French Basque Country
[[File:Basque Country Location Map.svg|thumb|The [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque Country], including the Southern Basque Country in Spain]]
The French Basque Country, or Northern Basque Country (
It includes three former historic
It is delimited in the north by the department of
Territory
The department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques is divided into three districts or arrondissements: The Arrondissement of Bayonne, the Arrondissement of Oloron-Sainte-Marie, and the Arrondissement of Pau. French Basque Country includes all of Bayonne and Canton of Montagne Basque in Oloron-Sainte-Marie. Additionally, it includes the following territories in Béarn: Esquiule, Aramits, Géronce, and Arette (in the Canton of Oloron-Sainte-Marie-1).
The French Basque Country included three pre-existing historic territories before the departmental division of France in 1789, with a few modifications:
- Gascon: Labord). Bayonne is conventionally considered part of Labourd, but it stopped belonging to it in the 13th century. A few municipalities are considered a part of Lapurdi and are a part of the "Council of the Elected" and the "Council of the Development of the French Basque Country" but did not belong the historic region of Lapurdi. Among them are Boucau, which belonged to the department of Landes until 1857, Bardos, Guiche, and Urt (which was united administratively to Lapurdi in 1763 but seceded judicially from the Seneschal of Came (Bidache). Lapurdi is located within the Arrondissement of Bayonne.
- Ancien Régime, not dependent on Navarre. Bidache, a territory that was a sovereign principality during the Ancien Régime, did not belong to Navarre although it is also a part of the Council of Elects and the Council of the Development of the French Basque Country. On the other hand, Escos (a town in the Salies-de-Béarn canton) has usually not been considered a part of Lower Navarre, even though it belonged to Navarre during the Ancien Régime. Additionally, it has not entered the Councils of the French Basque Country. Lower Navarre is located within the Arrondissement of Bayonne.
- Soule (French: Soule, Basque: Zuberoa, and in Gascon: Sola). Esquiule (a Béarnese community during the Ancien Régime) is usually included on the list of Souletin populations, since its population is historically Basque-speaking. However, it became part of Béarn and has not requested admission into the Councils of the French Basque Country. Soule is divided between the districts of Bayonne and Oloron-Sainte-Marie, where the majority of its communes are located. These 35 Souletin communes of the Arondissement of Oloron-Sainte-Marie are a part of a Municipal Commonwealth, the Communauté de Communes de Soule-Xiberoa (in Souletin: Xiberoko Herri Alkargoa).
Cities
The most important city in the territory is
Proposed institutional reforms
A slow but continuous French institutional evolution has been produced as a response to the historical claims of the French Basque Country. By an order from 29 January 1997 from the prefect of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a "Basque Country" was recognized as a pays, according to the French administrative category,[5] in accordance with the laws called: the Pasqua Law (LOADT)[6] from 4 February 1995, and the Voynet Law (LOADDT)[7] from 25 June 1999. These are based on the notion of a country in the traditional sense, as a society belonging to a place, culture, etc., promoting the organization and development of the territory in a global manner.
The creation of an institution of greater substance than what was represented by the geographical organization of pays and more specifically of a Basque department, has been a constant element during that last decades in elected posts for the main political parties, with representation from the French Socialist Party, The Republicans, and nationalist parties.[8] 64% of Basque-French mayors[9] support such a creation. The Association des Élus[10] is an association that groups political posts such as regional councilors, general councilors and mayors of the French Basque Country, from both political spectrums, whose goal is to achieve the division of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department into Basque and Béarnese departments respectively (24 of the existing mainland departments have smaller populations than the French Basque Country).
The Council of the Development of the French Basque Country was created in 1994, and in 1995 the Council of the Elected of the French Basque Country (Association des Élus du Pays Basque) was created.
On 15 January 2005, the Euskal Herriko Laborantza Ganbara (Chamber of Agriculture for the Basque Country),[11] was created as a house for the representation and promotion of the interests of livestock farmers and agriculturists of the French Basque Country, promoted by the agrarian union, Laborarien Batasuna. Initially, this institution wasn't recognised, and its function was illegal. Now, its function is regulated and receives subventions from the Regional Council of Aquitaine.
In 2012, the French government proposed the creation of a single commonwealth for all of the towns in French Basque Country, under two conditions: being approved by at least half of the 158 communes in the historic territory, and that at least half of the nearly 300,000 residents be represented within this historic territory. After a process of municipal meetings, on 2 May 2016, both conditions were met.[12]
On 1 January 2017, the Agglomerate Community of Basque Country,[13][14] was created: an intercommunal cooperation movement (EPCI), which promotes a greater level of autonomy, with the French administrative categorization as an official territorial administrative structure with greater abilities than a pays, but fewer than a French department, and that is made up of a union of ten commonwealths and 157 of the 159 Basque communes, plus one Béarnese community.
History
Prehistoric era
The oldest human remains that are known of in the territory of the current French Basque Country are approximately 150,000 years old. Some houses have been found on the terraces of the river
Many artistic objects from the
The most well-known object found is a bird bone with three holes in it in the shape of a
During the
Antiquity
The present-day territory was inhabited by the
- The Tarbelli lived along the coast of Labourd and Chalosse, near Aquae Tarbellicae (Dax)
- The )
- The Bigerriones from Bigorre in Turba (Tarbes)
- The Convenae in the Comminges, Lugdunum (Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges)
- The Consorani, who occupied Couserans (Saint-Lizier)
- The Lactorates in Lomagne, Lactura (Lectoure)
- The Armagnac with the city of Elusa (Eauze)
- The Vocates (Vassei or Vocates) in the southeast of Gironde or Bazadais, with its capital in Cossium (Bazas)
- The Boii in Pays de Buch, lived in the city of Lamothe (Le Teich)
The region reached a high level of Romanization, as many of the toponyms with Latin or Celtic suffixes, such as -acum or -anum, demonstrate. In the north of what is now French Basque Country, these (toponyms) become more frequent: e.g., Loupiac and Gaillan. However, in the southeast of the territory, the less Romanized area, toponyms with Basque suffixes are abundant: -ousse, -ous -ost, and -oz, such as Biscarrosse and Almandoz, for example; some inscriptions have words similar to those in Basque on them.
Middle Ages
After the Germanic invasions that caused the fall of the Roman Empire, the ancient province began to be referred to as Wasconia according to texts by Frankish chroniclers, mainly Gregory of Tours and the Chronicle of Fredegar from the 6th century,[15] and was differentiated from the trans-Pyrenean territories that later chroniclers in the Ravenna Cosmography called Spanoguasconia.
In the year 418, the Visigoths moved to the region in accordance with a federation pact or foedus made with Rome, but they were forced to leave in 507 as a consequence of their defeat against the Merovingians led by King Clovis I at the battle of Vouillé.[16] After Clovis I's death in 511, the heirs to his throne consolidated their northern possessions centered on Neustria and Austrasia, placing them under the direct control of the sovereign, while the rest of their territories were organized into autonomous entities led by powerful officials of the kingdom: counts, dukes, patricians, and vice chancellors, in accordance with the Merovingian tradition of decentralizing power.[17]
In Wasconia and the Pyrenean periphery in Vasconum saltus, armed incursions and confrontations with Merovingian potentates were frequent during the last third of the 6th century. Venantius Fortunatus' chronicles cite the clashes with the Frankish king Chilperic I and the comes from Bordeaux, Galactorio,[18] up until 580, while Gregory of Tours wrote about the incursions Duke Austrobald faced in 587 after the defeat of Duke Bladastes in 574 at Soule.[19]
After the Basque rebellions against Roman
In the 8th century, a second autonomous Duchy of Gascony was created. By the end of the 9th century, Guillermo Sanchez was named the duke of all Vascons. Some years later, Guy Geoffroy united the duchies of Vasconia and Aquitania (with the Poitiers county).
During this period, northern Basques very likely participated in the successive
At this point, the Basque language was losing ground to Vulgar Latin and written Latin and was increasingly confined to the lands around the Pyrénées. Since 963, the town Saint-Sever has been referred to as caput vasconiae, interpreted as meaning "the limit of Vasconia" or "prominence of Vasconia" (on account of its location on a hill overlooking the plains of Vasconia).
The evangelization of the territory that today comprises French Basque Country was slow and precarious. Beginning in the 9th century, and in part due to
Politics and institutions
The lands to the south of the Adour became Labourd, encompassing initially a bigger region than the later territory around the
agreed to divide the country, Labourd remaining under Angevin sovereignty and Lower Navarre under Navarrese control.All vacant land, forests, and waters under this Viscounty belonged to the King and everyone had the right to use them, whether they were nobles or not. Nobles did not have any feudal rights and justice rested solely in the hands of the King. The Biltzar, the only existing assembly, was in charge of distributing taxes and charges, and its delegates were chosen by the etxeko-jaun of the parishes. Furthermore, parish assemblies that administered the collective goods of each parish existed. In 1215, Bayonne separated from Labourd, ruling from that moment on through its council. From the end of the 12th century until the French Revolution, Ustaritz was the capital of Labourd. Bayonne continued to be the economic hub of the area until the 19th century. However, above all, it was the port of Navarre that connected it to the North of Europe.
Meanwhile,
After the conquest of Upper Navarre by Castile in 1512–21, the still independent north Pyrenean part of Navarre took the lead of the
In 1634,
The Renaissance and witch trials
The 16th century was probably the most tragic for the inhabitants of the French Basque Country in its history. The recurring French-Spanish conflict between 1512 and 1659 and the French Wars of Religion that lasted 30 years sowed terror and misery.
On the other hand, the accusations made in the Parliament of Bordeaux motivated Labourd in sending the councilor Pierre de Lancre. He burned around 200 women, children and priests by forcing them to confess through torture. Pierre de Lancre was responsible for the witch hunt in Labourd. He believed women had a sinful nature, and that they were so dangerous that one judge alone could not judge a woman because men are weak. He said that a tribunal made up of several men was necessary to do so.
However, after overcoming the disasters suffered, a sort of renaissance was lived during the 17th century. Among other things, Rabelais published his Gargantua and Pantagruel, and Etxepare wrote the first printed text in Basque.
Territories of the French Basque Country and the French monarchy
With the conquest of the castles of Mauléon and Bayonne in 1449 and 1451 respectively, Labourd and Soule were under the domain of the French crown. When Henry III of Navarre took the French throne at the end of the 16th century (as Henry IV), Lower Navarre was incorporated into the French Royal patrimony (becoming the King of France and Navarre).
Modern period
The three Basque provinces still enjoyed considerable autonomy until the
The three Basque provinces were then shaken by traumatic events after the intervention of the French Convention Army during the War of the Pyrenees (1793–95). Besides prohibiting the native Basque language for public use, with Bertrand Barère even declaring that "fanaticism speaks Basque",[24] an indiscriminate mass-deportation of civilians followed resulting in the expulsion from their homes of thousands and a death toll of approx. 1,600 in Labourd.[25][26]
The Basques started to be forcibly recruited for the French army, with large numbers of youths in turn deciding to run away or defect among allegations of mistreatment, so starting a trend of exile and emigration to the Americas that was to last for more than a century.[citation needed]
The mutual hostility and lack of trust between the new regime and the European monarchies led to the creation of the
It became a matter of concern discussed by
The 19th century to the present
The mid-1800s were years of decay and yearning for the time before the French Revolution. The Basques were divided into Republicans, laicist Jacobins (but for a nuanced position held by Xaho), and Royalists (traditional Catholics), with the latter eventually prevailing in the area.[28] Shepherding and small-scale mining and agriculture were the main economic activities, and were accompanied by the increased presence of customs officials, both locals and non-Basques.
The railway arrived at
) chose to take healing baths at spa resorts and sought to be closer to nature.In 1851, the first Lore Jokoak took place in
Basque young men could not avoid becoming entangled in World War I when they were drafted to the front. While across the border Gipuzkoa and Biscay thrived on their shipbuilding and steel processing industry supplying the European war effort,[29] continental Basques under the age of 49 were required to travel to the front in north-east France.[30] From the beginning and as the slaughter of the trenches wore on, thousands of Basques objected to military service, defected and fled to the south or the Americas.[31] However, war took a heavy toll; 6,000 died at the front, equivalent to 3% of the French Basque population.[32] It also produced strengthened the notion in the Basque psyche that it is an integral part of the French nation, fostered by the above weekly Eskualduna on the grounds that "God champions France."[33]
During
Over the last 200 years, the territory has shown a slow demographic rise: 126,493 (in 1801); 162,365 (1851); 226,749 (1979) (79% in Labourd, 13% in Lower Navarre, 8% in Soule); 259,850 (1990) (81%; 13%; 6% respectively); 262,000 (1999 census). On 29 January 1997 the area was made an official pays of France named Pays Basque, i.e., a representative body promoting several activities, but without its own budget.
Culture
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Languages
Neither Basque nor any of the other regional languages in France, such as Catalan, Breton or Occitan, have official recognition in France. According to the second article of the French Constitution, "the language of the Republic is French", and, despite several attempts to add "with respect to the regional languages that are part of our heritage" by 44 deputies in 2006, the proposal was rejected by 57 votes against and 44 in favor.[34]
Basques continue to practice many Basque cultural traditions. The town of Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle is well known for its Herri Urrats celebration.[35]
According to a 2006 survey,
On the coast, where the largest cities are located, the predominant language is French, for example, in the Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz agglomeration, Basque is spoken by 10% of the population. However, in the rural interior of the Northern Basque Country, Basque is the predominant language, spoken by the majority of the population.[37]
Basque
Basque,[nb 1] a continuum of Aquitanian (or Proto-Basque) spoken in this region since before the Roman era,[nb 2] does not have official status but it does have some acknowledgement, so that it can be studied in school and be used as a secondary language by the institutions in the area.
According to the current division created by
The literary tradition in the French Basque Country, especially in Labourd, has had great importance in the history of the Basque language. The first Basque writers on that side of the Pyrenees took the language from the Labourd coast as their base language for literature, more specifically the triangle formed by Ciboure, Sare, and Saint-Jean-de-Luz. The language has evolved in the literary plane from classical Labourd dialect used by writers in the Sare School, to the literary Navarro-Lapurdian dialect, a sort of Basque unified in the French Basque Country made concrete by a grammar book by Pierres Lafitte Ithurralde in the 1940s. In many ways, it is considered one of the predecessors of Standard Basque, and it currently survives as an unrecognized version of unified Basque. In other words, it is a unified Basque with lexical and morphological elements unique to the region.
The Navarro-Lapurdian dialect and Souletin have common characteristics that distinguish them from other Basque dialects, such as the pronunciation of /h/ (according to Koldo Mitxelena, it was lost around the 13th century in the Pyrenees territories due to Aragonese influence and became extinct on the Labourd coast around the 19th century, according to Louis Lucien Bonaparte), the differences in speech in the grammatical cases of Nor (absolutive) and Nork (ergative), and the use of the root *eradun in front of *edun used in speech on the other side of the Bidasoa (deraut vs. diot). The Royal Academy of the Basque Language took into account the four centuries of literary tradition of this region when it began the unification project.
According to the theory of waves or gradients, the
Recognition of the Basque and Occitan languages
Neither Basque nor any of the other
Despite this,
Below is an extract from the report of the Observatory of Linguistic Rights of Euskal Herria: Since 1994, the ikastolas (Basque-medium schools) are recognized as educational establishments, with an association model, although they don't receive any state aid. Professors in the ikastolas are under the responsibility of the French Education Ministry. In 2000, the Basque-French federation of ikastolas, Seaska, decided to end negotiations with the French educational administration to integrate ikastolas into the public education system of France, since the conditions it set did not guarantee their education model.[41] Currently, the ikastolas are financed largely by the parents in a cooperative system and by various activities organized in favor of Basque, such as Herri Urrats
In 2003, the Basque government and the members of the Department of Public Works of the French Basque Country signed the protocols that allowed the collaboration between the various Basque organisms and institutions to encourage a linguistic policy on both sides of the Spanish-French border; the Public Institution of Basque (Euskararen Erakunde Publikoa) was born due to this accord in French Basque Country.
Politics
There is a
In the 1980s and 1990s, an armed group called Iparretarrak ('the Northerners') used violence to seek independence. It disbanded in the 1990s.
Economy
The Northern Basque Country has 29,759 companies, 107 companies for 1,000 inhabitants and an annual growth of 4.5% (between 2004 and 2006).[42]
66.2% of companies are in the
Although the Northern Basque Country is part of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques for most administrative entities, it does have its own Chamber of Commerce (the CCI Bayonne-Pays-Basque) and a distinct economy with a pole of competences around the boardsports industry including companies such as Quiksilver and Volcom based on the Basque Coast.
See also
- Aquitani
- Bayonne ham
- Communauté d'agglomération du Pays Basque
- Duchy of Vasconia
- Izarra, a local liquor
- Eusko, local currency
- Kingdom of Navarre
- Northern Catalonia
Notes
- ^ Louis Lucien Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, made the first classification of the dialects in the nineteenth century based solely on linguistic criteria. He made four different classifications. The definitive classification was collected in his work "Le verbe basque en tableaux", where he differentiated eight dialects: Biscayan (Basque language), Gipuzkoan, Northern High Navarrese, Southern High Navarrese (now practically extinct), Western Lower Navarrese, Eastern Lower Navarrese, Labourdin and Souletin. In them he recognized 25 sub-dialects and 50 variants.
- ^ "The first words written in Basque are those found in the Basque-Aquitanian and Pyrenean funerary stelae from Roman times (1st century). They could be names of gods and goddesses: sembe > seme (son), anderex > andere (lady), cison > gizon (man), nescato > neskato (girl)...although at present they correspond to common names in our vocabulary" (translated from Basque)[38]
References
- ^ "Abian da Euskal Elkargoa [The Basque Community kicks off]". EITB. 2017-01-02. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ^ Sabathlé, Pierre (2017-01-23). "Jean-René Etchegaray élu président de la communauté d'agglomération Pays basque". SudOuest. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ^ "Aujourd'hui, 10 intercommunalités en Pays Basque". Communauté Pays Basque. Communauté Pays Basque. 2015. Retrieved 2017-02-03.
- ^ "Basque Eurocity". MOT, Mission Opérationelle Transfrontalière. French Govt. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ^ "Carte interactive des communes du pays Basque - Pyrénées-Atlantiques". Geo-market. Retrieved 5 August 2021.French page where the country is listed.(Page in French)
- ^ "Loi n° 95-115 du 4 février 1995 d'orientation pour l'aménagement et le développement du territoire". Légifrance. République Française. Retrieved 5 August 2021. in French
- ^ "Loi n° 99-533 du 25 juin 1999 d'orientation pour l'aménagement et le développement durable du territoire et portant modification de la loi n° 95-115 du 4 février 1995 d'orientation pour l'aménagement et le développement du territoire". Légifrance. République Française. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
- ^ Electos de Iparralde votan a favor de la Colectividad Territorial
- ^ El País Vasco francés o la pugna de identidades
- ^ "Association des Elus pour une Departement Basque". Archived from the original on 2007-08-07. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- ^ "Euskal Herriko Laborantza Ganbara".
- ^ "Iparralde cumple las dos condiciones para la creación de la Mancomunidad". Eitb.
- ^ Banatic, página oficial de las Mancomunidades francesas (en francés)
- ^ Orden nº 64-2016-07-13-015, publicado el 13 de julio de 2016 (en francés, páginas de 41 a 54)
- ^ Adolf Schulten, 1927, Revista Internacional de los Estudios Vascos. RIEV, 18, 2.Las referencias sobre los Vascones hasta el año 810 después de J.C. Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ (Bazán 2006:245)
- JSTOR 2851704
- ^ (Schulten 1927:234)
- ^ Grégoire de Tours, Histoire des Francs, edición J.-L.-L. Brière, Paris 1823. Tomo II, Libro IX, De l'année 587 à l'année 589. Gontran, Childebert II et Clotaire II, Rois pag. 8. Disponible el 16/11/2006 en bnf.fr
- ^ a b (Bazán 2006:246)
- ^ Baja Navarra y Zuberoa (La Historia y los Vascos – Vascon.Galeon.com)
- ^ "Joanes Leizarraga Vida Y Obra" (PDF). Euskomedia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2008-01-28. Article in Spanish
- ISBN 978-84-7148-530-4.
- ISBN 019820616X.
- ISBN 978-84-7681-478-9.
- ^ Bolinaga, Iñigo. 2012, p. 87
- ^ Sánchez Arreseigor, Juan José: Vascos contra Napoleón; Editorial Actas, 2010 Madrid. Pag. 30 a 37
- ^ "Republicanismo en Euskal Herria: Iparralde". Auñamendi Entziklopedia. EuskoMedia. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
- ^ "La economía vasca durante el período 1914-1918". Auñamendi Entziklopedia. EuskoMedia. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
- ISBN 978-84-8438-511-0. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
- ^ Bidegain, Eneko. 2012, pp. 562-571
- ^ Bidegain, Eneko. 2012, p. 174
- ^ Bidegain, Eneko. 2012, pp. 606, 658-659
- ^ "París dice que hacer oficial el euskera ataca la unidad francesa" - El Correo, 22 de diciembre de 2006
- ^ "Celebration of Herri Urrats, traditional festival to help Basque language schools in the Basque Country". Euskalkultura.com: Basque Heritage Worldwide (BETA). Retrieved 29 February 2012.
- ISBN 978-84-457-2777-5.
- ^ Euskalgintza IV
- ^ "Euskararen Jatorriari Buruzko Teoriak (Theories about the origin of Basque)". Department of Education. Basque Government. Retrieved 5 August 2021.Website in Basque and Spanish.
- ^ "París dice que hacer oficial el euskera ataca la unidad francesa" - El Correo, 22 de diciembre de 2006
- ^ "Cinco estatus diferentes para la lengua vasca y los derechos lingüísticos - Observatorio de Derechos Lingüísticos de Euskal Herria
- ^ Seaska: Les racines de l'avenir (en francés).
- ^ "Invest Pays Basque". CCI Bayonne. Archived from the original on 2013-07-23. Retrieved 2008-06-05. Invest-PaysBasque.com
External links
Media related to Northern Basque Country at Wikimedia Commons