but the evidence comes from a few old bones and stone tools. The discovery of a new bone is enough to trigger someone to write a book demolishing all we thought we knew before.

I find it curious that no scientist ever attempted to use language to gaze into our deep past. Perhaps nobody thought that their language had any value, which might as well be true, but Euskara, the language of the Basques, does.

Appropriately, the title of the novel is Language Speaks Louder than Bones.

I am the narrator and thus an eye witness, which means I am there where the actions is. By the time I am done with the novel, I — and you — will probably know more than anyone about the cave dwellers. There are some — many — holes in my narrative, it happened so suddenly. I don’t know how but I found myself on a tree watching below a group of pre-Neanderthal hunters, or bears? At first I thought they were bears, until I realized that they were holding spears. Do bears hold spears?

I have still no idea where I was, but certainly somewhere in the Atlantic Europe. The huge discovery was that the dozen or so clans that I came into contact with, had some proto-Euskara words in their languages. The next finding was that these clans lived at considerable distance from each other, but they could communicate, because their languages shared some common basic words, of which some sounded like Basque.

A monumental harrimutil (stone cairn) erected by sheepherders in Alpine County, CA.

The Basque language, Euskara, has words that literally take us back to the time when “gize” (humans) had four hands, so before they embarked their bipedal journey.

The gist of the novel is that I was at the meeting when eight clans came together to choose a common name for themselves. In fact, they ended up selecting two names, one picked by the men and one preferred by women.

It did not happen overnight. It came after the realization that they, the cave dwellers, were not any different from bears, but had some differences, for example, making tools and building a fire, something they didn’t see other animals do, in fact, all animals avoided fire. The other monumental discovery was the language, so let no one call them primitive or brutes anymore.

I haven’t decided where or how I want to publish; I may end up going the Kindle way.

Basque Fact of the Week, History

Basque Fact of the Week: The Bombing of Gernika

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Today marks the 89th anniversary of the bombing of Gernika. Last month, in March, we made a quick trip to the Basque Country over spring break to visit my dad’s family and made of point of seeing Picasso’s Guernica. As we near the 90th anniversary of the bombing, the painting is once again in the news as the Basque government has requested that the painting be loaned to the Basque Country. This request has been denied, based on arguments that the painting is too fragile.

My daughter Rose contemplating Picasso’s Guernica. Photo taken by Lisa Van De Graaff.
  • Gernika sits at a crossroads, centrally located between the cities of Lekeitio, Nabarniz, Markina, Amorebieta, and Mungia and Bermeo. Every Monday, the city hosted a market and fair which would draw residents of nearby towns; more than 10,000 people typically attended the market. There were few military targets in Gernika: the bridge and the arms factory.
  • At 4:30pm on April 26, 1937 – a Monday – planes from the German Condor Legion and the Italian Air Force began bombing the city. George Steer, a journalist who arrived in Gernika the day after the bombing, took accounts from the survivors and sent the first account of the bombing to the international press. 
  • Some air raid shelters had been established as a response to the bombing of Durango only about a month before. As church bells pealed out a warning of an air raid, people fled to find shelter, leaving their livestock in the market square. Two planes flew over and dropped bombs and incendiary devices. As the aircraft flew overhead, machine-gun fire strafed the people running in the streets.
  • After that, nothing happened for about 15 minutes and the people began emerging from their shelters when another group of bombers flew overhead, dropping more bombs that then exploded. The streets filled with fire and smoke. Some of these bombs were one thousand pounds and penetrated through buildings and into basements and shelters. As the panicked populace again emptied to the streets to flee, more planes strafed them with more machine-gun fire.
  • This continued until about 7:30pm, by which time nearly the entire city was ablaze. The Church of San Juan had a hole in its roof where a bomb had penetrated, setting the altar ablaze. 
  • The immediate aftermath of the bombing was a series of denials and accusations from both Franco and the German government. While they acknowledged that Gernika had been a military target, poor visibility led to some stray bombs that hit the city itself and that then the Basque “Reds” deliberately set the city ablaze. However, the discovery of Wolfram von Richthofen‘s diary (von Richtofen was commander of the Condor Legion), which were made public in the 1970s, confirmed the bombing and the tactics used. At the Nuremberg trials, Herman Göring said that Gernika was “a sort of test bed for the Luftwaffe” and that it was an experiment that “could not be conducted anywhere else.”
  • The plans to bomb Gernika, while gestating for some time, were finalized in a meeting the day before, on April 25, in Burgos. It is hard to know precisely who was involved, but at least Richthofen and the Spanish fascist leaders Juan Vigón, Emilio Mola and Franco were involved in the planning. Richthofen and Italian general Vellani were at the Burgos meeting, though Mola was elsewhere.
  • The number of people who died in the attacks is hard to pinpoint as there are many figures out there, but they range from a minimum of 153 to more than 1500. Xabier Irujo’s analysis points to the higher number, or even more than 2000 dead. The bombing received international attention as it was one of the first aerial bombardments of a civilian population. However, it wasn’t the first: several Basque towns had been bombed earlier in the war, including Munitibar and Durango.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Castaño García, Manu; Editorial Auñamendi. Gernika-Lumo. Auñamendi Encyclopedia, 2026. Available at: https://aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/en/gernika-lumo/ar-57197/; Bombing of Guernica, Wikipedia

Basque Fact of the Week, Sports

Basque Fact of the Week: Real Sociedad, Copa del Rey Champions

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While Athletic Bilbao receives more international attention, primarily due to their unique policy of signing only Basque players, they are not the only team in the Basque Country – there are several. Yesterday, April 18, 2026, the soccer team from Donostia, Real Sociedad de Fútbol, won the Copa del Rey, their first win since 2000 and only their fourth win in their history. Star player Mikel Oyarzabal scored one of their goals, with rising star Ander Barrenetxea scoring the other. Led by an American-born coach, this win caps a remarkable turnaround where they were almost relegated to second division only a year ago.

The players of Real Sociedad celebrating their Copa del Rey win against Atletico Madrid on August 18, 2026. Photo from Reuters.
  • Fútbol came relatively late to Donostia – the first recorded match was played in 1902, a time when other towns in Gipuzkoa already playing. The sport was brought over from England, by young men who had worked or studied there. By 1903, the first clubs had been established.
  • To formally compete in official championships, clubs had to be registered. One club in Donostia registered under the name Club Ciclista so that they could play in the 1909 Spanish Championship, the Copa del Rey, which they won. This team ultimately became Real Sociedad. In 1909, they formed their own team, the Society of Football, and in 1910 the Spanish king bestowed the title “Real”, or Royal. Hence, they became known as Real Sociedad de Fútbol, the Royal Society of Football.
  • In 1913, the city and team inaugurated their football field, Atotxa, which became their home for over 80 years. The first match in the new stadium as against Athletic Bilbao, a game that ended in a 3-3 tie. In 1993, the team moved to their current stadium, Anoeta. 
  • Real Sociedad was one of the founding teams of the Spanish La Liga in 1929. In 1931, they briefly changed their name to the Donostia Club de Futbol during the Second Spanish Republic, but after the Spanish Civil War they reverted back to Real Sociedad de Futbol. Their nicknames in Basque are Erreala (“Royal”) and the txuri-urdin (“white-blue”).
  • Since their founding, Real Sociedad has won the Copa del Rey four times, including that first year in 1909 and most recently just yesterday – April 18, 2026. The previous win was in 2020, when they beat Athletic Bilbao for the win after a year delay due to COVID. They have also won the Spanish Premier League twice, most recently during the 1981-82 season.
  • Up until 1989, Real Sociedad maintained a policy similar to Athletic Bilbao in that they only signed Basque players. However, in that year, they signed forward John Aldridge from Ireland. 
  • Real Sociedad is more than a men’s soccer team. They also consist of track and field, field hockey, and pelota. In 2004, the group formed a women’s soccer team, Real Sociedad Feminino. That team won the Copa de la Reina in 2019. 
  • Their current coach, Pellegrino Matarazzo, was born in the United States to Italian immigrant parents. Though obtaining a degree in applied math from Columbia, his passion was soccer. After a less than stellar career as a player, he became a coach and in December, 2025, he was named Real Sociedad’s coach. Real’s winning of the Copa del Rey is his crowning achievement. Just last year, the team was on the verge of being relegated to second division.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Cuesta Olaizola, Eneko de la. Real Sociedad de San Sebastián. Auñamendi Encyclopedia, 2026. Available at: https://aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/en/real-sociedad-de-san-sebastian/ar-124806/; Real Sociedad, Wikipedia

Basque Fact of the Week, People

Basque Fact of the Week: Jon Bilbao, The Basque Bibliographer

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Last year, the pioneering work Amerikanuak celebrated its 50th anniversary. Written by Willian Douglass and Jon Bilbao back in 1975, this book surveys the history of Basques in the Americas – not just the United States but all of North and South America. Bilbao had spent many years chronically all works written about the Basques which undoubtedly served as a foundation for Amerikanuak. Bilbao lived a complex life, bouncing back and forth between the United States and Europe as political tides ebbed and flowed. Studies of Basques in the Americas owe a great debt to Bilbao.

Jon Bilbao playing an alboka. Photo from the Jon Bilbao Basque Library.
  • Jon Manuel Bilbao Azkarreta was born on October 31, 1914 in Puerto Rico. His father Juan had left the Basque Country at the age of 12 looking for opportunity. There Juan met Matilde Azkarreta. In 1917, the family moved back to the Basque Country, where Jon grew up. He got a bachelor’s degree from the University of Valladolid and then studied Medieval History at the Central University of Madrid.
  • He had intentions of returning to Bilbo where there were plans to open a Basque university but the Spanish Civil War broke out and he joined the Eusko Gudarosteak (Basque Battalions). The day Bilbo fell, Jon escaped in the dead of night to France, making his way back to Puerto Rico. He eventually enrolled in Harvard, then Columbia, then the University of California, Berkeley, to continue his doctoral studies. However, he never finished. 
  • As a a deputy director of the “Basque Government in Exile” he was sent to Idaho to research the Basques there and to fund-raise for the government. During this time, he was very active in fight against fascism and, after World War II, was named a Knight of the Belgian Order of the Crown. In 1943, he became as citizen of the United States.
  • During these years, he began work on what would become Eusko Bibliographia, a reference documenting every item ever published on Basque topics. In the end, it took him 20 years to complete this monumental task. At a time before the internet where finding scholarly resources was challenging, this work was indispensable for Basque scholars.
  • He returned to the Basque Country for a few years, working with J.M. Barandiaran, before moving next to Cuba and then back to the Basque Country. In 1958, he was arrested by Franco’s government. He wasn’t imprisoned due to his American citizenship but was expelled from Spain. Moving to Biarritz, he was soon expelled by the French government, causing him to return to the United States.
  • He taught at Georgetown University and the Naval Academy before being recruited by William Douglass to join the new Basque Studies program at the University of Nevada, Reno. With Douglass, he toured Latin America and wrote Amerikanuak: Basques in the New World, the definitive history of Basques in the western hemisphere.
  • He retired from Reno in 1980 and returned to the Basque Country once again. He was excited by a number of projects related to the Basques, the diaspora, and the creation of a Basque library, but things didn’t quite materialize as he hoped. He died on May 23, 1994 after suffering multiple strokes.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Jon Bilbao, Wikipedia; Estornés Zubizarreta, Idoia; Elia Itzultzaile automatikoa. Bilbao Azcarreta, Jon. Auñamendi Encyclopedia. Available at: https://aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/en/bilbao-azcarreta-jon/ar-14146/

Basque Fact of the Week, History, People

Basque Fact of the Week: Tota Aznar de Pamplona

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The medieval history of the Basque Country is both fascinating and so convoluted. There are so many marriages back and forth between different families as royals tried to consolidate and expand power that it becomes dizzying. A great example is Tota, or Toda, Aznar of Pamplona. Her skill as a diplomat and in establishing power through marrying her children places her as a central figure in the history of the Basque Country.

Toda de Pamplona, as painted by António de Holanda in 1530. Image from Wikidata.
  • Tota Aznar, or Toda as she was more commonly called, was born in the 9th century – possibly on January 2, 876. She was born into nobility. Her father was Don Aznar Sánchez, Lord of Latraun, and her mother was Doña Oneka. She was the granddaughter of King Fortuño Garcés “the Monk”; as such, she belonged to the Arista dynasty.
  • She married Sancho I of Pamplona, Sancho Garcés, who was of the Ximena dynasty. Thus their marriage united the two most powerful families of Pamplona. 
  • Toda was a very skilled diplomat. As one example, she arranged the marriage of her daughter Sancha first to Ordoño II of Asturias. When he died, she arranged the marriage of Sancha with Álvaro Harrameliz, and after he died, with Fernán González, the Count of Castile, bringing the County of Álava as her dowry. She arranged similar marriages for her other daughters, solidifying the position and power of her family.
  • Sancho I died in 925. His brother, Ximeno Garcés (who also was Toda’s sister Sancha’s husband), succeeded him, but also became the guardian of Sancho and Toda’s son García Sánchez I. Ximeno didn’t last long, dying in 931, at which point García became king, but since he was still a minor, Toda became regent and his guardian.
  • The royalty of Pamplona was intertwined with the nearby Muslim rules (Toda was aunt or, more likely cousin, to Caliph Abd-al-Rahman III). In 934, Toda signed a treaty with Abd-al-Rahman III, which helped to cement the rule of her son, but by 937 Toda had already broken her treaty, leading to conflict. In 939, she is noted as having defeated “an innumerable army of Saracens,” saving the king.
  • After García rose to the throne in his own right, Toda becomes less prominent in records. However, by 958 she is noted as ruling her own subkingdom in the areas of Deio and Lizarrara.
  • Her last great feat as a powerful ruler was promoting her grandson, Sancho I of León, known as Sancho the Fat. She enlisted the aid of Abd-ar-Rahman III to cure Sancho’s obesity, which his Jewish physician Hasdai ibn Shaprut said he would do if Toda visited Córdoba, the seat of Abd-ar-Rahman’s power. She did, along with her son and grandson, and this visit proved to be a huge diplomatic event. Sancho was cured and went on to reclaim the throne of León.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Estornés Lasa, Bernardo. Toda Aznárez de Larraun. Auñamendi Encyclopedia. Available at: https://aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/en/toda-aznarez-de-larraun/ar-139997/; Toda of Pamplona, Wikipedia