Basque nationalism is a form of nationalism that asserts that Basques, an ethnic group indigenous to the western Pyrenees, are a nation, and promotes the political unity of the Basques, today scattered between Spain and France. Since its inception in the late 19th century, Basque nationalism has included separatist movements.
The Carlist Wars were a series of civil wars that took place in Spain during the 19th century. The contenders fought to establish their claim to the throne, although some political differences also existed. Indeed, several times during the period from 1833 to 1876 the Carlists — followers of Infante Carlos and his descendants — rallied to the cry of "God, Country, and King" and fought for the cause of Spanish tradition against liberalism, and later the republicanism, of the Spanish governments of the day. The Carlist Wars had a strong regional component, given that the new order called into question region–specific law arrangements and customs kept for centuries.
Basque music refers to the music made in the Basque Country, reflecting traits related to its society/tradition, and devised by people from that territory. While traditionally more closely associated to rural based and Basque language music, the growing diversification of its production during the last decades has tipped the scale in favour of a broad definition.
Mikel Laboa Mancisidor was one of the Basque Country's most important singer-songwriters.
Tamborrada of Donostia is a celebratory drum festival held every year on January 20 in the city of San Sebastián, Spain. At midnight, in the Konstituzio Plaza in the "Alde Zaharra/Parte Vieja", the mayor raises the flag of San Sebastián. The festival lasts for 24 hours. Participants, dressed as cooks and soldiers, march in companies across the city. The celebration ends at midnight, when people congregate at the Konstituzio Plaza and the city flag is simultaneously lowered at various locations.
The Third Carlist War (1872–1876) was the last Carlist War in Spain. It is sometimes referred to as the "Second Carlist War", as the earlier "Second" War (1847–1849) was smaller in scale and relatively trivial in political consequence.
Bertsolaritza[berˈts̺olaɾits̻a] or bertsolarism is the art of singing extemporaneously composed songs in Basque according to various melodies and rhyming patterns. Bertsos can be composed at a variety of occasions but are performed generally by one or various bertsolaris onstage in an event arranged for the purpose or as a sideshow, in homage ceremonies, in benefit lunches and suppers, with friends or at a competition. Such a sung piece of composition is called a bertso, the person who sings it is called a bertsolari and the art of composing bertsos is called bertsolaritza in Basque. Traditionally these were sung by men but there is an increasing number of young female bertsolaris today.
The Basques are an indigenous ethno-linguistic group mainly inhabiting Basque Country. Their history is therefore interconnected with Spanish and French history and also with the history of many other past and present countries, particularly in Europe and the Americas, where a large number of their descendants keep attached to their roots, clustering around Basque clubs.
The Southern Basque Country is a term used to refer to the Basque territories within Spain as a unified whole.
San Sebastián or Donostia is a coastal city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, 20 km from the French border. The capital city of the province of Gipuzkoa, the municipality's population is 186,095 as of 2015, with its metropolitan area reaching 436,500 in 2010. Locals call themselves donostiarra (singular), both in Spanish and Basque.
The campaign of Gipuzkoa was part of the Spanish Civil War, where the Nationalist Army conquered the northern province of Gipuzkoa, held by the Republic.
Although the first instances of coherent Basque phrases and sentences go as far back as the San Millán glosses of around 950, the large-scale damage done by periods of great instability and warfare, such as the clan wars of the Middle Ages, the Carlist Wars and the Spanish Civil War, led to the scarcity of written material predating the 16th century.
A poet is a person who creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be a writer of poetry, or may perform their art to an audience.
Serafín Baroja was a Basque writer and mining engineer who wrote popular Basque poetry and lyrics. He was the father of a trio of illustrious children who left a deep mark on the art and literature of 20th-century Spain: Ricardo Baroja, painter, engraver and writer; Pío Baroja, novelist and essayist who ranks as one of the major writers of Spain's Generation of 98; and Carmen Baroja, writer, ethnologist and co-founder of the Lyceum Women's Club in Madrid.
Pedro Jose Elizegi “Pello Errota” (1840-1919) was born on the estate of Goikoerrota's Mill near Asteasu, a town in the Basque region of Gipuzkoa, and was one of the best known bertsolaris of all time.
Joxe Miguel Iztueta Cortajarena, better known as Lazkao Txiki was a Basque bertsolari poet and musician.
Xabier Lete Bergaretxe was a Basque writer, poet, singer and politician. He started to write from an early age and he often published articles in the magazine "Zeruko Argia". In 1965 he created a band of Basque Music with Mikel Laboa, Benito Lertxundi, Joxean Artze, Jose Angel Irigarai and Lourdes Iriondo. The band, which was called "Ez Dok Amairu", disappeared in 1972, but Xabier Lete kept on singing with Lourdes Iriondo, who, by that time, had become his wife.
Muñagorriren bertsoak were a set of written bertsos—extemporaneous poems in Basque—fashioned and released in Gipuzkoa, Basque Country during 1838 on the last stage of the First Carlist War in Spain. The First Carlist War saw the publication of bertso leaflets promoting one faction or another, with some of them reaching wide circulation and influence in public opinion across Basque language areas, the main Carlist stronghold.
The Basque Country is a cross-border cultural region that has a distinctive culture including its own language, customs, festivals, and music.
Antonio Arrúe Zarauz (1903–1976) was a Spanish politician and a Basque cultural activist. Politically he was a Carlist militant throughout all of his life; in the 1950s and 1960s Arrue informally led the Gipuzkoan branch of the party, and from 1957 to 1959 he held the official Traditionalist jefatura in the province. Form 1967 to 1971 he served in the Cortes elected from the so-called tercio familiar. He contributed to Basque culture mostly as organizer and administrator, during the Francoist era engaged especially in Euskaltzaindia. His input as linguist or ethnographer is moderate, though he excelled as one of the best Basque-language orators of his time.
