Ruiz Esparza ancestor relationships in the 1500s
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.
