History of Asturias
The History of Asturias includes everything from when the Paleolithic tribes settled in the Cantabrian Coast to the modern post-industrial society of today. On the etymology of the term "Asturias", some think that its origin can be traced back to the name of the Astura river (today the Esla river), whose inhabitants were called "astures" by the Roman authors.[1]
Prehistory
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Paleolithic
[edit]Asturias was inhabited by humans since the Lower Paleolithic (100,000 years ago), from the Acheulean to the Mousterian. There are rock paintings that date back 30,000 years and correspond to the Solutrean, Magdalenian, and Aurignacian cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and typical of both the peoples of the Cantabrian Mountains and Southern France.[1]
From the sites known to date, it is believed that the first settlers of Asturias inhabited the Cantabrian coast and the river valleys: the Pindal caves (Ribadedeva), Posada, Tito Bustillo (Ribadesella), Buxu (Cangas de Onís), Peña de Candamo (Candamo), and Covaciella (Cabrales).[1]
Mesolithic: Asturian culture
[edit]An original culture emerged during the Mesolithic, the Asturian, typical of eastern Asturias and western Cantabria. These settlements could be found in the entrance of caves close to the sea or under shelters, generally near the coast, although they were also found in inland Cantabrian mountains.[1]
Neolithic
[edit]Evidence of the Asturian Neolithic includes the thirty dolmens of the prehistoric necropolis of Mount Areo, between Carreño and Gijón, 5,000 years old, as well as burial mounds and the Idol of Peña Tú (Llanes). At some point the earlier cultures abandoned the caves and mastered agriculture and animal husbandry.[1]
According to Avienius in his description of the coasts of western Europe, the people who originally inhabited the north of the peninsula and the Atlantic coast as far as Brittany were the Oestrimnios. They were descendants of the first inhabitants who were pre-Indo-European and non-Celtic Indo-European. These groups were later displaced by others that formed the Ofiusa (name given to the entire north of the peninsula): Cempsos, Sejes, Ligus, and Draganos. The Draganos, of Celtic origin, occupied present-day Asturias.[1]
Ancient history
[edit]Castro culture
[edit]The period from the abandonment of the caves until almost the Romanization is quite unknown. Greek or Latin authors speak of barbaric and battle-hardened tribes that lived in the jungles and mountains. Roman writers such as Pliny the Elder and Pomponius Mela, and Greek writers like Strabo, mention two main astures tribes separated by the Cantabrian Mountains: the Augustanos (with their capital in Asturica, present-day Astorga, whose domains reached the Duero river) and the Transmontanos (that spread between the Sella river and the Navia river). However, these divisions are now understood to be the product of Roman practicality in establishing administrative and police systems, and not as a reflection of accurate indigenous identities.[2]
There is also written proof of the hard fights between Astures and Cantabri along the Sella riverbed. They illustrate the roughness and bravery of both peoples and their resistance to Roman domination.[2]
Evidence of human presence in Asturias during this period includes the castros. Among them, the Castro of Coaña is an Asturian settlement built at the beginning of our era near the capital of the Coaña council. It lost importance from the 3rd century onwards and has been related with gold mining in the Navia river.[2] Other notable castros include Pendía (Boal), Chao Samartín (Grandas de Salime), San Chuis (Allande), Os Castros (Taramundi), Cabo Blanco (El Franco), La Sobia, and La Cogollina (Teverga), Campa Torres (Gijón), Caravia,[3] and about 300 others.[4]
Romanization
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By the end of the 1st century BC, the Romans wanted to complete the conquest of the entire Iberian Peninsula. Only the northern peoples, Astures and Cantabri, weren't under Roman control at the time. The main imperial interest in this region was the underground gold of the northwestern peninsular area,[6] known to the Romans from the expedition against Gallaecia by Brutus. Additionally, the young Emperor Augustus needed a victory to glorify his position.[7] In 29 BC, the Vaccei, Astures, and Cantabri got together in their fight against the Romans, who concentrated all their military power in the north of the peninsula. Caesar Augustus had to personally lead his troops.[8]
Augustus carefully planned the war, creating extensive supply networks[9] for his eight mobilized legions: I Augusta, II Augusta, IV Macedonica, V Alaudae, VI Victrix, IX Hispanensis, X Gemina, and XX Valeria Victrix, totaling around 50,000 men.[10] The complex Asturian geography and the fierce Asturian resistance, organized through guerrilla warfare,[11] prolonged the Roman invasion until 19 BC. Most of the war occurred between 26 and 22 BC, with several battles, such as the siege of Mount Medulio.
According to Greco-Latin sources,[12] in 25 BC, the Astures crossed the mountains of the Cantabrian coast and camped near the Astura river (now known as the Esla river). They divided their forces into three columns to attack three Roman camps. Had it not been for the treachery of Brigaecium city, which alerted the Romans thus giving them time to reorganize and repel the attack, the Asturians would have overwhelmed the troops of General Publius Carisius. After this defeat, the Astures took refuge in the oppidum of Lancia, which was attacked and occupied by the legate of Lusitania.
However, this did not mark the end of Asturian resistance. The Romans had to deal with successive rebellions that periodically arose because of treatment received from the invader or the increase in taxes. There were several rebellions in 24 BC, 22 BC and a last one in 19 BC, which was the most severely repressed. Augustus, wanting a quick pacification, left command of his troops to his best strategist: Agrippa.[6]
Romanization began militarily, securing the mountainous territory filled with castros, through camps like La Carisa.[13] Military control allowed for a reliable extraction of precious minerals, especially in El Bierzo through the mines of Las Médulas, located in present-day León. A large number of Astures were recruited into the Roman army to undertake defensive campaigns on the borders of the Roman Empire.[14]
Early Middle Ages
[edit]Visigothic monarchy
[edit]The fall and disintegration of the Roman Empire, which seemed to have not exerted much influence on the Asturian territory, occurred in the 5th century. In the 6th century, the invasion of the Iberian Peninsula by the Visigoths and Suebi was rejected by the Astures, thus remaining outside of the cultural influence of Germanic peoples.
Primitive Christianity was established in Asturias between the 5th and 8th centuries.
Asturian monarchy (718-910)
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When the Muslims won the battle of Guadalete (711) against the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo, the Christians of Toledo fled to seek refuge in Asturias. It was then that the relics currently kept in the Holy Chamber of the Cathedral were brought to Asturias. They were first kept in Monsacro (Mounts of Morcín) and later in Oviedo. This region never underwent intense Arabization, since the Muslim occupations were occasional and had more of a razzia character.
In 716, the first rebellion against Muslim rule occurred in Asturias, led by Don Pelagius (probably of noble origin). This rebellion was suppressed, and Pelagius was arrested and imprisoned.
Pelagius managed to escape from Córdoba in 717, reaching the Piloña River in 718, and that same year, he became the leader of the Astures, after persuading and convincing the Asturian people of the need to unite their forces against "the common enemy." In May 722, a second confrontation took place in the Battle of Covadonga against the Arab general Munuza. This was more of a guerrilla victory than a military one. In order to consolidate the triumph, Pelagius proclaimed himself king in Cangas de Onís, founding the Kingdom of Asturias.
As a result of several splits and regroupings, the Asturian monarchy would give way in the following centuries to the Kingdoms of León, Galicia, Castile, and Portugal. From then until 1492, the Iberian Peninsula was divided into a Muslim part and a Christian part.
During Fruela's reign, the capital was moved to Oviedo. There, the abbot Maximus and his nephew Fromestano built a Benedictine cenobium over the ruins of a Roman castro. This castro, which in the times of Augustus protected the nearby city of Lucus Asturum (probably in the Lugones area), was located on the top of Obetao hill. Alfonso II the Chaste fortified the city, built the primitive basilica of San Salvador, and the basilica of San Julián de los Prados.
Significant examples of Asturian pre-Romanesque art were built during the 9th century (between the reigns of Ramiro I and Alfonso III the Great) such as San Miguel de Lillo, Santa María del Naranco, the church of San Salvador de Valdediós, and Santa Cristina de Lena.
The Kingdom of Asturias was divided after the death of King Alfonso III the Great, who distributed his dominions among three of his five sons. These dominions included (in addition to Asturias) the counties of León, Castile, Álava, Galicia, and Portugal (which at that time was only the southern border of Galicia). García inherited the first two counties, founding the Kingdom of León. Ordoño II inherited Galicia and Portugal, while Fruela II first inherited Asturias and then the Kingdom of León from his brother García I, who had no heirs.
Late Middle Ages and Early modern period
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After the merging of the two kingdoms, Asturias and León, the capital moved to the well-fortified Roman city of León. As a result, Asturias became a remote and difficult-to-access region, only visited when pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago detoured to Oviedo to visit the relics of the cathedral.
Secessionist movements
[edit]The loss of this influence led to several secessionist movements; one of the most significant occurred in the 12th century with the uprising of Count Gonzalo Peláez against King Alfonso VII and Urraca, who ruled Asturias on behalf of the King.[15]
Origin of the Principality of Asturias
[edit]In 1388, through the Treaty of Bayonne, John I of Trastámara and John of Gaunt put an end to their disputes over the throne of Castile by arranging the marriage of their children, Henry III of Castile and Catherine of Lancaster, a ceremony that took place in the Cathedral of Palencia. Both were granted the title of Princes of Asturias, thus establishing the Principality of Asturias and the title that the heir to the Crown would hold in the future. Additionally, this title was linked to a series of territories that, due to their isolation, were a constant source of rebellion.[16]
In the early days of the institution, the territory of Asturias belonged to the prince as his patrimony, and he could appoint judges, mayors, among other people to govern on his behalf. This situation changed with the Catholic Monarchs, who reduced the title to an honorary condition.
Asturias in the Castilian Civil War: 15th century
[edit]Asturias played an important role in the uprising that King Alfonso V of Portugal initiated in favor of the succession rights of his niece Joanna and against Isabella the Catholic, following the death of King Henry IV. Alfonso V relied on discontented Castilian nobles, while Isabella was supported by troops sent from Asturias and Vizcaya.
The ancient General Junta of the Principality of Asturias was established during this period.[17]
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