Juan Martín Díez
Encyclopedia
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
famous for his contributions to the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
.
Early life
Díez was born in Castrillo de DueroCastrillo de Duero
Castrillo de Duero is a village in Valladolid, Castile-Leon, Spain....
(Valladolid
Valladolid (province)
Valladolid is a province of central/northwest Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Zamora, León, Palencia, Burgos, Segovia, Ávila, and Salamanca....
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
) on September 5, 1775. He was a farmer and his house still exists in its original location. Those from Castrillo are often termed "empecinados", a term which arises from several nearby streams filled with black mud (pecina) from stagnant, decomposing waters. It is believed that the local appellation was then applied to Díez, just like other guerrilleros were nicknamed after their trade.
Díez had military ambitions throughout his childhood. At 18, he participated in the Rosellón campaign of the War of the Pyrenees
War of the Pyrenees
War of the Pyrenees refers to the Pyrenees front of the First Coalition's war against the First French Republic. Also known as Great War, War of Roussillon, or War of the Convention, it pitted Revolutionary France against the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal from March 1793 to July 1795 during the...
(1793-1795). The following two years were pivotal in his training in the art of war and began his hostile attitude towards the French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
.
In 1796, Díez married in Fuentecén
Fuentecén
Fuentecén is a municipality located in the province of Burgos, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 285 inhabitants....
, Burgos, and Díez settled in that town with his new bride. He farmed
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
there until the occupation of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
by Napoleon's army in 1808, whereupon he pledged to fight against the invaders. It is said that his decision to fight was spurred on when a woman in his town was raped by a French soldier; Díez afterwards killed the offender.
After the invasion, Díez organized a party of warrior
Warrior
A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...
s composed of his friends and even members of his own family. At first, the conflict centered around the route between Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and Burgos
Burgos
Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...
. Later, he fought alongside the Spanish Army at the Cabezón de Pisuerga
Cabezón de Pisuerga
Cabezón de Pisuerga is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 2,344 inhabitants....
bridge in Valladolid
Valladolid
Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...
and in Medina de Rioseco
Medina de Rioseco
Medina de Rioseco is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 5,037 inhabitants. During the Peninsular War, it was here that the Battle of Medina del Rioseco took place on July 14,...
, Valladolid. The Spanish Army was routed in both of these battles,
Military successes
The Army's failures caused Díez to believe that he would have better results with a system of guerrilla warfareGuerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
. Thus started his wartime success, in such places as Aranda de Duero
Aranda de Duero
Aranda de Duero is a Spanish town and municipality in the south of the province of Burgos, autonomous community of Castile and León. It has a population of roughly 33,000 people. The post code for the town is 09400. The closest airport is in Valladolid....
, Sepúlveda
Sepulveda
Sepúlveda is a name of families of Spanish descent. Sepúlveda, Segovia is the name of a village in Spain.The Sepúlveda family was prominent in the early days of Los Angeles, California and Orange County...
, Pedraza
Pedraza
Pedraza is a town and municipality of the Colombian Department of Magdalena.-History:Was founded in 1791 by Pablo José Torregrosa. On December 9, 1908 by Executive Decree 1312 Pedraza became a municipality of the Magdalena Department.-Geography and climate:...
, and throughout the Duero river basin.
In 1809 Díez was promoted to the rank of cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
captain. During the spring of the same year, his field of action extended along the mountains in Gredos, Ávila
Ávila (province)
Ávila is a province of central-western Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered on the south by the provinces of Toledo and Cáceres, on the west by Salamanca, on the north by Valladolid, and on the east by Segovia and Madrid. Ávila has a...
, and Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...
, and also in the provinces of Cuenca
Cuenca (province)
Cuenca is a province of central Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha.-Guide to the area:Located in a natural setting of beauty, the Old Town of Cuenca occupies a superb site between two river gorges. Famous are its 15th Century "hanging houses" , that appear...
and Guadalajara
Guadalajara (province)
Guadalajara is a province of central/north-central Spain, in the northern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Cuenca, Madrid, Segovia, Soria, Zaragoza, and Teruel...
.
The principal function of the guerrilla bands was to disrupt the supply and communication lines of the French army by intercepting the enemy's messages and by seizing convoys of supplies, money, and armaments. The damage to Napoleon's army was considerable, to such an extent that Joseph Leopold Hugo, a French general, was given the duty to "pursue exclusively" Díez and his guerrillas. Hugo, after trying unsuccessfully to capture Díez, opted instead to arrest Díez's mother and other members of his family. Díez, not to be cowed, had 100 French prisoners of war executed as retribution. His mother and family thereupon were released.
In 1810, Díez was forced to take refuge in the castle of the Salamancan city of Ciudad Rodrigo
Ciudad Rodrigo
Ciudad Rodrigo is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca, in western Spain, with a population of about 14,000. It is the seat of a judicial district as well....
(today Parador de Turismo), which the French army besieged. In 1811, he was placed in command of a hussar
Hussar
Hussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry which originated in Hungary in the 14th century, tracing its roots from Serbian medieval cavalry tradition, brought to Hungary in the course of the Serb migrations, which began in the late 14th century....
regiment from Guadalajara, bringing his total force to some 6000 men.
On May 22, 1813, Díez assisted in the defense of Alcalá de Henares
Alcalá de Henares
Alcalá de Henares , meaning Citadel on the river Henares, is a Spanish city, whose historical centre is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, and one of the first bishoprics founded in Spain...
(Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
), and on the Zulema bridge over the Henares
Henares
The Henares is a river in Spain, tributary of the Jarama. It has its source in the Sierra Ministra, in the village of Horna, near Sigüenza, in the province of Guadalajara....
river he and his army defeated a French force twice their size. Later, Fernando VII would approve the construction of a commemorative pyramid
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
in Alcalá in honor of the victory, only to order its destruction in 1823, deriding it as a symbol of a "liberal". The people of Alcalá, however, raised another monument to the Empecinado in 1879; this monument survives to this day.
Liberal revolution and decline
When King Fernando VII returned to Spain and restored absolutismAbsolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...
, he took measures against those he considered "liberal enemies", among them Díez, who was exiled to Valladolid. In 1820, the revolution of Rafael de Riego commenced, and Díez took up arms - but this time against Fernando VII's royal troops. During the following years, the trienio liberal (Spanish: three year period of liberal rule), he was named military governor of Zamora
Zamora, Spain
Zamora is a city in Castile and León, Spain, the capital of the province of Zamora. It lies on a rocky hill in the northwest, near the frontier with Portugal and crossed by the Duero river, which is some 50 km downstream as it reaches the Portuguese frontier...
and occasionally Capitán General (General Captain).
In 1823, during the Absolutist Reaction, a French Army (the so-called 100,000 sons of St Louis) invaded Spain to restore absolutism, the liberal régime fell, and Díez fled to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. From there, he asked permission to return without danger of detainment, a request which was granted. But upon his return, he was arrested near Olmillos de Peñafiel and moved to Nava de Roa (Burgos) where he was turned over to the mayor, Gregorio González. He was there imprisoned and displayed in an iron-bar cage. Leopoldo O'Donnell, a liberal military leader, learned of Díez's situation and attempted to have Díez's case heard in a tribunal. The magistrate in Roa de Duero, however, had already ordered Díez's execution, which was carried out on August 20, 1825, in the central plaza of the village. Díez died, hanged in lieu of being shot. It is said that in an outburst of desperation and strength, Díez managed to take the sword from the official that accompanied him to the gallows.
The Empecinado nickname
On October 8, 1808, the privilege of using the name Empecinado was granted to Juan Martín Díez, not only for himself, but also all his descendants. His nickname has given the Spanish languageSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
the verb empecinarse, meaning to persist or insist on achieving one's goals.