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Nabarralde | About Nabarra
The
Basque Bourgeoisie Chooses
Spanish Over Basque
Research
on the social strata of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
shows that the Basque influential and dominant classes (ancient nobility,
the merchant and banking bourgeoisie, the clergy and the jurists) derived
their living from services to the King of France and Nabarra (Lower-Nabarra),
from whom they received military ranks and pensions, and from the usurpation
of noble titles and posts. Sponde, Bela, Belsunce, Gramont, Echauz and
Meharin were some of the holders of social and political power who found
social promotion, honor and wealth by integrating themselves into French
seigniorial and monarchy society, and who, as a result, united their
fortunes to that of the King of France and the French monarchic administration,
in whose hands they left the future of the Northern Basque Country.
This integration can be appreciated in the period of the religious wars,
in which Basque seigniors (Luxe, Espelette, Garro, Etchauz, Domezain)
submitted themselves to the protection of the King of France with whom
they established ties of vassalage, especially with Charles IX. These
ties became closer under Henry IV (Henry III of Nabarra), who introduced
numerous seigniors from the Basque Country into his court, among them,
Armendaritz, Laxague, and Haramboure.
The process of integrating Northen Basque Country to France was accelerated
with the consolidation and triumph of the Counter-Reformation, which
ran parallel to French monarchic centralization.
"For
the maintenance of liberties, exemptions and privileges" is a saying
that was constantly repeated, from Palais to Ustaritz, by the Basque
influential classes of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and
which has been interpreted by some historians as a demand for freedom
and sovereignty for Basque institutions. However, such an interpretation
is a historical contradiction since such alleged claims were made by
the same individuals who were benefitting from careers in the French
royal administration. The question of "freedom" in this period could
be interpreted as a nostalgia for ancient liberties that had been lost
in the face of the advance of monarchic centralization, but it could
also express the rise of a class of merchants, landowners and bankers,
in the name of "laissez faire, laissez passer," who opposed any kind
of rules and duties. Two examples may help to illustrate this argument:
In 1784, the Bearnais lawyer Polverel drafted a memorandum at the request
of the Estates of Nabarra in which he justified all of the "liberties
and exemptions" of the Kingdom of Nabarra. In reward for this, he was
admitted to the Estates of Nabarra with noble rank. However, if we analyse
the content of his proposal, we find that even while he revives the
claim for local autonomy, which virtually everyone had allowed to fall
into neglect, the author musters every type of argument against the
"Administrator of Domains" who was attacking the privileges of noble
houses belonging to ennobled bourgeois merchants and financiers. This
is a far cry from the defense of the historic rights of Basques. The
proof of this is that a few years later Polverel was to make a career
for himself in the French Revolution.
The Garat of Ustaritz brothers, considered as defensors of the "Basque
institutions," played an important role in the constitutional work
of the French Revolution and in the introduction of the new judicial
and administrative system. On the night of August 4th 1789, when all
of the feudal privileges were abolished --happily for everyone including
the Basque people-- but in which the Basque institutions were abolished
at the same time, the Garat brothers took refuge in silence, which
is not surprising if one considers the meaning and significance of
liberalism.
The
French Revolution finally gave the French language priority and it became
the sole language of the republican state apparatus, including the administration
and schools. The expression of Basque national identity in Northern
Basque Country, as expressed in the work of Antoine d'Abaddie in Eskualtzaleen
Biltzarra, was reduced to an oscillation between Carlism and French
regionalism. There were, however, some exceptions, such as writers Chaho
and Broussain.
Nabarra's
Truncated Territories within France
In the eighteenth century, Spanish liberalism was an ideology adopted
mainly by the upper ranks of Basque rural landowners and the urban bourgeoisie
who also owned or desired to own land. Basque elite, both rural and
urban, were along with the Catalans, the most culturally advanced social
sector in Spain. They quickly adopted the technical advances emanating
from other European countries. Many sent their children to French and
English universities, and to the University of Bergara. This social
sector also gave the entrepreneurial inspiration to the Caracas Company,
a Basque controlled trading concern largely responsible for developing
Venezuela. Anthropologist Marianne Heiberg writes:
«In
terms of identity this sector often described itself as the most `Spanish'
in Spain. Its members regarded themselves as the direct descendants
of those, `uncontaminated by either Jewish or Moorish blood,' who had
reconquered Spain from the infidels and restored civilization and Christianity
to the country. Although many were familiar with Euskera, Spanish was
their preferred language both domiestically and publically.»
And,
«As
importantly, Euskera was stigmatized as the language of the stables,
the language of unsophisticated rustics in contrast to Spanish, the
language of refinement, culture, education and urban success. And
the stigma on Euskera deepened as the cities gained in prestige.»
From
1876 onwards, the composition of the dominant classes changed: the new
institutional framework imposed on the Basque Country, that is to say,
its integration into the Spanish market and legislative apparatus, made
possible the emergence of the industrial and financial oligarchy which
was to integrate itself into the Spanish dominant classes. In exchange,
this bourgeoisie received an instrument for increasing its economic power
with the system of `Conciertos Economicos' (Economic Concerts), which
allowed them to control the provincial councils (Diputaciones) and reduce
fiscal pressure on industrial production; this latter measure was to have
repercussions on the working class and the popular strata. The Basque
oligarchy became an Spanish national bourgeoisie; following the abandonment
of its (theoretical) role in the construction of a modern Basque capitalist
state, it opted for the construction of a modern Spanish capitalist state.
The
University of Bergara
The `Real Sociedad Bascongada de Amigos del Pais' (Royal Basque Society
of Friends of Bascongadas) was the main agency for the diffusion of
the ideas of the Enlightenment and Spanish liberalism into the Basque
Country, founded by the Basque aristocracy in Azkoitia (Gentry of Azkoitia)
in 1764. This society provided the reformist Carlos III (1759-88), with
the model for the subsequent establishment of similar societies throughout
Spain. The new emerging European bourgeoisie looked for a new "humanist"
ideology for its colonial relations. Colonial exploitation began to
carry a "civilized" message.
The first article of the society statutes states: "the goal
of this society is to cultivate the learning and the taste of
the Basque nation for the sciences, the fine arts and the arts;
to correct and refine its customs, banish idleness, ignorance
and their fatal consequences and further tighten the union of
the Three Basque Provinces of Alava, Vizcaya, and Guipuzcoa."
The greatest cultural contribution of the Gentry of Azkoitia in the
eighteenth century was the creation in 1767 of the "University of Bergara"
with its famous laboratory for scientific research. The university or
seminary of Bergara was the first secular university established in
Spain. Notwithstanding their contribution to culture and science, the
Basque aristocracy denied the Basque language the role of being the
vehicle for teaching in higher education and research.
The following subjects were taught at the university of Bergara: experimental
physics, chemistry, mineralogy, humanities, mathematics, philosophy,
ethics, fundamentals of religion, poetry, design, statistics, national
history and `fueros' (special laws) of the Basque Country, euskara,
latin, spanish, french, english, italian, vocal and instrumental music,
gymnastics, fencing, and dance.
The seminary established contacts with the most important research centers
in Europe. The Elhuyar brothers, northern Basques well-known for their
success in the field of research, joined the seminary in 1778. In 1783
they isolated the element "Wolfram" (also called tungsten) from wolfram
acid, the news made public by the Basque Royal Society in its magazine
"Extractos."
The Bergara university made a good contribution to culture and science,
but excluded the Basque language from teaching and research. Inside
the university, Euskara was given the rank of a museum or laboratory
language, a treatment with repercussions to this day because it is the
permanent attitude of the dominant Basque bourgeoisie.
Scorned by the bourgeoisie, the Basque language and culture
was kept alive in the popular traditions.
Sources: Jokin Apaletegi, Euskadi en guerre (Ekin, 1987);
Luis Nuñez Astrain, Opresión y defensa del euskera,
(Txertoa, 1977); Manex Goyhenetche, L'opression culturelle française
en Pays Basque Nord (Elkar, 1974); Marianne Heiberg, The Making
of the Basque Nation (Cambridge University Press, 1989).
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