Fortún Ochoiz

The first paragraph of the treaty is in the preterite, indicating that the fixing of the border occurred in the past, while the confirmation in the document is in the present tense, indicating it took place at a later date. The title duenno was the prevalent form in Castile of the same title for which the Navarrese preferred sennor, both meant "lord". The "summit of the Cogolla" is today the Pico de San Lorenzo. The identification of the rivers Razón, :es:Río Tera|Tera, and Duero is facile. Valle Venarie is Valvanera, while Garray is the ancient Numantia.

Marriage and ascendancy

In his early appearances in the surviving documents, Fortún's position is one of lesser importance, but he had risen in rank by the end of the reign of Sancho III. He only became one of the leading Navarrese magnates in the second half of the reign of García Sánchez III. After his marriage to Mencía, an illegitimate daughter of the king, Fortún Ochoiz held the third rank in the kingdom after the king himself and Fortún Sánchez. The relative rarity of his appearance in documents before this marriage may reflect his distance from court as the governor of one of the marches.
The marriage to Mencía was either a late marriage for Fortún or a second one. It has been speculated that he had been married to a relative of García Ramírez of Viguera, and that it was in right of her that he succeeded to the territories formerly ruled by García Ramírez. The late marriage to Mencía may have been arranged by the king. In 1049 García Sánchez III conceded to Fortún certain heritable properties, some "already in your power", in Nalda, :es:Leza de Río Leza|Leza, and :es:Jubera|Jubera, "because of your good service which you have given me". At this time Fortún and Mencía were already married. Their marriage, perhaps in 1044, may have been responsible for Fortún's return to court that year, which in its turn may have facilitated preparations for the reconquest of Calahorra the next year, by a joint Christian army under García. García's reference to good service is probably a reference to military service, most likely in the Calahorra campaign.
Fortún's disappearance from the record in 1050 may represent a retirement of sorts in light of the straining of the relationship between the bellicose kings of Castile and Navarre. Nuño Álvarez disappears from court in 1047, around the same time, perhaps both returned to their delimited frontier zones, for Fortún was still ruling Viguera after 1047. When he died, he was interred in "a sepulchre of wood with his own effigy" in :es:Monasterio de San Prudencio de Monte Laturce|San Prudencio de Monte Laturce. His wife was later buried beside him.
It has sometimes been assumed that the various lords named Fortúnez who appear in the lower Rioja during the mid-eleventh century were children of Fortún Ochoiz and his wife Mencía. As a widow she appears beside a list of her children in 1057, when she made a donation to San Prudencio. These five children were: Aznar, who inherited Cantabria; Íñigo, who inherited Arnedo; Sancho, who inherited Huarte; Lope, who inherited Calahorra; and Ximeno, who inherited Cameros and Viguera. Only Aznar is given the patronymic Fortúnez in Mencía's donation. It is possible that only he was a child of Mencía, the others being her stepchildren from an earlier marriage of Fortún's. There are other Fortúnez from Viguera mentioned in contemporary documents, and it is possible that they too are progeny of an earlier marriage or marriages of Fortún Ochoiz.

Banu Qasi connection

It has been speculated, on the basis of onomastics and geography, that Fortún was a relative of the Banu Qasi, a muwallad clan that was once the third power in Spain, and that his position in the Rioja may have derived from this connexion. The Banu Qasi leader Musa ibn Musa, the "third king of Spain", had two sons who were both rulers in the Rioja in the late ninth century: Lubb ibn Musa in Viguer and Arnedo and Fortún ibn Musa in Tudela. Lubb is just the Arabic version of Lope. Both of Fortún Ochoiz's names were current in the last generation of the Banu Qasi then ruling La Rioja.
The Islamic historian al-Udri records that the Banu Qasi became extinct in the 920s, with the loss of the upper Rioja to Navarre. Ibn Hazm records that a certain Fortún, a younger son of Lubb ibn Muhammad, and his cousin, also Fortún, a son of Abd Allah ibn Muhammad, both converted to Christianity. It has been theorised that they retained a certain independence after recognising the sovereignty of the kings of Navarre.
The lords who ruled the northern frontier during the Umayyad Caliphate, like the Banu Qasi, were generally independent of caliphal authority, as evidenced by the heritability of their power. The original power base of Banu Qasi may have been the triangle formed by Ejea, Olite, and Tudela north of the Ebro. Later in the ninth century their power was in Calahorra, Arnedo, and Viguera. The Banu Qasi territory may have been the basis for the late tenth-century kingdom of Viguera, whose territorial extension is poorly known, but which included Leza and probably the Cameros. It remained semi-independent relative to Navarre, just as it had relative to Córdoba in the previous century. The description of Fortún's lands in the carta de arras of king García gives him an unusually high number of tenencias and, more unusual still, they were all contiguous, extensive regions rather than isolated strongholds or castles. It appears then that the land controlled by the Banu Qasi in the ninth century, the kingdom of Viguera in the tenth, and Fortún Ochoiz in the eleventh had the same extension. The señorío of the Cameros in the twelfth century may be a fourth historical appearance of this semi-independent network of regional fiefs.

Table of appearance in documents

The following table lists surviving documents in which Fortún appears as a witness or a confirmant. If the date scholars assign the document differs from the date on the document itself, it is mentioned in the notes. The spelling of Fortún's patronymic is also given, as is his relative position in the list of witnesses and/or confirmants which would appear at the end of the document. Generally, a higher place in the list indicates greater importance, though the importance of an individual nobleman could vary depending on the transaction. Where Fortún appears second, it means that he was the first person to sign the document after the king. The archive where the document is preserved is also listed; footnotes indicate the published editions at their first appearance. The number is that given to the document in its published edition, for consistent and easy reference.

Date	Title, name, patronymic	Tenencia	Place in list of confirmants	Number of confirmants	Cartulary	Document number	Notes
1 April 1013	sennor Furtun Ozoiz	dominans Vicarie	4	8	Cogolla	146	-
21 October 1015	senior Fortunio Oxoiz/ç	dominador Meldria	10	13	Leire	17	-
21 October 1015	senior Fortunio Oxoiz/ç	dominador Meldria	10	13	Leire	18	-
1016	sennor Furtun Oggoiz	de Pampilona	1	1	Cogolla	166	De divisione regno, quoted in its entirety above.
21 October 1022	senior Fertunio Ossuac/ç	none	5	7	Leire	20	-
1024	senior Fortunio Ossóiz	dominador Meldria	4	5	Leire	22	-
6 August 1025	senior Fortun Oggobiz		4	7	Cogolla	179	-
13 April 1030	sennor Furtun Oggoitz				Cogolla	192
1030	Oysgoaz		2	18	:es:Monasterio de San Salvador de Oña|Oña	19	Highly dubious.
1030	Oysgoac		2	18	Oña	26	Highly dubious.
22 December 1030	senior Fortun Ossoyç	dominator Cantabrie			Pamplona	4
1032	senior Fortuino Ossoyç	dominus Cantabrie			Pamplona	6	Document dated to 1007, redated to 1032 by editor.
1032	senior Fortuni Uxuar		3	3	Albelda	33	Charter of repoblación of :es:Villanueva de San Prudencio|Villanova de Pampaneto.
26 December 1032	Fortunio Uxuax/z	dominator Cantabriensis	7	8	Leire	23
1040	Oxoiz		22	35	Rioja	3	Carta de arras of King García.
13 April 1042	senior Fortunio Osxoa	de Kantabria	1	8	Leire	30	-
13 April 1042	senior Fortunio Oscoa	de Kantabria	1	8	Leire	31	-
1 January 1044	senior Furtuni Uxoaz	Cantabriensis	1	3	Albelda	35	Confirmation of repoblación of Villanova de Pampaneto.
2 November 1044	senior Fortum Oxoa	de Begera	14	24	Rioja	4	-
1 October 1045			2	8	Cogolla	237	-
1046					Cogolla	243	-
1046			2	20–25	Oña*	5	Dated 1043, redated to 1046. Refers to a donation of San Juan de Pancorbo to Oña in that year.
1046	Oxoys		2	20–25	Oña	32	-
1046	Uzoiz		2	20–25	Oña	35	Dated 1048, redated to 1046. Refers to a donation of San Juan de Pancorbo to Oña in that year.
18 November 1047	senior Fortum Oxoiz	dominator Bicaria	2	17	Leire	39	-
1 November 1048	senior Fortuni Uxoa	dominas Veccaria	2	9	Albelda	36	-
1048			2	14	Albelda	37	-
1049			2	12	Cogolla	255	-
1049	sennor Fortun Oxoriz	dominator Vicaria	2	13	Cogolla	256	-
1049			2	14	Cogolla	259	-
1049	seniori Fortun Ochoaz				:es:Monasterio de San Prudencio de Monte Laturce|Laturce	2	Donation of King García to Fortún and his wife Mencía.
17 February 1050	Uxoiz		2	11	Cogolla	267	-
8 November 1050			2	12	Cogolla	269	-
	Uxoriz				Cogolla	260	-
	senior Fortunio Ogoiz	dominator Vikera			Albelda	62	Dated 1082, but since it belongs to the reign of García Sánchez III, this is an error.