Lordship of Biscay

Lordship of Biscay
Bizkaiko jaurerria Señorío de Vizcaya
Vassal first of the Kingdom of Navarre, then of the Kingdom of Castile
1040–1876
Coat of arms
The Lordship of Biscay and its three constituent parts
Capital		Bermeo (1476–1602) Bilbao (1602–1876)
Government		Lordship
Historical era		Middle Ages
•	Established	1040
•	Abolition of the Juntas Generales	1876
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Asturias Kingdom of Navarre Biscay

Coat of arms

The Lordship of Biscay (Basque: Bizkaiko jaurerria, Spanish: Señorío de Vizcaya) was a period of feudal rule in the region of Biscay in the Iberian Peninsula between 1040 and 1876 and ruled by a political figure known as Lord of Biscay. One of the Basque señoríos, it was a territory with its own political organization, with its own naval ensign, consulate in Bruges and customs offices in Balmaseda and Urduña, from the 11th Century until 1876, when the Juntas Generales were abolished. Since 1379, when John I of Castile became the Lord of Biscay, the lordship got integrated into the Crown of Castile, and eventually the Kingdom of Spain.

The first time Biscay is mentioned with that name (in Spanish, Vizcaya) is in the chronics of Alfonso III of Asturias in the late 9th Century, where he mentions the regions that were repopulated unders orders of Alfonso I, and how some territories, among them Biscay, were not affected by these repopulations, as they were "owned by their own". Biscay is mentioned again in the Roda Codex, dated in 990, which narrates the wedding between Velazquita, daughter of Sancho I of Pamplona and Munio Velaz, Count of Álava, in Biscay. It is considered then, that Biscay was by this period controlled by the Kingdom of Navarre.