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101-698: The son of Basque immigrants Mariano Azcárraga and Emilia Vidaurreta, his primary education was in Piedras Negras, Coahuila , middle school in San Antonio, Texas , and high school in Austin . Aged 17, he was employed at a shoe store while he studied trade and economics by night. He obtained distribution rights for a shoe manufacturer in Boston and, at age 23, he created the car distribution company, Azcárraga & Copland . In 1923, Azcárraga obtained

202-675: A Jewish community composed mainly of Sephardi Jews fleeing from the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions . There were also important Jewish and Muslim communities in Navarre before 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 in God , while the rest are either agnostic or atheist . The number of religious skeptics increases noticeably for

303-818: A Southwestern European ethnic group , characterised by the Basque language , a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians . Basques are indigenous to, and primarily inhabit, an area traditionally known as the Basque Country ( Basque : Euskal Herria )—a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France . The English word Basque may be pronounced / b ɑː s k / or / b æ s k / and derives from

404-538: A Basque hailing from present-day Gascony. Some decades later, in 824, a second battle of Roncevaux took place that led to the establishment of the Kingdom of Pamplona , founded with Eneko Arista as head of the new polity, presented by Arab sources as leader of the Vascones ( al-Baskunisi ). However, the 824 Carolingian expedition itself included two different columns made up of Frankish and Vascones (Gascons). After

505-506: 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 is Sugaar . This chthonic couple 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,

606-409: 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 mostly Catholics . 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

707-452: 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: Vascones The Vascones were a pre- Roman tribe who, on the arrival of the Romans in the 1st century, inhabited

808-483: 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

909-461: A goddess called Mari . A number of place-names contain her name, which would suggest these places were related to worship of her such as Anbotoko Mari who appears to have been related to the weather. According to one tradition, she travelled every seven years between a cave on Mount Anboto and one on another mountain (the stories vary); the weather would be wet when she was in Anboto, dry when she

1010-651: A great many enterprising figures of Basque origin who went into the world to earn their way, from Spanish conquistadors such as Lope de Aguirre and Francisco Vásquez de Coronado , to explorers, missionaries and saints of the Catholic Church, such as Francis Xavier . A widespread belief that Basque society was originally matriarchal is at odds with the current, clearly patrilineal kinship 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,

1111-429: A language that linguists identify as the precursor of the modern Basque language , sometimes referred to as Proto-Basque language or Aquitanian language . However, as pointed out by Henrike Knörr (1947-2008) the origin and kinship of the Basque language is still a mystery and an object of research. There are several theories about its origin; the Basque linguistic Koldo Mitxelena argues that an "in-situ" origin

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1212-417: A legendary people which explains the disappearance of a people of Stone Age culture 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 the ferrons , or workers of ironworks foundries, until their total fade-out. They were pagans, but one of them, Olentzero , accepted Christianity and became

1313-578: A license to distribute radios from the Victor Talking Machine Company . Around the same time his brother Raúl Azcárraga Vidaurreta had created a radio station with Mexico City's newspaper El Universal . While working at the "Mexico Music" division of RCA ) he became more interested in the radio broadcasting industry. On 19 March 1930 the radio station XET-AM was founded in Monterrey . And on September 18 Azcárraga created

1414-535: A major concentration of Basques, most notably in the San Joaquin Valley between Stockton , Fresno and Bakersfield . 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 in Chino, California . In Chino, two annual Basque festivals celebrate

1515-720: A province of France in 1620. Nevertheless, the Basques enjoyed a great deal of self-government until the French Revolution (1790) and the Carlist Wars (1839, 1876), when the Basques supported heir apparent Carlos V and his descendants. On either side of the Pyrenees, the Basques lost their native institutions and laws held during the Ancien régime . Since then, despite the current limited self-governing status of

1616-546: A separate entity, called in present-day Basque Nafarroako Foru Erkidegoa , in Spanish Comunidad 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 of Lower Navarre may also be referred to as (part of) Nafarroa , while

1717-620: A single agglomeration community was established for the Basque Country in France . The Basque region is divided into at least three administrative units, namely the Basque Autonomous Community and Navarre in Spain, and the arrondissement of Bayonne and the cantons of Mauléon-Licharre and Tardets-Sorholus in the département of Pyrénées Atlantiques , France. The autonomous community (a concept established in

1818-415: A sort of Basque Santa Claus . They gave name to several toponyms, as Jentilbaratza . 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 his Geographica (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),

1919-516: A source of missionaries like Francis Xavier and Michel Garicoïts . Ignatius Loyola , founder of the Society of Jesus , was a Basque. California Franciscan Fermín Lasuén was born in Vitoria . Lasuén was the successor to Franciscan Padre Junípero Serra and founded 9 of the 21 extant California Missions along the coast. A sprout of Protestantism in the continental Basque Country produced

2020-732: A television production company on 1 January 1973. Emilio married Laura Milmo Hickman. Emilio Azcárraga and Laura Milmo had three children, including Emilio . In 1899 Patricio Milmo and Sons was established as a bank to invest in such interests as railroads and mines. After the Mexican Revolution the company focused on safer investments, like the then-recently-developing radio industry. Basque people The Basques ( / b ɑː s k s / BAHSKS or / b æ s k s / BASKS ; Basque : euskaldunak [eus̺kaldunak] ; Spanish : vascos [ˈbaskos] ; French : basques [bask] ) are

2121-601: A territory that spanned between the upper course of the Ebro river and the southern basin of the western Pyrenees , a region that coincides with present-day Navarre , western Aragon and northeastern La Rioja , in the Iberian Peninsula . The Vascones are often considered ancestors of the present-day Basques to whom they left their name. The description of the territory which the Vascones inhabited during ancient times appears in texts of classical authors, between

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2222-534: 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 or baserri (a) . Home in this context is synonymous with family roots. Some Basque surnames were adapted from old baserri or habitation names . They typically related to

2323-567: Is a Basque version of the Woodwose . There is a trickster named San Martin Txiki ("St Martin the Lesser"). It is unclear whether Neolithic stone structures called dolmens have a religious significance or were built to house animals or resting shepherds. Some of the dolmens and cromlechs are burial sites serving also as border markers. The jentilak (' Giants '), on the other hand, are

2424-514: 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 ( Iruñea in modern Basque). Only Spanish is an official language of Navarre, and

2525-457: Is derived from an ancient Basque verb enautsi "to say" (compare modern Basque esan ) and the suffix -(k)ara ("way (of doing something)"). Thus, euskara would mean literally "way of saying" or "way of speaking". One item of evidence in favour of that hypothesis is found in the Spanish book Compendio Historial , written in 1571 by the Basque writer Esteban de Garibay . He records the name of

2626-625: Is no conflict, I am proud of both. ... I have friends who are involved in the political side of things but that is not for me. My only interest is the culture, the Euskera language, the people, our history and ways." 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

2727-468: Is the most likely, and thus explains the current dialectical classification while other theories advocate for a proposed kinship between the Basque language and other language families, like the languages of the Caucasus or a relation between Basque and the extinct Iberian language . So far, possible connections between Basque and other languages have remained unproven. Another problem that arises in

2828-633: The Basque Autonomous Community and Navarre as settled by the Spanish Constitution, many Basques have attempted higher degrees of self-empowerment (see Basque nationalism ), sometimes by acts of violence. Labourd , Lower Navarre , and Soule were integrated into the French 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,

2929-467: The Basque language . However, research during last decades has called into question the possibility of an expansion northwards (J. J. Larrea). The inroad of the Vascones onto the plains of Aquitaine in 587 seems to be short-lived—they make their way back to the mountains—and archaeological findings in Eauze or Auch do not reveal instability or destruction during the alleged expanding period up to

3030-537: The Ebro and Garonne rivers was known as Vasconia , a vaguely defined ethnic area and political entity struggling to fend off pressure from the Iberian Visigothic kingdom and Arab rule to the south , as well as the Frankish push from the north. By the turn of the first millennium, the territory of Vasconia had fragmented into different feudal regions, such as Soule and Labourd , while south of

3131-626: The Spanish Constitution of 1978 ) known as Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa or EAE in Basque and as Comunidad Autónoma Vasca or CAV in Spanish (in English: Basque Autonomous Community or BAC), is made up of the three Spanish provinces of Álava , Biscay and Gipuzkoa . The corresponding Basque names of these territories are Araba , Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa , and their Spanish names are Álava , Vizcaya and Guipúzcoa . The BAC only includes three of

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3232-631: The XEW-AM with Mexico Music Corporation as major stockholder. The station was also part of the NBC division of RCA. Azcárraga Vidaurreta established Estudios Churubusco in the 1940s and created the first TV station in Mexico, Channel 2, in 1951. He became the first president of Telesistemas Mexicanos in 1955. His entertainment conglomerate was composed of 92 different business units by 1969. He died on 23 September 1972, before establishment of Televisa, S.A. ,

3333-401: The euskaldunak , singular euskaldun , formed from euskal- (i.e. "Basque (language)") and -dun (i.e. "one who has"); euskaldun literally means a Basque-speaker. Not all Basques are Basque-speakers. Therefore, the neologism euskotar , plural euskotarrak , was coined in the 19th century to mean a Basque person, whether Basque-speaking or not. Alfonso Irigoyen posits that the word euskara

3434-472: The 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD, such as Livy , Strabo , Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy . Although these texts have been studied as sources of reference, some authors have pointed out the apparent lack of uniformity and also the existence of contradictions within the texts, in particular with Strabo. The oldest document corresponds to Livy (59 BC – AD 17), who in a brief passage of his work about

3535-543: The 1st century BC was found in 2022. It is also believed that the Iberian language has left some traces on the Basque language, as with the Iberian term ili , adopted in Basque as hiri with the meaning of town or city, and present in the Vasconic name for the city of Pompaelo : "Iruña", as well as in other names of cities and towns. The epigraphic and archaeological testimonies have allowed experts to determine some of

3636-574: The 76 BC Sertorian War relates how after crossing the Ebro and the city of Calagurris Nasica , they crossed the flatlands of the Vascones, or Vasconum agrum until reaching the border of their immediate neighbors, the Berones . Comparing other sections of this same document, it is deduced that this border was located to the west, while the southern neighbors of the Vascones were the Celtiberians , with their city, Contrebia Leucade . Pliny

3737-459: The 9th century, the Vascones ( Wascones , Guascones ) come to be more closely identified in the records with the current territory of Gascony, at the time still a Basque-speaking territory but progressively being replaced by the new rising Romance language, Gascon . Several authors point out that prior to the Roman arrival and alike other peoples that inhabited the near region, the Vascones spoke

3838-667: The BAC" are commonly though not universally employed. In particular in common usage the French term Pays Basque ("Basque Country"), in the absence of further qualification, refers either to the whole Basque Country ("Euskal Herria" in Basque), or not infrequently to the northern (or "French") Basque Country specifically. Under Spain's present constitution, Navarre ( Nafarroa in present-day Basque, Navarra historically in Spanish) constitutes

3939-607: 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 (see Basque American and Basque Canadian ) live in North America (the United States; Canada, mainly in

4040-562: The Basque depression ) published in 1972 expanded upon this hypothesis, relying on linguistic analysis: when invading the territories of what today is Biscay , Gipuzkoa and Álava displaced to Castile part of the Caristii , Varduli and Autrigones , who took refuge in the mountains; the ones who had not been displaced were " Basquized " , while perhaps the Caristii, Varduli and Autrigones already spoke languages similar or related to

4141-525: The Basque have been a major if not the strongest influence in the country's cultural and economic development. Basque place names are to be found, such as Nueva Vizcaya (now Chihuahua and Durango , Mexico), New Navarre (now Sonora and Sinaloa , Mexico), Biscayne Bay (United States), and Aguereberry 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

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4242-478: The Basque language as enusquera . That may, however, be a writing mistake. In the 19th century, the Basque nationalist activist Sabino Arana posited an original root euzko , which he thought came from eguzkiko ("of the sun", related to the assumption of an original solar religion ). On the basis of that putative root, Arana proposed the name Euzkadi for an independent Basque nation, composed of seven Basque historical territories. Arana's neologism Euzkadi (in

4343-574: 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 the French Basque Country . Nowadays Basque-speakers refer to this region as Iparralde (Basque for North), and to the Spanish provinces as Hegoalde (South). Much of this population lives in or near the Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz (BAB) urban belt on

4444-627: 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 Basque département , 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

4545-406: 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

4646-587: The Basques is called Basque or Euskara , 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 term euskaldun and their country as Euskal 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

4747-712: The Elder , on his work Natural History , mentioned a text prior to 50 BC that located the Vascones at the western end of the Pyrenees , neighbors of the Varduli and extended to the mountains of Oiarso and into the coasts of the Bay of Biscay , in an area he called Vasconum saltus . The Greek geographer Strabo , in the times of Augustus (63 BC – AD 14) refers to the Vascones (in Ancient Greek : Ούασκώνων ) placing their main city, or polis , in Pompaelo and as well Callagurris . Both cities, Kalágouris, one of

4848-598: The French Basque ( French: [bask] ), itself derived from Gascon Basco (pronounced [ˈbasku] ), cognate with Spanish Vasco (pronounced [ˈbasko] ). Those, in turn, come from Latin Vascō (pronounced [ˈwaskoː] ; plural Vascōnēs —see history section below). The Latin / w / generally evolved into the bilabials / b / and / β̞ / in Gascon and Spanish, probably under

4949-678: 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 of Chihuahua , Durango , Coahuila , Nuevo León , and Tamaulipas , also settled along Texas' Rio Grande from South Texas to West Texas . Many of the historic hidalgos , 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. California has

5050-659: The Pyrenees the Castile , Pamplona and the Pyrenean counties of Aragon , Sobrarbe , Ribagorça (later Kingdom of Aragon ), and Pallars emerged as the main regional entities with Basque population in the 9th and 10th centuries. The Kingdom of Pamplona, a central Basque realm, later known as Navarre , 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 conquering key western territories (1199–1201), leaving

5151-601: The Pyrenees, in Aquitaine . Schulten interprets that by this time the Vascones had already retreated from their territories in Roman times and started occupying lands in the north, what in the future would make the Southern Basque Country and northern Navarre . Schulten also quotes the chronicle from Einhard , Vita Karoli Magni , dated in 810, where for the first time is used the term navarrese to define

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5252-497: 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, Basque rugby union player for France, Imanol Harinordoquy , has said about his national identity: "I am French and Basque. There

5353-521: 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 of Monterrey , Saltillo , Reynosa , Camargo , and the states of Jalisco , Durango , Nuevo León , Tamaulipas , Coahuila , and Sonora . The Basques were important in the mining industry; many were ranchers and vaqueros ( cowboys ), and

5454-696: The United States is in the area around Boise, 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 the University of Nevada , is another significant nucleus of Basque population. Elko, Nevada , sponsors an annual Basque festival that celebrates

5555-508: The Vascones in a story about the foundation of the city of Victoriacum by the Visigoth king Liuvigild and Gregory of Tours (538–594) mentions the incursions of Wascones in Aquitaine during the year 587. From these extracts and being the neighboring tribes absent in the historiography, Adolf Schulten (1870–1960) proposed the theory according to which, at some point between the mid-2nd century and late 4th century, an enlargement of

5656-586: 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 the Vascones , 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 the Early Middle Ages , the territory between

5757-414: 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

5858-454: The cider is in season. At the end of the 20th century, despite ETA violence (ended in 2010) and the crisis of heavy industries, the Basque economic condition recovered remarkably. They emerged from the Franco regime 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

5959-399: The city of Calagurris . During this period, after the time of Ptolemy and contemporary to the times of instability caused by the Germanic invasions , the documents about the Vascones and other tribes of the northern Iberian Peninsula are scarce, and as a result there is little information about the Vascones during this time. The chronicler John of Biclaro (c. 540 – after 621) mentions

6060-536: The coast (in Basque these are Baiona , Angelu and Miarritze ). 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

6161-421: The dance, cuisine and cultures of the Basque peoples of Spanish, French and Mexican nationalities who have arrived in Nevada since the late 19th century. Texas has a large percentage of Hispanics descended from Basques who participated in the conquest of New Spain . Many of the original Tejanos had Basque blood, including those who fought in the Battle of the Alamo alongside many of the other Texans. Along

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6262-544: The dance, cuisine, and culture of the peoples. The surrounding area of San Bernardino County has 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 as Californios . Basques of European Spanish-French and Latin American nationalities also settled throughout the western U.S. in states like Louisiana , New Mexico , Arizona , Utah , Colorado , Wyoming , Montana , Oregon , and Washington . The identifying language of

6363-478: The day of historical akelarre or coven . Mari was said to reside in Mount Anboto ; periodically she crossed the skies as a bright light to reach her other home at Mount Txindoki . Legends also speak of many and abundant genies, like jentilak (equivalent to giants ), lamiak (equivalent to nymphs ), mairuak (builders of the cromlechs or stone circles, literally Moors ), iratxoak ( imps ), sorginak ( witches , priestess of Mari), and so on. Basajaun

6464-413: 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 in Pamplona and three hermit cave concentrations (two in Álava , one in Navarre ) that were in use from the 6th century onwards. In this sense, Christianity arrived "early". Pre-Christian belief seems to have focused on

6565-491: The earliest modern humans who 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 original Cro-Magnons . But although they are genetically distinctive in some ways due to isolation, the Basques are still very typically European in their Y-DNA and mtDNA sequences, and in some other genetic loci . These same sequences are widespread throughout

6666-415: The first translation of the new Testament into Basque by Joanes Leizarraga . Queen Jeanne III of Navarre , a devout Huguenot , commissioned the translation of the New Testament into Basque and Béarnese for the benefit of her subjects. By the time Henry III of Navarre converted to Catholicism in order to become king of France, Protestantism virtually disappeared from the Basque community. Bayonne held

6767-452: The garrisons) during the 4th and 5th centuries that have been linked by many historians to the Bagaudae rebellions against feudalization , but also to the depredations of migrating Germanic and Asian tribes—Vandals, Alans, Sueves, Visigoths, possibly Heruls—into Hispania. In AD 407 Vascon troops fought on the orders of Roman commanders Didimus and Verinianus , repelling an attack by Vandals , Alans and Suebi . In 409,

6868-419: The influence of Basque and the related Aquitanian (the Latin /w/ instead evolved into / v / in French , Italian and other Romance languages ). Several coins from the 2nd and the 1st centuries BC found in the Basque Country bear the inscription barscunes . The place in which they were minted is not certain but is thought to be somewhere near Pamplona , in the heartland of the area that historians believe

6969-400: The introduction of writing among the Vascones in the 2nd century. Among them, the oldest are the numismatic evidence coming from both Vasconic mints and others located nearby. A great importance is given to a funerary stele found in the Hermitage of Santa Bárbara in Lerga , which was considered to be the oldest known written testimony of the Proto-Basque language until an inscription from

7070-401: The kingdom landlocked. The Basques were ravaged by the War of the Bands , bitter partisan wars between local ruling families. Weakened by the Navarrese civil war, the bulk of the realm eventually fell before the onslaught of the Spanish armies (1512–1524). However, the Navarrese territory north of the Pyrenees remained beyond the reach of an increasingly powerful Spain. Lower Navarre became

7171-418: The main cities of the ouáskones ,... This same region is crossed by the road that comes from Terrakon and goes to the ouáskones , in the border of the Ocean, to Pompélon and Oiáson, city built above the very same Ocean. This information is found again in the works of Ptolemy , who lived during the 1st and 2nd Century AD. In his book, Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis , chapter 6, he relates the names of 15 cities inside

7272-553: The medieval name points to a much wider reality than Strabo's former tribal definition, this time encompassing all Basque-speaking tribes. The independent Vascones stabilised their first polity under the Merovingian Franks: the Duchy of Vasconia , whose borders to the south remained unclear. This duchy would eventually become Gascony . During the reincorporation of Vasconia into Francia after 769, Charlemagne destroyed

7373-506: The mid-7th century. Another theory suggests a contemporary identification made by the Goths and the Franks of the Vascones (the most dynamic tribe) with all Basque speaking, Basque-related, or non-Romanized tribes. Starting in the 7th century, historians differentiate between Spagnovasconia , located southwestern of the Pyrenees , inside the Iberian Peninsula and Guasconia , northwestern of

7474-725: The minority tongue. The Basque language is thought to be a genetic language isolate in contrast with other European languages, vast majority of which belong to the broad Indo-European language family . Another peculiarity of Basque is that it has probably been spoken continuously in 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

7575-457: The mountainous Saltus , where evidence of Roman civilization appears only in mining places, harbours, roads, and milestones, e.g. Oiasso . The territory was also important for Romans as a communication knot between northern Hispania and southwestern Gallia , who took good care to station detachments in different spots of the main communication lines. The Vasconian area presents indications of upheaval (burnt villas, an abundance of mints to pay

7676-464: The neighboring communities and produce from the sea and the land. A 20th-century feature of Basque culture is the phenomenon of gastronomical societies (called txoko in 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

7777-670: The passage of the Germanic peoples and Sarmatians toward Hispania went unhindered. The Roman reaction to this invasion and unrest related to the Bagaudae was to give Gallia Aquitania and Hispania Tarraconensis to the Visigoths in return for their services as allies by treaty ( foederati ). The Visigoths soon managed to expel the Vandals to Africa. After chronicler Hydatius´s death in 469, no contemporary source exists reporting on

7878-635: The people living in the former territories of the Vascones near the Ebro . Unlike the Aquitanians or Cantabrians , the Vascones seemed to have negotiated their status in the Roman Empire . In the Sertorian War , Pompey established his headquarters in their territory, founding Pompaelo . Romanization was rather intense in the area known as Ager Vasconum (the Ebro valley) but limited in

7979-515: The prototype of its race; in Medellín with the industrial paisa , 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

8080-632: The provinces of Newfoundland and Quebec ), all over Latin America, South Africa, and Australia. Miguel de Unamuno said: "There are at least two things that clearly can be attributed to Basques: the Society of Jesus and the Republic 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 million Basque descendants live in Chile ;

8181-573: The provinces' administrative centers, are Bilbao (in Biscay), San Sebastián (in Gipuzkoa), and Vitoria-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 during Franco's dictatorship owing to official persecution,

8282-470: The regularized spelling Euskadi ) is still widely used in both Basque and Spanish since it is now the official name of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country . The distinctiveness noted by studies of classical genetic markers (such as blood groups ) and the pre-Indo-European of the Basque language has resulted in a popular and long-held view that Basques are "living fossils" of

8383-433: The religious practices that were present among the Vascones since the Roman arrival and the introduction of writing. According to research done on this topic, religious syncretism lasted until the 1st Century; from that moment onwards and until the adoption of Christianity between the 4th and 5th centuries, Roman mythology was predominant. Vasconic theonyms have been found on tombstones and altars, which further proves

8484-568: 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 after the 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

8585-627: The rest opened small shops in major cities such as Mexico City , Guadalajara and Puebla . In Guatemala , most Basques have been concentrated in Sacatepequez Department , Antigua Guatemala , Jalapa for six generations now, while some have migrated to Guatemala City . In Colombia, a large number of Basques settled mainly in Antioquia and the Coffee Axis . In 1955, Joaquín Ospina said: "Is there something more similar to

8686-708: The seven provinces of the currently called historical territories. It is sometimes referred to simply as "the Basque Country" (or Euskadi ) 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

8787-458: The social and political situation in the Vasconias , as put by himself. At the beginning of the fourth century, Calagurris is still cited as a Vascon town. During the fifth and sixth centuries, the gap between town and the rural milieu widened, with the former falling much in decay. Between 581-7, chronicles start to mention the Vascones again, this time hailing from the wilderness, as opposed to

8888-415: 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 cuisine is at the heart of Basque culture, influenced by

8989-473: The study of the language of the Vascones is the lack of direct classic records regarding the language spoken by this people, with the exception of a vague description by Strabo and Pomponius Mela , or the description made by Julius Caesar on the language of the Aquitanians in his work Commentarii de Bello Gallico . The study of epigraphic documents has been of greater interest, as some of them date

9090-473: 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 and French languages among other Basques, especially in the French Basque Country. Regarding

9191-668: The term "High Navarre" ( Nafarroa Garaia in Basque, Alta Navarra in 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 Navarre and Soule ( Lapurdi, Nafarroa Beherea and Zuberoa in Basque; Labourd, Basse-Navarre and Soule in French), devoid of official status within France's present-day political and administrative territorial organization, and only minor political support to

9292-545: The territory of the Vascones took place, first in the west, occupying the lands of the Caristii , Varduli and Autrigones , and later in the north in Aquitaine . Schulten considers this to be the reason for the adoption of the name Gascony , which derives from Gascon , which comes from Vascon , and used to denominate a region that includes the present-day Northern Basque Country . Claudio Sánchez Albornoz , Spanish historian (1893–1984), on his work "Los vascones vasconizan la depresión vasca" ( The Vascones "basquize"

9393-463: The territory of the Vascones, besides Oiarso : Iturissa , Pompaelo , Bituris , Andelos , Nemanturissa , Curnonium , Iacca , Graccurris , Calagurris , Cascantum , Ercavica , Tarraga , Muscaria , Seguia and Alavona . The territory of the Vascones during the Roman republic and Roman empire corresponded with present-day Navarre , the northeast extreme of Gipuzkoa , and parts of La Rioja , Zaragoza and Huesca , including

9494-441: 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. The Encyclopaedia Britannica says 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

9595-645: The towns, which remained attached to Roman culture or were under Germanic influence. By the seventh to eighth centuries, Vascones were not confined to their ancient boundaries, but covered a much larger territory, from Álava in the west to the Loire in the north. The island of Oléron , along with the Île de Ré , formed the Vacetae Insulae "Vacetian Islands" according to the Cosmographia , where Vaceti are Vascones by another name. The concept underlying

9696-596: The valley", Etxeberria "the new house", and so on. In contrast to surrounding regions, ancient Basque inheritance patterns, recognised in the fueros , 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

9797-521: The walls of Pamplona after a failed attempt to conquer Zaragoza, the Vascones annihilated his rearguard in the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778—referred as " wasconicam perfidiam " by Frankish chroniclers. Pamplona was later captured by the Cordovan emir 'Abd al-Rahman I (781), but taken over by the Franks in 806, who assigned its government to a pro-Frankish local Belasko ("al-Galashki"), probably

9898-406: 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

9999-400: The younger generations, while the older ones are more religious. Catholicism is, by far, the largest religion in Basque 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 were atheist . The Christianisation of the Basque Country has been

10100-530: Was in Aloña , or Supelegor , or Gorbea . One of her names, Mari Urraca possibly 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

10201-402: Was inhabited by the Vascones . Some scholars have suggested a Celtic etymology based on bhar-s- , meaning "summit", "point" or "leaves", according to which barscunes may have meant "the mountain people ", "the tall ones" or "the proud ones", and others have posited a relationship to a Proto-Indo-European root *bar- meaning "border", "frontier", "march". In Basque, people call themselves

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