History of Estella-Lizarra
The variety of the trade, the agricultural expansion, the wealth generated because of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and the important craftsmen class, were the creators of the growth during the 12th and 13th centuries. However, the next century was affected by conflicts between the neighbourhoods turning the sentence “who kills will die” into a law. This law was renewed by some governors and the king Carlos II. The important Jewish community of the city was persecuted in the 14th century. On the 6 of March of 1328 Estella´s neighbours enraged by the sermons of Fray Pedro de Ollogoyen, because of the death of Carlos I “The bald” and taking advantage of the lack of power in the government, attacked the Jewish quarter. Due to the importance of the Jewish´s community of Estella-Lizarra, the king Felipe de Evreux punished with a penalty to the guilty ones. The war against Castille in 1378 damaged the economy of the people too.
The conflicts continued in the 15th century between two important factions, the “Ponces” and the “Learzas”, spreading their confrontation to the city´s life. The hostilities with Castille ( 1429-1430) and the consequences of a civil war in Navarre caused the decadence of the city, ending with an incredible flood in the Ega river in 1475 that destroyed half of the town..
