Basques

TheBasques(/bɑːsks/BAHSKSor/bæsks/BASKS;Basque:euskaldunak[eus̺kaldunak];Spanish:vascos[ˈbaskos];French:basques[bask]) are aSouthwestern Europeanethnic group,characterised by theBasque language, acommon cultureand sharedgenetic ancestryto the ancientVasconesandAquitanians.Basques areindigenousto, and primarily inhabit, an area traditionally known as theBasque Country(Basque:Euskal Herria)—a region that is located around the western end of thePyreneeson the coast of theBay of Biscayand straddles parts of north-centralSpainand south-westernFrance.
The English wordBasquemay be pronounced/bɑːsk/or/bæsk/and derives from the FrenchBasque(French:[bask]), itself derived fromGasconBasco(pronounced[ˈbasku]), cognate with SpanishVasco(pronounced[ˈbasko]). Those, in turn, come fromLatinVascō(pronounced[ˈwaskoː]; pluralVascōnēs—seehistory sectionbelow). The Latin/w/generallyevolved intothebilabials/b/and/β̞/in Gascon and Spanish, probably under the influence of Basque and the relatedAquitanian(the Latin /w/ instead evolved into/v/inFrench,Italianand otherRomance languages).
Several coins from the 2nd and the 1st centuries BC found in the Basque Country bear the inscriptionbarscunes. The place in which they were minted is not certain but is thought to be somewhere nearPamplona, in the heartland of the area that historians believe was inhabited by theVascones. Some scholars have suggested a Celtic etymology based onbhar-s-, meaning "summit", "point" or "leaves", according to whichbarscunesmay have meant "themountain people", "the tall ones" or "the proud ones", and others have posited a relationship to aProto-Indo-Europeanroot*bar-meaning "border", "frontier", "march".
In Basque, people call themselves theeuskaldunak, singulareuskaldun, formed fromeuskal-(i.e. "Basque (language)") and-dun(i.e. "one who has");euskaldunliterally means a Basque-speaker. Not all Basques are Basque-speakers. Therefore, theneologismeuskotar, pluraleuskotarrak, was coined in the 19th century to mean a Basque person, whether Basque-speaking or not. Alfonso Irigoyen posits that the wordeuskarais derived from an ancient Basque verbenautsi"to say" (compare modern Basqueesan) and the suffix-(k)ara("way (of doing something)"). Thus,euskarawould mean literally "way of saying" or "way of speaking". One item of evidence in favour of that hypothesis is found in the Spanish bookCompendio Historial, written in 1571 by the Basque writerEsteban de Garibay. He records the name of the Basque language asenusquera. That may, however, be a writing mistake.
In the 19th century, the Basque nationalist activistSabino Aranaposited an original rooteuzko, which he thought came fromeguzkiko("of the sun", related to the assumption of an originalsolar religion). On the basis of that putative root, Arana proposed the nameEuzkadifor an independent Basque nation, composed of seven Basque historical territories. Arana's neologismEuzkadi(in the regularized spellingEuskadi) is still widely used in both Basque and Spanish since it is now the official name of theAutonomous Communityof theBasque Country.
The distinctiveness noted by studies of classical genetic markers (such asblood groups) and thepre-Indo-Europeanof the Basque language has resulted in a popular and long-held view that Basques are "living fossils" of the earliestmodern humanswho colonised Europe.Partly for these reasons, anthropological and genetic studies from the beginning and the end of the 20th century theorized that the Basques are the descendants of the originalCro-Magnons.
But although they are genetically distinctive in some ways due to isolation, the Basques are still very typically European in theirY-DNAandmtDNAsequences, and in some other geneticloci. These same sequences are widespread throughout the Western half of Europe, especially along the Western fringe of the continent.
Basque tribes were mentioned in Roman times by Strabo and Pliny, including theVascones,Aquitani, and others. There is enough evidence to support the hypothesis that at that time and later they spoke old varieties of the Basque language (see:Aquitanian language).
In theEarly Middle Ages, the territory between theEbroandGaronnerivers was known asVasconia, a vaguely defined ethnic area and political entity struggling to fend off pressure from the IberianVisigothickingdom andArab rule to the south, as well as theFrankishpush from the north.By the turn of the first millennium, the territory ofVasconiahad fragmented into different feudal regions, such asSouleandLabourd, while south of the Pyrenees theCastile,Pamplonaand the Pyrenean counties ofAragon,Sobrarbe,Ribagorça(laterKingdom of Aragon), andPallarsemerged as the main regional entities with Basque population in the 9th and 10th centuries.
The Kingdom of Pamplona, a central Basque realm, later known asNavarre, underwent a process of feudalization and was subject to the influence of its much larger Aragonese, Castilian and French neighbours. Castile deprived Navarre of its coastline by conqueringkey western territories(1199–1201), leaving the kingdom landlocked. The Basques were ravaged by theWar of the Bands, bitter partisan wars between local ruling families. Weakened by the Navarrese civil war, thebulk of the realm eventually fellbefore the onslaught of the Spanish armies (1512–1524). However,the Navarrese territory north of the Pyreneesremained beyond the reach of an increasingly powerful Spain.Lower Navarrebecame a province of France in 1620.
Nevertheless, the Basques enjoyed a great deal of self-governmentuntil the French Revolution (1790)and theCarlist Wars(1839, 1876), when the Basques supported heir apparentCarlos Vand his descendants. On either side of the Pyrenees, the Basqueslost their native institutions and lawsheld during theAncien régime. Since then, despite the current limited self-governing status of theBasque Autonomous Communityand Navarre as settled by the Spanish Constitution, many Basques have attempted higher degrees of self-empowerment (seeBasque nationalism), sometimes by acts of violence.Labourd,Lower Navarre, andSoulewere integrated into theFrench department system(starting 1790), with Basque efforts to establish a region-specific political-administrative entity failing to take off to date. However, in January 2017, a single agglomeration community was established for theBasque Country in France.
The Basque region is divided into at least three administrative units, namely theBasque Autonomous CommunityandNavarrein Spain, and thearrondissementofBayonneand thecantonsofMauléon-LicharreandTardets-Sorholusin thedépartementofPyrénées Atlantiques, France.
The autonomous community (a concept established in theSpanish Constitution of 1978) known asEuskal Autonomia Erkidegoaor EAE in Basque and asComunidad Autónoma Vascaor CAV in Spanish (in English:Basque Autonomous Communityor BAC),is made up of the three Spanish provinces ofÁlava,BiscayandGipuzkoa. The corresponding Basque names of these territories areAraba,BizkaiaandGipuzkoa, and their Spanish names areÁlava,VizcayaandGuipúzcoa.
The BAC only includes three of the seven provinces of the currently called historical territories. It is sometimes referred to simply as "the Basque Country" (orEuskadi) by writers and public agencies only considering those three western provinces, but also on occasions merely as a convenient abbreviation when this does not lead to confusion in the context. Others reject this usage as inaccurate and are careful to specify the BAC (or an equivalent expression such as "the three provinces", up to 1978 referred to as "Provincias Vascongadas" in Spanish) when referring to this entity or region. Likewise, terms such as "the Basque Government" for "the government of the BAC" are commonly though not universally employed. In particular in common usage the French termPays Basque("Basque Country"), in the absence of further qualification, refers either to the wholeBasque Country("Euskal Herria" in Basque), or not infrequently to thenorthern (or "French") Basque Countryspecifically.
Under Spain's present constitution, Navarre (Nafarroain present-day Basque,Navarrahistorically in Spanish) constitutes a separate entity, called in present-day BasqueNafarroako Foru Erkidegoa, in SpanishComunidad Foral de Navarra(the autonomous community of Navarre). The government of this autonomous community is the Government of Navarre. In historical contexts Navarre may refer to a wider area, and that the present-day northern Basque province ofLower Navarremay also be referred to as (part of)Nafarroa, while the term "High Navarre" (Nafarroa Garaiain Basque,Alta Navarrain Spanish) is also encountered as a way of referring to the territory of the present-day autonomous community.
There are three other historic provinces parts of the Basque Country:Labourd,Lower NavarreandSoule(Lapurdi, Nafarroa BehereaandZuberoain Basque;Labourd, Basse-NavarreandSoulein French), devoid of official status within France's present-day political and administrative territorial organization, and only minor political support to the Basque nationalists. A large number of regional and local nationalist and non-nationalist representatives have waged a campaign for years advocating for the creation of a separate Basquedépartement, while these demands have gone unheard by the French administration.
There are 2,123,000 people living in the Basque Autonomous Community (279,000 in Alava, 1,160,000 in Biscay and 684,000 in Gipuzkoa). The most important cities in this region, which serve as the provinces' administrative centers, areBilbao(in Biscay),San Sebastián(in Gipuzkoa), andVitoria-Gasteiz(in Álava). The official languages are Basque and Spanish. Knowledge of Spanish is compulsory under the Spanish constitution (article no. 3), and knowledge and usage of Basque is a right under the Statute of Autonomy (article no. 6), so only knowledge of Spanish is virtually universal. Knowledge of Basque, after declining for many years duringFranco's dictatorshipowing to official persecution, is again on the rise due to favorable official language policies and popular support. Currently about 33 percent of the population in the Basque Autonomous Community speaks Basque.
Navarre has a population of 601,000; its administrative capital and main city, also regarded by many nationalist Basques as the Basques' historical capital, is Pamplona (Iruñeain modern Basque). Only Spanish is an official language of Navarre, and the Basque language is only co-official in the province's northern region, where most Basque-speaking Navarrese are concentrated.
About a quarter of a million people live in theFrench Basque Country. Nowadays Basque-speakers refer to this region asIparralde(Basque for North), and to the Spanish provinces asHegoalde(South). Much of this population lives in or near the Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz (BAB) urban belt on the coast (in Basque these areBaiona,AngeluandMiarritze). The Basque language, which was traditionally spoken by most of the region's population outside the BAB urban zone, is today rapidly losing ground to French. The French Basque Country's lack of self-government within the French state is coupled with the absence of official status for the Basque language in the region. Attempts to introduce bilingualism in local administration have so far met direct refusal from French officials.
Large numbers of Basques have left the Basque Country to settle in the rest of Spain, France or other parts of the world in different historical periods, often for economic or political reasons. Historically the Basques abroad were often employed in shepherding and ranching and by maritime fisheries and merchants. Millions of Basque descendants (seeBasque AmericanandBasque Canadian) live in North America (the United States; Canada, mainly in the provinces ofNewfoundlandandQuebec), all over Latin America, South Africa, and Australia.
Miguel de Unamunosaid: "There are at least two things that clearly can be attributed to Basques: theSociety of Jesusand theRepublic of Chile."Chilean historian Luis Thayer Ojeda estimated that 48 percent of immigrants to Chile in the 17th and 18th centuries were Basque.Estimates range between 2.5 and 5 millionBasque descendantslive inChile; the Basque have been a major if not the strongest influence in the country'sculturalandeconomicdevelopment.
Basque place names are to be found, such asNueva Vizcaya(nowChihuahuaandDurango, Mexico),New Navarre(nowSonoraandSinaloa, Mexico),Biscayne Bay(United States), andAguereberry Point(United States).Nueva Vizcaya was the first province in the north of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico) to be explored and settled by the Spanish. It consisted mostly of the area which is today the states of Chihuahua and Durango (the original Durango is a known city in Biscay).
In Mexico most descendants of Basque emigrees are concentrated in the cities ofMonterrey,Saltillo,Reynosa,Camargo, and the states ofJalisco,Durango,Nuevo León,Tamaulipas,Coahuila, andSonora. The Basques were important in the mining industry; many were ranchers and vaqueros (cowboys), and the rest opened small shops in major cities such asMexico City,GuadalajaraandPuebla. InGuatemala, most Basques have been concentrated inSacatepequez Department,Antigua Guatemala,Jalapafor six generations now, while some have migrated toGuatemala City.
In Colombia, a large number of Basques settled mainly inAntioquiaand theCoffee Axis. In 1955, Joaquín Ospina said: "Is there something more similar to the Basque people than the "antioqueños".Also, writer Arturo Escobar Uribe said in his book "Mitos de Antioquia" (Myths of Antioquia) (1950): "Antioquia, which in its clean ascendance predominates the peninsular farmer of the Basque provinces, inherited the virtues of its ancestors. ... Despite the predominance of the white race, its extension in the mountains ... has projected over Colombia's map the prototype of its race; inMedellínwith the industrialpaisa, entrepreneur, strong and steady ... in its towns, the adventurer, arrogant, world-explorer. ... Its myths, which are an evidence of their deep credulity and an indubitable proof of their Iberian ancestor, are the sequel of the conqueror's blood which runs through their veins".Bambuco, a Colombian folk music, has Basque roots.
The largest of several important Basque communities in the United States is in the area aroundBoise, Idaho, home to the Basque Museum and Cultural Center, host to an annual Basque festival, as well as a festival for the Basque diaspora every five years.Reno, Nevada, where the Center for Basque Studies and the Basque Studies Library are located at theUniversity of Nevada, is another significant nucleus of Basque population.Elko, Nevada, sponsors an annual Basque festival that celebrates the dance, cuisine and cultures of the Basque peoples of Spanish, French and Mexican nationalities who have arrived inNevadasince the late 19th century.
Texashas a large percentage of Hispanics descended from Basques who participated in the conquest ofNew Spain. Many of the originalTejanoshad Basque blood, including those who fought in theBattle of the Alamoalongside many of the other Texans. Along the Mexican/Texan border, many Basque surnames can be found. The largest concentration of Basques who settled on Mexico's north-eastern "frontera", including the states ofChihuahua,Durango,Coahuila,Nuevo León, andTamaulipas, also settled along Texas'Rio GrandefromSouth TexastoWest Texas. Many of the historichidalgos, or noble families from this area, had gained their titles and land grants from Spain and Mexico; they still value their land. Some of North America's largest ranches, which were founded under these colonial land grants, can be found in this region.
Californiahas a major concentration of Basques, most notably in theSan Joaquin ValleybetweenStockton,FresnoandBakersfield. The city of Bakersfield has a large Basque community and the city has several Basque restaurants, including Noriega's which won the 2011 James Beard Foundation America's Classic Award. There is a history of Basque culture inChino, California. In Chino, two annual Basque festivals celebrate the dance, cuisine, and culture of the peoples. The surrounding area ofSan Bernardino Countyhas many Basque descendants as residents. They are mostly descendants of settlers from Spain and Mexico. These Basques in California are grouped in the group known asCalifornios.
Basques of European Spanish-French and Latin American nationalities also settled throughout the western U.S. in states likeLouisiana,New Mexico,Arizona,Utah,Colorado,Wyoming,Montana,Oregon, andWashington.
The identifying language of the Basques is called Basque orEuskara, spoken today by 25%-30%of the region's population. An idea of the central place the language has in cultural terms is given by the fact that Basques identify themselves by the termeuskaldunand their country asEuskal Herria, literally "Basque speaker" and "Country of the Basque Language" respectively. The language has been made a political issue by official Spanish and French policies restricting its use either historically or currently; however, this has not stopped the teaching, speaking, writing, and cultivating of this increasingly vibrant minority language. This sense of Basque identity tied to the local language does not only exist in isolation. For many Basques, it is juxtaposed with a sense of either Spanish or French identity tied with the use of the Spanish andFrench languagesamong other Basques, especially in the French Basque Country. Regarding the Spanish Basque Country, Basques that don't have a sense of Spanish identity make up an important part of the population.As with many European states, a regional identity, be it linguistically derived or otherwise, is not mutually exclusive with the broader national one. For example, Basquerugby unionplayer for France,Imanol Harinordoquy, has said about his national identity:
As a result of state language promotion, school policies, the effects of mass media and migration, today virtually all Basques (except for some children below school age) speak the official language of their state (Spanish or French). There are extremely few Basque monolingual speakers: essentially all Basque speakers are bilingual on both sides of the border. Spanish or French is typically the first language of citizens from other regions (who often feel no need to learn Basque), and Spanish or French is also the first language of many Basques, all of which maintains the dominance of the state tongues of both France and Spain. Recent Basque Government policies aim to change this pattern, as they are viewed as potential threats against mainstream usage of the minority tongue.
The Basque language is thought to be ageneticlanguage isolatein contrast with other European languages, vast majority of which belong to the broadIndo-European language family. Another peculiarity of Basque is that it has probably been spoken continuouslyin situ, in and around its present territorial location, for longer than most other modern European languages, which are typically thought to have been introduced in historic or prehistoric times through population migrations or other processes of cultural transmission.
However, popular stereotypes characterizing Basque as "the oldest language in Europe" and "unique among the world's languages" may be misunderstood and lead to erroneous assumptions.Over the centuries, Basque has remained in continuous contact with neighboring western European languages with which it has come to share numerous lexical properties and typological features; it is therefore misleading to exaggerate the "outlandish" character of Basque. Basque is also a modern language, and is established as a written and printed one used in present-day forms of publication and communication, as well as a language spoken and used in a very wide range of social and cultural contexts, styles, and registers.
Basques have a close attachment to their home (etxe(a)'house, home'), especially when this consists of the traditional self-sufficient, family-run farm orbaserri(a). Home in this context is synonymous with family roots. SomeBasque surnameswere adapted from oldbaserriorhabitation names. They typically related to a geographical orientation or other locally meaningful identifying features. Such surnames provide even those Basques whose families may have left the land generations ago with an important link to their rural family origins:Bengoetxea"the house of further down",Goikoetxea"the house above",Landaburu"top of the field",Errekondo"next to the stream",Elizalde"by the church",Mendizabal"wide hill",Usetxe"house of birds"Ibarretxe"house in the valley",Etxeberria"the new house", and so on.
In contrast to surrounding regions, ancient Basque inheritance patterns, recognised in thefueros,favoured survival of the unity of inherited land holdings. In a kind of primogeniture, these usually were inherited by the eldest male or female child. As in other cultures, the fate of other family members depended on the assets of a family: wealthy Basque families tended to provide for all children in some way, while less-affluent families may have had only one asset to provide to one child. However, this heir often provided for the rest of the family (unlike in England, with strict primogeniture, where the eldest son inherited everything and often did not provide for others). Even though they were provided for in some way, younger siblings had to make much of their living by other means. Mostly afterthe advent of industrialisation, this system resulted in the emigration of many rural Basques to Spain, France or the Americas. Harsh by modern standards, this custom resulted in a great many enterprising figures of Basque origin who went into the world to earn their way, from Spanishconquistadorssuch asLope de AguirreandFrancisco Vásquez de Coronado, to explorers, missionaries and saints of the Catholic Church, such asFrancis Xavier.
A widespread belief that Basque society was originallymatriarchalis at odds with the current, clearlypatrilinealkinship system and inheritance structures. Some scholars and commentators have attempted to reconcile these points by assuming that patrilineal kinship represents an innovation. In any case, the social position of women in both traditional and modern Basque society is somewhat better than in neighbouring cultures, and women have a substantial influence in decisions about the domestic economy. In the past, some women participated in collective magical ceremonies. They were key participants in a rich folklore, today largely forgotten.
Basque cuisineis at the heart of Basque culture, influenced by the neighboring communities and produce from the sea and the land. A 20th-century feature of Basque culture is the phenomenon ofgastronomical societies(calledtxokoin Basque), food clubs where men gather to cook and enjoy their own food. Until recently, women were allowed entry only one day in the year. Cider houses (Sagardotegiak) are popular restaurants in Gipuzkoa open for a few months while the cider is in season.
At the end of the 20th century, despiteETAviolence (ended in 2010) and the crisis of heavy industries, the Basque economic condition recovered remarkably. They emerged from theFrancoregime with a revitalized language and culture. The Basque language expanded geographically led by large increases in the major urban centers of Pamplona, Bilbao, and Bayonne, where only a few decades ago the Basque language had all but disappeared. Nowadays, the number of Basque speakers is maintaining its level or increasing slightly.
Traditionally Basques have been mostlyCatholics. In the 19th century and well into the 20th, Basques as a group remained notably devout and churchgoing. In recent years church attendance has fallen off, as in most of Western Europe. The region has been a source of missionaries likeFrancis XavierandMichel Garicoïts.Ignatius Loyola, founder of theSociety of Jesus, was a Basque.CaliforniaFranciscanFermín Lasuénwas born inVitoria. Lasuén was the successor to Franciscan PadreJunípero Serraand founded 9 of the 21 extantCalifornia Missionsalong the coast.
A sprout ofProtestantismin the continental Basque Country produced the first translation of the new Testament into Basque byJoanes Leizarraga. QueenJeanne III of Navarre, a devoutHuguenot, commissioned the translation of the New Testament into Basque andBéarnesefor the benefit of her subjects. By the timeHenry III of Navarreconverted to Catholicism in order to become king of France, Protestantism virtually disappeared from the Basque community.
Bayonneheld aJewishcommunity composed mainly ofSephardi Jewsfleeing from theSpanishandPortuguese Inquisitions. There were also important Jewish andMuslimcommunities inNavarrebefore the Castilian invasion of 1512–21.
Nowadays, according to one single opinion poll, only slightly more than 50% of Basques profess some kind of belief inGod, while the rest are eitheragnosticoratheist. The number of religious skeptics increases noticeably for the younger generations, while the older ones are more religious.Catholicism is, by far, the largest religion inBasque Country. In 2019, the proportion of Basques that identify themselves as Roman Catholic was 60%,while it is one of the most secularized communities of Spain: 24.6% were non-religious and 12.3% of Basques wereatheist.
TheChristianisationof the Basque Country has been the topic of some discussion. There are, broadly speaking, two views. According to one, Christianity arrived in the Basque Country during the 4th and 5th centuries but according to the other, it did not take place until the 12th and 13th centuries. TheEncyclopaedia Britannicasays that the Basques were not Christianized until the tenth century, however, and that their earlier animism survives in their folklore.The main issue lies in the different interpretations of what is considered Christianisation. Early traces of Christianity can be found in the major urban areas from the 4th century onwards, a bishopric from 589 inPamplonaand three hermit cave concentrations (two inÁlava, one inNavarre) that were in use from the 6th century onwards. In this sense, Christianity arrived "early".
Pre-Christian belief seems to have focused on a goddess calledMari. A number of place-names contain her name, which would suggest these places were related to worship of her such asAnbotoko Mariwho appears to have been related to the weather. According to one tradition, she travelled every seven years between a cave on MountAnbotoand one on another mountain (the stories vary); the weather would be wet when she was in Anboto, dry when she was inAloña, orSupelegor, orGorbea. One of her names,MariUrracapossibly ties her to an historical Navarrese princess of the 11th and 12th century, with other legends giving her a brother or cousin who was a Roman Catholic priest. So far the discussions about whether the name Mari is original and just happened to coincide closely with the Christian name María or if Mari is an early Basque attempt to give a Christian veneer to pagan worship have remained speculative. At any rate, Mari (Andramari) is one of the oldest worshipped Christian icons in Basque territories.
Mari's consort isSugaar. Thischthoniccouple seems to bear the superior ethical power and the power of creation and destruction. It's said that when they gathered in the high caves of the sacred peaks, they engendered the storms. These meetings typically happened on Friday nights, the day of historicalakelarreorcoven. Mari was said to reside in MountAnboto; periodically she crossed the skies as a bright light to reach her other home at MountTxindoki.
Legends also speak of many and abundant genies, likejentilak(equivalent togiants),lamiak(equivalent tonymphs),mairuak(builders of the cromlechs or stone circles, literallyMoors),iratxoak(imps),sorginak(witches, priestess of Mari), and so on.Basajaunis a Basque version of theWoodwose. There is atricksternamedSan Martin Txiki("St Martin the Lesser").
It is unclear whetherNeolithicstone structures calleddolmenshave a religious significance or were built to house animals or resting shepherds. Some of the dolmens andcromlechsare burial sites serving also as border markers.
Thejentilak('Giants'), on the other hand, are a legendary people which explains the disappearance of a people ofStone Ageculture that used to live in the high lands and with no knowledge of iron. Many legends about them tell that they were bigger and taller, with a great force, but were displaced by theferrons, or workers of ironworks foundries, until their total fade-out. They were pagans, but one of them,Olentzero, accepted Christianity and became a sort of BasqueSanta Claus. They gave name to several toponyms, asJentilbaratza.
Historically, Basque society can be described as being somewhat at odds with Roman and later European societal norms.Strabo's account of the north of Spain in hisGeographica(written between approximately 20 BC and 20 AD) makes a mention of "a sort of woman-rule—not at all a mark of civilization" (Hadington 1992), a first mention of the—for the period—unusual position of women: "Women could inherit and control property as well as officiate in churches." The evidence for this assertion is rather sparse however.
This preference for female dominance existed well into the 20th century:
While women continued to have a higher position in Basque than other western European societies, it is highly unlikely that any point the society was 'matriarchal', as is often falsely claimed about pre-Indo-European peoples in general. The 'Basque matriarchy' argument is typically tied to 20th century nationalism and is at odds with earlier accounts of the society.
Although theKingdom of Navarredid adopt feudalism, most Basques also possessed unusual social institutions different from those of the rest of feudal Europe. Some aspects of this include theelizatetradition where local house-owners met in front of the church to elect a representative to send to thejuntasandJuntas Generales(such as theJuntas Generales de VizcayaorGuipúzcoa) which administered much larger areas. Another example was that in the medieval period most land was owned by the farmers, not the Church or a king.
The great family of ball games has its unique offspring among Basque ball games, known generically aspilota(Spanish:pelota). Some variants have been exported to the United States andMacauunder the name ofJai Alai.
There are several sports derived by Basques from everyday chores. Heavy workers were challenged and bets placed upon them. Examples are:
Theencierro(bull run) inPamplona'sfiestasSanferminesstarted as a transport of bulls to the ring. These encierros, as well as other bull andbullockrelated activities are not exclusive to Pamplona but are traditional in many towns and villages of the Basque country.
There are several clubs within the Basque Country, such asAthletic Bilbao,Real Sociedad,Deportivo Alavés,SD Eibarand, as Navarre club, theCA Osasuna(the only club inLa Ligathat has a Basque name—osasunameans "health"). In the 2016–17 season these five clubs played together in La Liga, the first instance where five Basque clubs have reached that level at the same time. Athletic'srecruitment policyhas meant the club refuses to sign any non-Basque players, with "Basque" currently defined to include either ethnic Basques or players of any ethnicity trained by a Basque club.Real Sociedad also previously employed such a policy.
The Basque Country also features several professional basketball teams, the most notable of which isSaski Baskoniafrom Vitoria-Gasteiz, one of the 11 clubs that own stakes inEuroleague Basketball, the company that operates the continent-wideEuroLeagueandEuroCup. They are currently joined in the Spanish top flight,Liga ACB, byBilbao Basket, with the two clubs involved in alongstanding rivalry. Another club from the Basque Country,Gipuzkoa Basketfrom Donostia, currently plays in the second-levelLEB Oro.
Rugby unionis a popular sport among French Basques, with major clubsBiarritz OlympiqueandAviron Bayonnaistraditional powerhouses in the premier division of French Rugby (theTop 14). Biarritz regularly playChampions Cupmatches, especially knockout matches, atEstadio AnoetainSan Sebastian. Games between the Basque clubs and Catalan clubUSA Perpignanare always hard fought.
Cycling is popular and theEuskaltel–Euskadiprofessional cycling team, partly sponsored by the Basque Government participated in the UCI World Tour division until 2014. Known for their orange tops and hill-climbing ability, their fans were famous for lining the famous Pyrenean climbs in the Tour de France, in support of their compatriots.
Each April the week-longTour of the Basque Countryshowcases the beautiful rolling Basque countryside.Miguel Indurain, born inVillavais one of the most celebrated cyclists in the world having won 5 consecutiveTours de France.
While there is no independent Basque state, Spain'sautonomous communityof the Basque Country, made up of the provinces of Álava (Araba), Biscay (Bizkaia) and Gipuzkoa, is primarily a historical consequence and an answer to the wide autonomy claim of its population.
Navarre has a separate statute of autonomy, a contentious arrangement designed during Spanish transition to democracy (theAmejoramiento, an 'upgrade' of its previous status during dictatorship). It refers back to the kingdom status of Navarre (up to 1841) and their traditional institutional and legal framework (charters). Basque, the original and main language of Navarre up to the late 18th century, has kept family transmission especially in the northern part of Navarre and central areas to a lesser extent, designated as Basque speaking or mixed area in Navarrese law. Questions of political, linguistic and cultural allegiance and identity are highly complex in Navarre. Politically some Basque nationalists would like to integrate with the Basque Autonomous Community.
TheFrench Basque Countrytoday does not exist as a formal political entity and is officially simply part of the FrenchdepartmentofPyrénées Atlantiques, centered inBéarn. In recent years the number of mayors of the region supporting the creation of a separate Basque department has grown to 63.87%.So far, their attempts have been unsuccessful.
Both the Spanish and French governments have, at times, suppressed Basquelinguisticand cultural identity. TheFrench Republics, the epitome of thenation-state, have a long history of attempting the complete cultural absorption of cultural minority groups. Spain has, at most points in its history, granted some degree of linguistic, cultural, and even political autonomy to its Basques, but under theregime of Francisco Franco, the Spanish government reversed the advances of Basque nationalism, as it had fought in the opposite side of theSpanish Civil War: cultural activity in Basque was limited to folkloric issues and theCatholic Church.
Today, theSouthern Basque Countrywithin Spain enjoys an extensive cultural and political autonomy. The majority of schools under the jurisdiction of theBasque education systemuse Basque as the primary medium of teaching. However, the situation is more delicate in theNorthern Basque Countrywithin France, where Basque is not officially recognized, and where lack of autonomy and monolingual public schooling in French exert great pressure on the Basque language.
In Navarre, Basque has been declared an endangered language, since the anti-Basque and conservative government ofNavarrese People's Unionopposes the symbols of Basque culture,highlighting a Spanish identity for Navarre.
Basque is also spoken by immigrants in the major cities of Spain and France, inAustralia, in many parts ofLatin America, and in theUnited States, especially in Nevada, Idaho, and California.
Since its articulation by Sabino Arana in the late 19th century, the more radical currents ofBasque nationalismhave demanded the right ofself-determinationand evenindependence. Within the Basque country, this element of Basque politics is often in balance with the conception of the Basque Country as just another part of the Spanish state, a view more commonly espoused on the right of the political spectrum. In contrast, the desire for greater autonomy or independence is particularly common amongleftistBasque nationalists. The right of self-determination was asserted by theBasque Parliamentin 2002 and 2006.Since self-determination is not recognized in theSpanish Constitution of 1978, a wide majority of Basques abstained (55%) and some even voted against it (23.5%) in the ratification referendum of 6 December that year. However, it was approved by clearmajorityoverall in Spain (87%). The autonomous regime for the Basque Country was approved in a 1979 referendum but the autonomy of Navarre (Amejoramiento del Fuero: "improvement of the charter") was never subject to a referendum but only approved by the Navarrese Cortes (parliament).
As with their language, the Basques are clearly a distinct cultural group in their region. They regard themselves as culturally and especially linguistically distinct from their surrounding neighbours. Some Basques identify themselves as Basques only whereas others identify themselves both as Basque and Spanish.Many Basques regard the designation as a "cultural minority" as incomplete, favouring instead the definition as a nation, the commonly accepted designation for the Basque people up to the rise of the nation-states and the definition imposed by the1812 Spanish Constitution.
In modern times, as a European people living in a highly industrialized area, cultural differences from the rest of Europe are inevitably blurred, although a conscious cultural identity as a people or nation remains very strong, as does an identification with their homeland, even among many Basques who have emigrated to other parts of Spain or France, or to other parts of the world.
The strongest distinction between the Basques and their traditional neighbours is linguistic. Surrounded byRomance-languagespeakers, the Basques traditionally spoke (and many still speak) a language that was not only non-Romance but non-Indo-European. The prevailing belief amongst Basques, and forming part of their national identity, is that their language has continuity with the people who were in this region since not only pre-Roman and pre-Celtic times, but since the Stone Age.
Among the most notable Basque people areJuan Sebastián Elcano(who led the first successful expedition to circumnavigate the globe afterFerdinand Magellandied mid-journey);Sancho III of Navarre; andIgnatius of LoyolaandFrancis Xavier, founders of theSociety of Jesus.
Don Diego María de Gardoqui y Arriquibar(1735–1798) was also a Basque who became Spain's first Ambassador to the United States, andMiguel de Unamunowas a noted novelist and philosopher of the late 19th and the 20th century, was also a Basque.
Another well-known Basque wasFather Alberto Hurtado, S.J.(1901–1952), a Jesuit priest who founded the charitable housing systemHogar de Cristo, meaning hearth, or home, of Christ, in Chile. El Hogar provided a home-like milieu for the homeless. Hurtado also founded the Chilean Trade Union Association to promote a union movement based on the social teachings of the Catholic Church. He was a friend and savior to all the poor and homeless, and was beatified byPope John Paul IIon 16 October 1994. He was canonized byPope Benedict XVIon 23 October 2005.