History
It is believed that the name comes from an ancient Celtic settlement named Egon whose ruins lie near the town. The area was also populated in Ancient Roman times.[2]
Alfonso XI of Castile granted the Lordship of Agoncillo to Sancho Sánchez de Rojas and Ursula Díaz his wife on September 1, 1336 in Lerma.[3]
In 1337, Don Rodrigo Alfonso de Medrano crossbowman of King Alfonso XI of Castile, bought the village of Agoncillo, La Rioja and the castle of Aguas Mansas. Rodrigo was the son of Rodrigo Diaz de Medrano, son of the Navarrese regent Juan Martinez de Medrano y Aibar. Medrano started carrying out several remodelling works, adapting it to the style of the 14th century. In Medrano's testament in 1345 he noted having spent big amounts of money in "...building the castle and the village" (in Old Spanish "...fazer el castillo e la villa"). During the battles between Peter the Cruel and Henry of Trastámara, the castle passed onto the hands of Charles II of Navarre, although for a short period. In 1392, it was once again owned by Rodrigo Alfonso de Medrano, lord of Agoncillo, who bequeathed it to his nephew Don Diego López de Medrano y Zuñiga.[4]
Don Diego López de Medrano y Zuñiga, lord of Agoncillo, Almarza and Fuenmayor, was the son of Don Juan Martinez de Medrano, lord of Almarza and Fuenmayor, and Aldonza de Zuñiga, sister of Juan de Zuñiga and the bishop Don Diego López de Zuñiga of Calahorra.[5] His father died in 1385 at the battle of Aljubarrota. Don Diego López de Medrano y Zuñiga is the paternal grandson of Don Juan Martinez de Medrano 'The Younger' and the great grandson of Don Juan Martínez de Medrano y Aibar 'The Elder,' regent of the Kingdom of Navarre in 1328.[6]
Diego López de Medrano y Zuñiga, lord of Algoncillo, Almarza and Fuenmayor, was part of the political clientele of Diego de Zuñiga, Bishop of Calahorra in the first half of the 15th century. The house of Medrano later alternately aligned themselves with the houses of Arellano and Manrique.[7]
Several references to esquires of Bishop Don Diego de Zúñiga can be found. It is documented that Diego López de Medrano y Zúñiga, lord of Almarza and Fuenmayor, who made a will in 1449, was the Bishop's nephew, being the son of his sister Aldonza de Zúñiga, married to the lord of Fuenmayor and Almarza, Juan Martínez de Medrano. In the early 15th century, Juan Martínez de Medrano was part of the house of the Bishop of Calahorra, Don Diego de Zúñiga.
Later, his son Don Juan de Medrano joined the house of the Lord of Cameros, Juan Ramírez de Arellano. There is a well-documented case regarding the lifetime grant of the place of Cocera (a village in the municipality of Almarza de Cameros) by Juan Ramírez de Arellano to Diego López de Medrano y Zuñiga.[8] Despite receiving it as a lifetime grant, Diego López de Medrano y Zuñiga passed it down to his son Pedro Gómez de Medrano, who, in turn, conveyed it to the council of Nieva de Cameros. The first Count of Aguilar, son of the first Count of Arellano, after litigating in the Chancery of Valladolid, succeeded in compelling the council of Nieva to restore the said place.[9] In 1447, Don Pedro Gómez de Medrano bequeaths to his son Don Lope de Medrano the town of Agoncillo and San Martín de Velilla (northwest of Agoncillo).[10][11]
For reasons unknown, Don Juan de Medrano shifted to the house of the Duke of Nájera, Don Pedro Manrique de Lara, where his son Hernando de Medrano began serving as a page at the age of thirteen. In 1552, a bitter conflict arose between Hernando de Medrano and his lord, the duke of Nájera, over jurisdiction and control of the lordship of Fuenmayor and over certain vassals and tenants of the place of Fuenmayor.[12] As a result, Hernando de Medrano decided to serve in the house of the Count of Aguilar, who welcomed him despite the duke's objections.[8]
Diego López de Medrano y Zúñiga married Doña Aldonza Ramírez de Ulloque, and they had a very illustrious offspring, including Juan Lopez de Medrano y Ulloque,[13] and Señora of Agoncillo Aldonza Diaz de Medrano y Ulloque.[14] Doña Aldonza Diaz de Medrano married Lope Garcia de Porres and had one son, also lord of Agoncillo, Pedro Gomez de Porres y Medrano, Knight of the Order of Calatrava, a member of His Majesty's Council, and the Alcalde of Hijosdalgo of the Royal Chancery of Valladolid.[15][16]
A certification was issued by the Council of Castile of the transfer requested by Joaquín María de Frías Salazar y Medrano, Lord of Agoncillo and Berberana, of two privileges that his grandfather Lope de Frías Salazar y Porras had presented in the lawsuit for the lordships of Agoncillo and Berberana with the Convent of Santa Clara Medina de Pomar, which obtained a favorable judgment in 1705. He also requests that the original privileges be returned.[3]
Aerodrome
A military aerodrome was built in Recajo, a town within Agoncillo municipal term, in 1923. It was first known as Aeródromo de Recajo, but in 1932 at the time of the Second Spanish Republic its official name was changed to Aeródromo de Agoncillo. Located about 10 km from Logroño, since 1939 it housed the Maestranza Aérea de Logroño of the Spanish Air Force with the Regimiento de Bombardeo Nº 15, Escuadrón 110 that operated Heinkel He 111 bombers[17] until the late 1950s.[18]
After the bomber squadrons were phased out, the aerodrome reverted to civilian use as the Logroño-Agoncillo Airport. It now has a smaller airstrip and houses a museum.[19]
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Spain
La Rioja
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