Lope Íñiguez

Who was Lope Íñiguez?

Lope Íñiguez succeeded his father Íñigo López to become the second Lord of Biscay in 1076.

Íñigo died shortly after the assassination of his overlord Sancho IV of Navarre and the subsequent takeover of Biscay, Álava, part of Guipúzcoa and La Rioja by Alfonso VI of Castile. He accepted Alfonso as his lord and his son followed suit, although after Íñigo's death the tenencia of Nájera, the most important in La Rioja, which he had held was given to García Ordóñez, husband of Urraca, sister of the deceased Navarrese king. Nevertheless, it was Lope and Diego Álvarez de Oca whom the king had swear to uphold and guarantee the fuero of Nájera which he had granted.

For the loss of Nájera, Lope was compensated with the tenencias of Álava and Guipúzcoa and he was thus the first to unite the Basque provinces under one lord. The first record of his simultaneous rule in all three provinces comes from a charter of donation he made to the monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla in 1082, which he signed as "I, lord Lope Íñiguez, governing Biscay, Guipúzcoa and Álava". This concentration of political authority led to the suppression of the Diocese of Álava and the consignment of its province to the Diocese of Calahorra in 1087. In 1089 Lope received the title of count, the highest rank in the kingdom, from Alfonso. Lope's importance continued to grow, for in 1091, at his instigation, Alfonso VI donated the monastery of San Andrés de Astigarribia, which lay on the border between Biscay and Guipúzcoa, to San Millán.