From Engracia to Garazi. The mystery of names in Navarre.

PRESENTATION

The aim of this course is to bring a part of Navarre's intangible heritage closer to the public: the names of people and houses. The name is a universal, obligatory and free asset: therefore, its study is a question that questions and refers to every human being, linking him/her to the long chain of people and circumstances that have shaped his/her genealogical past.

In the specific case of Navarre, the complexity of its linguistic past is added to the anthroponymic richness of any society. A territory of passage throughout its history, Navarre has been shaped as a space crossed by numerous peoples who left traces of different kinds subject: the study of anthroponymy is closely related to the analysis of population movements, particularly the migrations from the north to the south, whether it be that of the Bajonavarros up to about 1580, or that of the second-rate people from the north of the kingdom towards the plains of the Ebro valley in search of arable land, or that which promoted transhumant stockbreeding. From the 16th century onwards, the American adventure was added to this journey, which made possible the large-scale dissemination of the surnames originating from this territory throughout the Empire: in fact, a part of this rich heritage has been preserved only in America.

In addition to the study of names and surnames in the past - following the different historical periods - the course goes into the analysis of oiconymy: the names of houses. Until very recently, it can be affirmed that the real social subject was the house, rather than the individual or the family. It was the house that truly held rights and duties, in such a way that its occupants - transient guests, as they have sometimes been called - were inserted into the local community through it. The heritage preserved for Navarre is extremely rich from a linguistic, historical and ethnographic point of view. The study of the use of the house name as surname -there are numerous examples of this happening- highlights the important role of women in traditional Navarre, as they were often the heirs of the heritage and even the ones who gave the surname to their children.

goal Historians, linguists, sociologists and heraldists address these questions throughout the course, with the aim of contributing their knowledge, analysing the processes of change and interacting with the interested public on the basis of their own experience. It is no coincidence that both onomastics and onychonymy make it possible to delve into the past, making it one's own, recognising oneself as part of it.