11th century On January 26, 1056, King of Navarre sold Agoncillo (then called Sagonciello) and Villanueva to Sancho Fortunionis and Blasquita. They later transferred the town to the Monastery of San Juan de la Peña in exchange for a horse and ten oxen. In 1066, Queen Estefanía bequeathed Agoncillo to her son Ramón, along with other nearby properties. In 1182, Alfonso VIII expelled the Navarrese from Agoncillo and Arrúbal, indicating a repopulation effort to strengthen the frontier.
13th century In approximately 1211, a captain of the
Medrano family held the lordship of the castle and town of Agoncillo. Medrano's son was suffering from a mysterious and untreatable ailment. In 1211,
Francis of Assisi roamed those very paths of Agoncillo. In a saintly manner, he visited Medrano's
castle of Aguas Mansas in Agoncillo, placed his mystical hands upon the ailing Medrano boy, and miraculously healed him, securing the Medrano lineage in the lordship of Agoncillo. This act ensured the continued prominence of the Medrano family in Agoncillo, which remains renowned for its reverence toward the humble saint of Assisi. The Medrano family generously donated some land, including a tower, situated close to the
Ebro River within the city of
Logroño as a gift to Saint Francis, establishing the first Spanish
convent of his Order there. Unfortunately, despite its centuries-long legacy of glory and sanctity, the convent met its demise in the 19th century due to the advent of liberalism and its accompanying laws. Today, the remnants of its walls still remain.
14th century Alfonso XI of Castile granted the Lordship of Agoncillo to Sancho Sánchez de Rojas and Ursula Díaz his wife on September 1, 1336 in
Lerma. In 1337, Don Rodrigo Alfonso de Medrano, Chief
crossbowman of King
Alfonso XI of Castile, bought the village of Agoncillo, La Rioja and the castle of Aguas Mansas in Agoncillo from Sancho Sánchez de Rojas. Rodrigo Alfonso de Medrano started carrying out several remodelling works, adapting it to the style of the 14th century. In Rodrigo Alfonso de Medrano's testament in 1345, he noted having spent big amounts of money in
"...building the castle and the village" (in Old Spanish "...fazer el castillo e la villa"). During the battles between
Peter the Cruel and
Henry of Trastámara, the castle passed onto the hands of
Charles II of Navarre, although for a short period. In 1392, it was once again owned by Rodrigo Alfonso de Medrano, lord of Agoncillo, who bequeathed it to his nephew, Don Diego López de Medrano. In 1447, Diego's son Don Pedro Gómez de Medrano, gave his son Don Lope de Medrano the town of Agoncillo and San Martín de Velilla (northwest of Agoncillo).
15th century Diego López de Medrano, Lord of Agoncillo, had a son named Don Juan de Medrano, who died without succession. His sister Dona Aldonza Diaz de Medrano inherited the mayorazgo and lordship of Agoncillo.
de Frías Salazar y Porres y Medrano lineage There is an existing ascending genealogical tree of D. Lope de Frías Salazar y Medrano, for the succession of the Lordship of Agoncillo, which has Ana de Velasco, 10th Countess of Siruela. Juan Jerónimo de Frías Salazar Porras y Medrano recorded a book of income, censuses, accounts and rights that he possessed, as lord of Agoncillo. The Council of Castile issued a certification confirming the transfer requested by Joaquín María de Frías Salazar y Medrano, Lord of Agoncillo and
Berberana, in 1694, of two privileges originally presented by his grandfather Lope de Frías Salazar y Porras. These privileges, part of a lawsuit resolved favorably in 1705, involve: 1)
Alfonso XI of Castile granting the Lordship of Agoncillo to Sancho Sánchez de Rojas and his wife Ursula Díaz in 1336, and 2) Sancho IV granting the place of San Martín de Berberana to Juan González de Bazán in 1285.
Mayorazgo of Agoncillo The
Mayorazgo of Agoncillo and
Velilla includes several key foundations and additions. Notable among these are: the foundation established by Rodrigo Alfonso de Medrano on July 27, 1345; the foundation by Pedro Gómez de Medrano and Catalina Sánchez de Alvarado on August 8, 1477; and the foundation by Alonso Gómez de Tamayo on November 4, 1500.
Marquessate of Agoncillo The Marquessate of Agoncillo is a Spanish noble title created by King
Alfonso XII on June 7, 1875, in favor of Enrique Frías-Salazar y Torres Vildósola, who was the son of Hipólito Frías-Salazar y Sáenz Téllez and, therefore, the heir to the Lordship of Agoncillo. It was granted upon a special tax payment of 10,640 pesetas. While the early owners typically resided in Logroño, from the 16th century onwards, their descendants chose to live in
Alfaro, where they also held substantial properties. until the late 1950s. After the bomber squadrons were phased out, the aerodrome reverted to civilian use as the
Logroño-Agoncillo Airport. It now has a smaller airstrip and houses a museum. ==Places of interest==