Gernikako Arbola ("the Tree of Gernika" in Basque) is an oak tree that symbolizes traditional freedoms for the Biscayan people, and by extension for the Basque people as a whole. The Lords of Biscay (including kings of Castile and Carlist pretenders to the throne) swore to respect the Biscayan liberties under it, and the modern Lehendakari of the Basque Country swears his charge there.
In the Middle Ages, representatives of the villages of Biscay would hold assemblies under local big trees. As time passed, the role of separate assemblies was superseded by the Guernica Assembly in 1512, and its oak would acquire a symbolic meaning, with actual assemblies being held in a purpose-built hermitage-house (the current building dates from 1833). It was the Spanish regent Maria Christina accompanied by her infant daughter Queen Isabella II the last Spanish monarch to swear an oath to the charters under the iconic oak in 1839.
The known specimens [1] form a dynasty:
The Tree of Gernika came to prominence during the First and Third Carlist Wars as a symbol of Basque liberties, whose renown and appreciation spread among the Basque diaspora world over during the late 19th century and mid-20th century thanks to the popularity of Jose Maria Iparragirre's namesake anthem. Maria Cristina of Savoy, regent during her daughter Isabel's minority in the First Carlist War, swore the Basque charters under the Oak in 1839.
The tree's significance is illustrated by an event which occurred shortly after the Guernica bombings. When the Francoist troops took the town, the Tercio of Begoña, formed by Carlist volunteers from Biscay, put an armed guard around the tree to protect it against the Falangists, who had wanted to fell this symbol of Basque nationalism. [2] On 26 June 1950, Xavier of Bourbon-Parma, Carlist claimant to the Spanish throne during Franco's dictatorial regime, swore the Basque charters in the Oak of Guernica.
An oak tree is depicted on the heraldic arms of Biscay and subsequently on the arms of many of the towns of Biscay. An oak leaf logo is used by the local government of Biscay. The logo of the Basque nationalist party Eusko Alkartasuna has one half red and the other green, the colors of the Basque flag. An old version of the logo of the Basque nationalist youth organisation Jarrai also display oak leaves. The Basque authorities present descendants of the tree as a symbol of friendship to Basque diaspora groups and related cities.
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| Arms of Biscay | The coat of arms of Gernika-Lumo | The logo of the University of the Basque Country, with Eduardo Chillida's interpretation of the oak | An early version of football club Athletic Bilbao's crest with the tree and city icons |
Guernica, officially Gernika in Basque, is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part of the municipality of Gernika-Lumo, whose population is 16,224 as of 2009.
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao.
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.
On 26 April 1937, the Basque town of Guernica was aerial bombed during the Spanish Civil War. It was carried out at the behest of Francisco Franco's rebel Nationalist faction by its allies, the Nazi German Luftwaffe's Condor Legion and the Fascist Italian Aviazione Legionaria, under the code name "Operation Rügen". The town was being used as a communications centre by Republican forces just behind the front line, and the raid was intended to destroy bridges and roads. The operation opened the way to Franco's capture of Bilbao and his victory in northern Spain.
José Antonio Aguirre y Lecube was a Basque politician and activist in the Basque Nationalist Party. He was the first president of the Provisional Government of the Basque Country and the executive defense advisor during the Spanish Civil War. Under his mandate, the Provisional Government formed the Basque Army and fought for the Second Spanish Republic.
Durango is a town and municipality of the historical territory and province of Biscay, located in the Basque Country, Spain. It is the main town of Durangaldea, one of the comarcas of Biscay. Because of its economical activities and population, Durango is considered one of the largest towns in Biscay after the ones that compose the conurbation of Greater Bilbao.
The Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country of 1979, widely known as the Statute of Gernika, is the legal document organizing the political system of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country' which includes the historical territories of Alava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa. It forms the region into one of the autonomous communities envisioned in the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The Statute was named "Statute of Gernika" after the city of Gernika, where its final form was approved on 29 December 1978. It was ratified by referendum on 25 October 1979, despite the abstention of more than 40% of the electorate. The statute was accepted by the lower house of the Spanish Parliament on November 29 and the Spanish Senate on December 12.
The University of the Basque Country is a Spanish public university of the Basque Autonomous Community. Heir of the University of Bilbao, initially it was made up of the Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences of Sarriko (1955), Medicine (1968) and Sciences (1968). Following the General Law of Education (1970), the Nautical School (1784), the School of Business Studies of Bilbao (1818) and the Technical Schools of Engineers (1897) joined in, until it grew into the complex of thirty centers that compose it presently.
The Urdaibai estuary is a natural region and a Biosphere Reserve of Biscay, Basque Country, Spain. It is also referred as Mundaka or Gernika estuary.
The current Basque coat of arms is the official coat of arms of the Basque Country, Autonomous community of Spain. It consists of a party per cross representing the three historical territories of Álava, Gipuzkoa and Biscay, as well as a fourth, void quarter. The arms are ringed by a regal wreath of oak leaves, symbolic of the Gernikako Arbola. The fourth quarter constituted since the late 19th century the linked chains of Navarre; however, following a legal suit by the Navarre Government claiming that the usage of the arms of a region on the flag of another was illegal, the Constitutional Court of Spain ordered the removal of the chains of Navarre in a judgement of 1986.
The General Assembly is the name of the legislative body (legislature) of the territories of Biscay, Gipuzkoa, Alava and Navarre, and the elected assemblies to which the Government of each territory is responsible.
Basque civil law is the civil law partially applicable in the Spanish part of the Basque Country.
The Basque Country is a cross-border cultural region that has a distinctive culture including its own language, customs, festivals, and music.
"Gernikako Arbola" is the title of a song in bertso form presented both in Madrid (1853) and by the shrine of Saint Anthony at Urkiola (1854) by the Basque bard José María Iparraguirre, celebrating the Tree of Gernika and the Basque liberties.
Alejandro María Daniel Irujo Urra (1862-1911) was a Spanish lawyer. In popular discourse he is known as father of Manuel Irujo Ollo, a Basque political leader. In scholarly historiographic realm he is acknowledged mostly as defense attorney of Sabino Arana during his trials of 1896 and 1902. Politically Irujo is considered a typical case of an identity located in-between Carlism and emerging Spain's peripheral nationalisms, in this case the Basque one.
The Cyrus Jacobs House, also known as the Cyrus Jacobs-Uberuaga House and the Basque Museum and Cultural Center, in Boise, Idaho, is a 1+1⁄2-story brick house constructed by Charles May in 1864. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
The Gamazada is the popular reaction in Navarre in 1893 and 1894 to when the Spanish finance minister of the Liberal Party under Prime Minister Sagasta, Germán Gamazo, tried to suppress the fueros that had been established in the Compromise Act of 1841. It caused a huge uproar among the people and institutions of Navarre, with demonstrations and petitions.
The Tree of Gernika is a personal account of the Basque campaign of the Spanish Civil War by London Times correspondent G. L. Steer. The book is known for its description of the 1937 bombing of Guernica. The author was previously known for his reportage on the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. The book includes photographs and maps. Its photographs were especially powerful in spreading news of the event. Steer was one of four foreign journalists in the area and was partially responsible for spreading news of the attack contrary to Franco, who at first denied that the attack had occurred. The book's criticism of Franco Nationalism, particularly the 1937 bombing of Guernica, prevented its publication within Spain. The book's Basque translation was published by exiles in Caracas in 1963. Foreign Affairs called The Tree of Gernika a "reportorial masterpiece in its vividness, insight and authenticity" and recommended it for Franco adherents.
José María Iparraguirre, (1820–1881) was a Spanish poet and writer in the Basque language, poet, bertzolari and Basque musician.
The Cross of the Tree of Gernika is a civil medal awarded in the Basque Country, Spain. It is awarded by the Basque Government to people "who have distinguished themselves in their services to the Basque Country in defense of its identity and the restoration of its personality; and generally in social, economic and cultural fields". It is the highest distinction awarded by the Basque Government.
