Lope García de Salazar: the rise, violence, and exile of a basque factional leader in the 15th Century

Abstract

This study examines the figure of Lope García de Salazar (1399–1476), a Biscayan banderizo leader and author of the Libro de las buenas andanças e fortunas, integrating the analysis of the individual and his historical context. It explores his identity, life trajectory, and power networks as determining factors in his exile to the town of Jimena by order of Henry IV, as well as the political, social, and symbolic implications of this sanction in late medieval Castile. The work is structured in three sections: the historical and political framework of the banderizo conflicts, the analysis of the author’s identity and trajectory, and a contextualized reading that connects his personal experience with the power dynamics of his time.