Bardulia facts for kids

A medieval tower in Lezana de Mena, which is close to the area once known as Bardulia.

Bardulia is an old name for the lands that formed the first Castile. This region was located in the northern part of what is now the province of Burgos in Spain. The name Bardulia might come from the Varduli, an ancient tribe. This tribe lived along the eastern coast of the Cantabrian Sea in the Iberian peninsula during pre-Roman and Roman times. Today, this area is mostly Guipúzcoa. Some historians believe the Varduli tribe also included or merged with other tribes like the Caristii and Autrigones.

Historians think that the Varduli people might have moved westward. This move could have happened between the 6th and 8th centuries, possibly due to the expansion of Basque territories. This is why later documents from the Low Middle Ages refer to the area as Bardulia.

Bardulia and Castile: What's the Connection?

The first time Bardulia is mentioned in writing is in a 10th-century historical record. This record describes Bardulia as an older name for Castile.

Early Mentions in Chronicles

The Chronicle of Alfonso III, written in Latin, uses the word "Bardulia" several times. It says things like "Bardulia, which is now called Castella." It also mentions "the Bardulian Province" where King Ramiro I of Asturias was traveling to get married. While there, he heard that his predecessor, Alfonso II, had died.

Other old texts also mention Bardulia:

• The Historia Silense from the early 12th century talks about Ramiro I going to Bardulia to marry.
• The Chronica Naierensis from the 12th century also refers to Bardulia.

Later Historical Accounts

In the early 1200s, two important historians, Lucas de Tuy and Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, mentioned Bardulia. Jiménez de Rada wrote that Ramiro I stayed in Bardulia for a while to get married after Alfonso II died. He also wrote about "nobles of Bardulia, which is now called Castile," similar to the earlier chronicle.

The first Crónica General (General Chronicle) by King Alfonso X the Wise from the 13th century also mentions Bardulia four times. The Annales Compostellani states that a general named Albutaman died in Bardulia in the year 806 AD.

Was it a Scholarly Term?

Some people wondered if "Bardulia" was just a fancy word used by scholars, not a real place name. However, a 20th-century historian named Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz y Menduiña defended the idea that Bardulia was indeed early Castile. He suggested that if there was any mistake in connecting Bardulia with Castile, it likely came from Castile itself in the 9th century, making it less likely to be just a scholarly error from later times.

See also

In Spanish: Bardulia para niños