History of Begíjar
The strategic geographical position of Begíjar, situated in an environment of great agricultural wealth, has led communities to settle here since ancient times. The oldest remains are linked to the final Neolithic and Copper Ages (third millennium BC), in the settlement of Las Majadillas, whilst the Bronze Age is represented in that of Terrera del Goterón.
From the Iberian period, the remains of a fortification near Estación de Begíjar were unearthed, containing painted ceramics typical of the period. In the Roman period, there was an rapid human occupation of the territory with farms, including Piedra Hincada, Vega del Obispo, in Las Delicias or in the Casa del Amor Hermoso.
During the Moorish occupation, the settlement received the name of Buxexat, later Bexijar. It is thought to have passed into the hands of Fernando III around 1226, at the same time as Baeza. From this moment on, the City Council of Baeza and the Bishops of Jaén disputed over it, both of them eager to seize the income produced by its rich lands. Initially, Fernando III left it attached to Baeza as royal land. Shortly after, he ceded land to the Order of Calatrava, a transfer that Alfonso X confirmed in 1254. He also ceded another part of the land to the Bishopric of Toledo. However, the largest and most definitive shift was in 1249, when he handed over the entire population of Begíjar to the Bishopric of Jaén.
On December 1, 1341, King Alfonso XI el Justiciero snatched the village of Begíjar from Enrique Enríquez el Mozo, Lord of Villalba de los Barros and Chief Leader of the Bishopric of Jaén, which he had given him in 1341, and returned to the Council of Baeza, to which it had previously belonged.
In the fifteenth century, Bishop Rodrigo de Narváez seized Begíjar castle and incorporated it into the possessions of the diocese, despite the protests of the Baeza City Council. Begíjar was involved in the struggles between the nobility and Enrique IV. In this dispute, the united Bishopric and Baeza turned the town into an advanced bastion against the capital of Jaén controlled by Constable Lucas de Iranzo. The litigation for this town culminated in the recognition by the Catholic Monarchs in 1477 of the town as the property of the Bishop. The Bishops maintained ownership of the castle and later that of the Episcopal Palace until the nineteenth century, assuming it as one of their main residences, which is still preserved today.
During the eighteenth century, relations between Begíjar and the city of Baeza deteriorated further, until the Municipal Council, meeting on October 24, 1762, decided to ask the King to grant Begíjar the Privilege of Villazgo. However, it still took a number of years, since Baeza put up numerous obstacles. At the beginning of 1779, the Council, in order to meet the expense of the cession, requested a loan of 11,000 ducats from the Cathedral Church of Córdoba, with an annual interest rate of 3%. In 1779, Carlos III granted it the title of Villa de Bexijar, thus definitively making it independent from Baeza. It cost 3,000 ducats or 66,166 reales and 16 maravedís, at the rate of 7,500 maravedís per resident. Begíjar had about 400 residents at the time.