History of Sabiote
The origins of Sabiote date back to its colonization around 1,200 B.C., when the commercial spirit of the Phoenicians was attracted to the area’s natural wealth. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that human settlement turned the town into a small medieval city. Following the Moorish conquer of the Iberian peninsula in the eighth century, a Muslim settlement was established in Sabiote owing to its strategic position within the Loma de Úbeda. The town expanded to the south and southwest due to the approach of the Christian armies to the Guadalquivir Valley.
In 1257, Alfonso X granted Sabiote the title of “Very Loyal Villa” and handed over the town to the military Order of Calatrava in exchange for the construction of Sabiote’s Encomienda de Calatrava. The town belonged to the order until 1537, when it was sold by Alonso de Baeza to Francisco de los Cobos, who obtained the Lordship of Sabiote.
In the seventeenth century, the town was plunged into hunger, drought, epidemics and a policy of strong fiscal and military pressure. Sabiote found itself at the centre of political turmoil in the eighteenth century when the town positioned itself in favour of the change of dynasty in Spain at the hands of Felipe V. In 1808, the French troops arrived in the town on the occasion of the War of Independence. After the French presence, in 1814 institutional stability was recovered under Fernando VII.
In November 1961, a Bronze-Ages tomb was discovered on the site of “La Cobatilla” containing human remains, a clay plate, a bronze dagger and an amphora. In Roman times, Sabiote belonged to Julia Salaria, capital of Colonia Salaria belonging to the province of Tarragona, acquiring great importance as evidenced by the fact that its inhabitants could mint money.
In the mid-nineteenth century, the majority of the population was engaged in agricultural activity. Plentiful rainfall fed the cultivation of cereals, vines and olive groves, and the principal products of the town were wheat, oil, barley and wine. It was a productive structure that varied with the progressive advance of the olive grove in the twentieth century.
On May 29, 1981, Ginés de la Jara Torres Navarrete became the Official Chronicler of Sabiote until 2019. He was named Adoptive Son of Úbeda and Torreperogil, and Favorite Son of Sabiote.