I have been doing major research online from home and my local Family History Center in an effort to ensure a more accurate ancestor tree on Family Search for the Ruiz de Esparza family that originated in the Pamplona, Spain area. I’m aware that back in 2016 there were discussions here about this family, but am sharing my experience in case there may be something new and also, in the hope someone here may be able to assist me with questions I’ve encountered.
The most challenging issue, my main priority, was correcting the extra generation that resulted from the creation of a record for Lope Ruiz Esparza b. 1500 as the son of Lope Ruiz Esparaza Espinosa b. 1510 and Maria Caparroso b. 1533. This record presented Lope Ruiz Esparza b. 1500 as the husband of Anna Maria Díez de Eguino b. 1522 with their child Lope Ruiz de Esparza Diaz b. 1569 (who is the progenitor of the Ruiz de Esparza line in Aguascalientes, Mexico.) Obviously, the son could not have been born before the father and mother!
It was a complicated project to make the necessary corrections and I was very careful use Source documents each step of the way to ensure an accurate tree resulted with Lope Ruiz de Esparza Diaz b. 1569 being the son of Lope Ruiz Esparaza Espinosa b. 1510 and Anna Díez de Eguino b. 1522 who was mother of Lope (the younger) as the result of an additional relationship between Lope (the elder) and Anna Maria Diez de Equino. The birth years may, or may not be correct, as although there was Source documentation for the relationships, there were no specific birth years included. In some cases, there was explanation presented for the estimated years, in others there was none. Any insight, or documentation sources for birth years would be appreciated.
I read somewhere here that Lope Ruiz de Esparza Espinosa and Ana Maria Diaz de Eguino were not married. I located this reference on page 193 of Martin Leal’s Retoños de España en la Nueva Galicia, 5-3 Ruiz de Esparza
“Anna Díez de Eguinoa is a resident of the town of Raona in Mescoaslaalta; that Lope Ruiz de Esparza is publicly considered to be her natural son and that of Lope Ruiz de Esparza, the elder. That being free, single, and about to be married, she gave birth to the aforementioned Lope Ruiz de Esparza, the younger.”
This states they were “about to be married” so, they may or may not have ever been married, but it clearly confirms the parents of Lope Ruiz de Esparza b. 1659.
In the process of searching for the necessary Source documents I discovered the record below:
1595 Lope Ruiz de Esparza and Isabel de Ascarraga against Juan de Espinal and Juana Salinas
Content: Lope Ruiz de Esparza, lawyer of the Royal Courts, and Isabel de Ascarraga, his wife, lords of the palaces of Esparza (Galar) and Zariquiegui, residents of Pamplona, against Juan de Espinal and Juana de Salinas, his wife, residents of Pamplona, regarding the scope of accounts of an arbitrary judgment in a lawsuit relating to the payment of interest on a census of 1,500 ducats subject to a house in the Pellejerias neighborhood of Pamplona.
This clearly states that in 1595 Isabel de Ascarraga was the wife of Lope Ruiz Esparza. This has to be Lope Ruiz Esparaza Espinosa (the elder) because there is another Source document that shows Lope Ruiz Esparaza (the younger) on a passenger list to the Indies in 1593. When I looked for the record of Isabel de Ascarraga I discovered that she is presented as the wife of Pedro Ruíz De Esparza y Caparroso b. 1551, son of Lope Ruiz Esparza Espinosa (the elder).
Then I found this Source document:
1604 ISABEL DE ASCARRAGA vs. JUAN DE HUARTE AND OTHERS
Content: Isabel de Ascarraga, widow of Pedro Ruiz de Esparza, resident of Pamplona, against Juan de Huarte, Barbara Ruiz de Esparza, his wife, and others, residents of Pamplona, regarding the nullity of deeds of obligation and debt contracted by her husband.
It appears that Isabel was the widow of Pedro Ruiz Esparza in 1604, but at the time of the earlier 1595 court action, she was married to his father Lope Ruiz Esparza (Espinosa). Initially it seemed that her husband Pedro must have passed that year, or prior, in order for her to be remarried in 1595. I also noted that there were numerous court actions against Pedro by siblings and family members for debt he owed. This explains why Isabel was requesting that her deceased husband’s debt be forgiven in 1604.
In 1595 Lope Ruiz Esparza Espinoza would have been about 85, depending on the accuracy of his birth date of 1510, and Isabel would have been 48. From I’ve read here on Nuestros Ranchos that age difference isn’t unusual in the Ruiz Esparza family, although a father marrying a son’s widow seems strange. Initially, I thought that maybe because of his advanced age and Pedro being his eldest son and heir, Lope (the elder) may have been living with Pedro and his wife at the time of Pedro’s death. Maybe it made sense for Isabel to marry her husband’s father because she was already taking care of him and it, also, may be way of getting around Pedro’s debt.
Then I saw another Source document with a 1597 court action by Pedro Ruiz de Esparza “against Juan de Huarte, servant of Lope Ruiz de Esparza and Maria de Esparza, his parents, resident of Pamplona, about death threats.” Wait, if Pedro was still alive in 1597, how did his wife Isabel marry his father in 1595?
Then I saw this court action from 1594:
Lope Ruiz de Esparza vs. Pedro Ruiz de Esparza
Content: Lope Ruiz de Esparza, resident of Pamplona, against Pedro Ruiz de Esparza, his son, lawyer of the Royal Courts, resident of Pamplona, regarding payment of 11 and a half ducats, the remainder being alimony for 2 years.
“alimony for 2 years” - Did Isabel marry Lope (the elder) after she and Pedro were divorced? I didn’t think divorce was very common in the Middle Ages, especially in a Christian family. If this is the case, and Pedro was not deceased by 1595, he certainly was by 1604 when Isabel is identified as his widow. Hmmm? Maybe there was something to the death threats in the 1597 court action?
When I added Isabel De Azcarraga as another wife of Lope Ruiz de Esparza Espinosa on Family Search using the 1595 court action document as a Source, the relationship was deleted the next day with no explanation by the same Family Search user who had created the extra generation. Is my interpretation of the 1595 court action wrong? Has anyone already unraveled this mystery? If not, does anyone have any insight into these relationships? I have another question, but will do a separate post.