, "This house was made by Betiri Echarte and Aimia Iriarte" (including Bayonne), showing a fiscal system of its own cross
Prehistoric era The oldest human remains that are known of in the territory of the current French Basque Country are approximately 150,000 years old. Some houses have been found on the terraces of the river
Adour, in Ilbarritz (
Bidart),
Saint-Pierre-d'Irube and
Mouguerre. In the
Middle Paleolithic era (700,000–100,000
years BP),
Neanderthals inhabited this area. At the beginning they lived in the open air and later in caves, like the one in
Isturits.
Cro-Magnon people appeared during the
Upper Paleolithic (9,000–50,000 years BP). Many artistic objects from the
Magdalenian era (9,000–14,000 years BP) have been found in Isturits. The most well-known object found is a bird bone with three holes in it in the shape of a . Moving into the
Mesolithic era, humans began to live outside of caves, despite the fact that these were still used until a much later date. Also, during this era, the artefacts of
ceramics,
agriculture, and raising livestock were discovered. During the
Neolithic era (4000–3000 B.C.E.), new techniques for the use of metals and agriculture arrived.
Antiquity The present-day territory was inhabited by the
Tarbelli and the
Sibulates, tribal divisions of the Aquitani. When
Caesar conquered
Gaul, he found all the region south and west of the Garonne inhabited by a people known as the
Aquitani, who were not Celtic and are nowadays assumed to have been early Basques (see
Aquitanian language). In early
Roman Empire times, the region was initially known as
Aquitania, but by the end of the 3rd century, when use of the name Aquitania was extended to cover the region up to the river
Loire, as
Novempopulania (). Its name in Latin means the
nine peoples, as a reference to the nine tribes that inhabited it: • The
Tarbelli lived along the coast of
Labourd and Chalosse, near (
Dax) • The
Ausci in the
Gers and the city of (
Auch) • The
Bigerriones from
Bigorre in (
Tarbes) • The Convenae in the
Comminges, (
Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges) • The Consorani, who occupied
Couserans (
Saint-Lizier) • The Lactorates in Lomagne, (
Lectoure) • The
Elusates, in lower
Armagnac with the city of (
Eauze) • The Vocates (Vassei or Vocates) in the southeast of
Gironde or
Bazadais, with its capital in (
Bazas) • The
Boii in
Pays de Buch, lived in the city of (
Le Teich) The region reached a high level of
Romanization, as many of the toponyms with Latin or Celtic suffixes, such as or , demonstrate. In the north of what is now French Basque Country, these (toponyms) become more frequent: e.g., Loupiac and Gaillan. However, in the southeast of the territory, the less Romanized area, toponyms with Basque suffixes are abundant: , , and , such as Biscarrosse and Almandoz, for example; some inscriptions have
words similar to those in Basque on them.
Middle Ages After the Germanic invasions that caused the fall of the Roman Empire, the ancient province began to be referred to as according to texts by
Frankish chroniclers, mainly
Gregory of Tours and the
Chronicle of Fredegar from the 6th century, and was differentiated from the trans-Pyrenean territories that later chroniclers in the
Ravenna Cosmography called . In the year 418, the
Visigoths moved to the region in accordance with a federation pact or made with Rome, but they were forced to leave in 507 as a consequence of their defeat against the
Merovingians led by King
Clovis I at the
battle of Vouillé. After Clovis I's death in 511, the heirs to his throne consolidated their northern possessions centered on
Neustria and
Austrasia, placing them under the direct control of the sovereign, while the rest of their territories were organized into autonomous entities led by powerful officials of the kingdom: counts, dukes, patricians, and vice chancellors, in accordance with the Merovingian tradition of decentralizing power. In and the Pyrenean periphery in , armed incursions and confrontations with Merovingian potentates were frequent during the last third of the 6th century.
Venantius Fortunatus' chronicles cite the clashes with the Frankish king
Chilperic I and the
comes from
Bordeaux, Galactorio, up until 580, while Gregory of Tours wrote about the incursions Duke Austrobald faced in 587 after the defeat of Duke
Bladastes in 574 at
Soule. After the Basque rebellions against Roman
feudalism in the late 4th and 5th centuries, the area was eventually incorporated as part of the independent
Duchy of Vasconia in 602, a mixed ethnic polity stretching south of the river
Garonne that broke up during the 8th to 9th centuries, following the Carolingian expansion, the pressure of Norman raids, and introduction of feudalism. At this time, the
County of Vasconia was created, extending around the river
Adour. According to Iñaki Bazán, after the Duchy was created, the Frankish kings
Theuderic II and
Theudebert II exercised better military control over the area, including better tax collection and judicial administration, placing Duke
Genial at the forefront. Later, between 635 and 638, King
Dagobert I set out on a campaign to repress the Vascon inhabitants that eventually led to their submission. In the 8th century, a second autonomous
Duchy of Gascony was created. By the end of the 9th century, Guillermo Sanchez was named the duke of all Vascons. Some years later,
Guy Geoffroy united the duchies of Vasconia and Aquitania (with the Poitiers county). During this period, northern Basques very likely participated in the successive
battles of Roncevaux against the Franks, in 778, 812 and 824. Count
Sans Sancion detached from the Franks and became the independent commander of Vasconia, but got involved in the Carolingian dynastic wars over succession after taking over Bordeaux (844), supporting the young
Pepin II to the throne of Aquitaine. He became
Duke of Vasconia after submitting to
Charles the Bald (851). At this point, the Basque language was losing ground to
Vulgar Latin and written Latin and was increasingly confined to the lands around the Pyrénées. Since 963, the town
Saint-Sever has been referred to as , interpreted as meaning "the limit of Vasconia" or "prominence of Vasconia" (on account of its location on a hill overlooking the plains of Vasconia). The evangelization of the territory that today comprises French Basque Country was slow and precarious. Beginning in the 9th century, and in part due to
the peregrination to Santiago de Compostela, a stable and long-lasting ecclesiastic organization was established in the region. The most important trails leading to Santiago pass through the region, and this greatly influenced the development of the trails and the villas in the territory up to the present day.
Politics and institutions The lands to the south of the Adour became Labourd, encompassing initially a bigger region than the later territory around the
Nive (Errobi) and the coast. In 1020, Gascony ceded its jurisdiction over
Labourd, then also including
Lower Navarre, to
Sancho the Great of Pamplona. This monarch made it a
Viscounty in 1023 with its capital in Bayonne, which gave vassals to the King and Queen of Navarre until 1193. The area became disputed by the
Angevin Dukes of Aquitaine until 1191 when
Sancho the Wise and
Richard Lionheart agreed to divide the country, Labourd remaining under Angevin sovereignty and Lower Navarre under Navarrese control. All vacant land, forests, and waters under this Viscounty belonged to the King and everyone had the right to use them, whether they were nobles or not. Nobles did not have any feudal rights and justice rested solely in the hands of the King. The Biltzar, the only existing assembly, was in charge of distributing taxes and charges, and its delegates were chosen by the of the parishes. Furthermore,
parish assemblies that administered the collective goods of each parish existed. In 1215, Bayonne separated from Labourd, ruling from that moment on through its council. From the end of the 12th century until the
French Revolution,
Ustaritz was the capital of Labourd. Bayonne continued to be the economic hub of the area until the 19th century. However, above all, it was the port of Navarre that connected it to the North of Europe. Meanwhile,
Soule () was constituted as an independent viscounty, generally supported by
Navarre against the pretensions of the Counts of
Béarn, though at times also it admitted a certain Angevin overlordship. With the end of the
Hundred Years' War, Labourd and Soule passed to the Crown of France as autonomous
provinces (). After the conquest of Upper Navarre by Castile in 1512–21, the still independent north Pyrenean part of Navarre took the lead of the
Huguenot party in the
French Wars of Religion. In this time, the
Bible was first translated into the
Basque language. Eventually,
Henry III of Navarre became King of France but kept Navarre as a formally independent state until 1620–24, when this separation was suppressed. In 1634,
Axular, in his literary work , gives a rough description of the extent of Basque at the time: The language comprised all the provinces now known as Basque Country "and [in] so many other places". After Axular's accomplished book, other Basque writing authors followed suit, especially in
Labourd, a district thriving on
whale hunting. In 1579, an important handbook for navigation was published by
Martin Oihartzabal, the
Navigational Pilot, offering guidance and useful landmarks found in
Newfoundland and other Basque traditional fisheries. In 1677, it was translated to
Basque by Pierre Etxeberri. However, during the 17 and 18th century, that activity saw a gradual decline as the English took over from the Basques.
The Renaissance and witch trials The 16th century was probably the most tragic for the inhabitants of the French Basque Country in its history. The recurring French-Spanish conflict between 1512 and 1659 and the
French Wars of Religion that lasted 30 years sowed terror and misery. On the other hand, the accusations made in the Parliament of
Bordeaux motivated Labourd in sending the councilor
Pierre de Lancre. He burned around 200 women, children and priests by forcing them to confess through torture. Pierre de Lancre was responsible for
the witch hunt in Labourd. He believed women had a sinful nature, and that they were so dangerous that one judge alone could not judge a woman because men are weak. He said that a tribunal made up of several men was necessary to do so. However, after overcoming the disasters suffered, a sort of renaissance was lived during the 17th century. Among other things,
Rabelais published his
Gargantua and Pantagruel, and
Etxepare wrote the first printed text in Basque.
Territories of the French Basque Country and the French monarchy With the conquest of the castles of
Mauléon and Bayonne in 1449 and 1451 respectively, Labourd and Soule were under the domain of the French crown. When Henry III of Navarre took the French throne at the end of the 16th century (as
Henry IV), Lower Navarre was incorporated into the French Royal patrimony (becoming the King of France and Navarre).
Modern period converted into a seaside resort The three Basque provinces still enjoyed considerable autonomy until the
French Revolution suppressed it radically, as it did elsewhere in France, eventually
creating the department of
Basses-Pyrénées, half-Basque and half-Gascon (
Béarn, a former sovereign territory).
Louis XVI summoned the
Estates General to discuss problems of state. This assembly united the three estates: nobles, clerics, and the common people (the
third estate). Third estate representatives of the Basque provinces attending the
Estates-General of 1789 and the following national assemblies in Paris rejected the imposition of an alien political-administrative design, regarding the events with a blend of disbelief and indignation. The brothers Garat, representatives of Labourd, defended against a hostile audience the specificity of their province and that of the Basques, putting forward instead the establishment of a Basque department. However, eventually the brothers Garat from Labourd voted for the new design out of hopes to get a say in future political decisions. In 1790, the
Lower Pyrenees department project arrived, uniting the ancient Basque countries with
Béarn. The reorganization favored the
Bayonne bishopric that included the entire department (up to the
Lescar and
Oloron coasts that disappeared, and part of the
Dax). The three Basque provinces were then shaken by traumatic events after the intervention of the French Convention Army during the
War of the Pyrenees (1793–95). Besides prohibiting the native
Basque language for public use, with
Bertrand Barère even declaring that "fanaticism speaks Basque", an indiscriminate mass-deportation of civilians followed resulting in the expulsion from their homes of thousands and a death toll of approx. 1,600 in
Labourd. The Basques started to be forcibly recruited for the French army, with large numbers of youths in turn deciding to run away or defect among allegations of mistreatment, so starting a trend of exile and emigration to the Americas that was to last for more than a century. The mutual hostility and lack of trust between the new regime and the European monarchies led to the creation of the
First Coalition against revolutionary France. At first, French Basque Country stayed at the margins of the conflict, since Spain stayed neutral, but in 1793, France declared
war on Spain. The political situation after the mass-deportation of civilians improved when
General Moncey led the French to a counterattack in June 1794, expelling the Spanish, and even entering
Gipuzkoa. Jacques Pinet and
Jean-Baptiste Cavaignac went to Spain to manage conquered territory, courting the possibility of annexing it to France. After the
fall of Robespierre, General Moncey forced the removal of Pinet and Cavaignac, who had managed to have a falling out with the Gipuzkoans. Due to this, they threw themselves into a desperate guerilla war, an antecedent to that of 1808. On July 22, the
Treaty of Basel was signed and the conflict ended, giving rise to a period of relative peace and prosperity. It became a matter of concern discussed by
Napoleon Bonaparte and
Dominique Garat. As of 1814, traditional cross-Pyrenean trade fell conspicuously, starting a period of economic stagnation. Eventually, trade across the Pyrénées border was cut off after the
First Carlist War, with large numbers further departing to the Americas in search for a better life. In Soule, the emigration trend was mitigated by the establishment circa 1864 of a flourishing
espadrille industry in
Mauleon that attracted workers from
Roncal and
Aragon too. Others took to smuggling, a rising source of revenue.
The 19th century to the present The mid-1800s were years of decay and yearning for the time before the
French Revolution. The Basques were divided into Republicans,
laicist Jacobins (but for a nuanced position held by
Xaho), and Royalists (traditional Catholics), with the latter eventually prevailing in the area. Shepherding and small-scale mining and agriculture were the main economic activities, and were accompanied by the increased presence of customs officials, both locals and non-Basques. The railway arrived at
Hendaye in 1864 (Mauleon in 1880), increasing the flow of freight and people from outside the Basque Country, resulting in the growth of the non-Basque population especially on the coast, with Biarritz the most noteworthy case, in a type of settlement (Manex Goihenetxe, Eneko Bidegain). Upper-class tourism gained momentum from 1854 onwards (
Kanbo,
Saint-Jean-de-Luz,
Biarritz, Hendaye, etc.), as the high nobility (e.g.,
Eugénie de Montijo) chose to take healing baths at spa resorts and sought to be closer to nature. In 1851, the first took place in
Urruña (restored
floral games tradition) organized by a scholar of Basque-Irish origin,
Antoine d'Abbadie (Anton Abbadia), followed by several more editions up to 1897. Other political and cultural events in fellow
Basque districts to the south of the Pyrenees had an impact in the French Basque Country, especially in church-related circles (periodicals like , 1887), the only institution that still spoke to the people in their language. This could not prevent the Basque language from further receding, it becoming confined to local and domestic circles. In 1914, Basque ceased to be the trading language used by the local middle- and higher-class customers at the Mauleon marketplace (Soule). Basque young men could not avoid becoming entangled in
World War I when they were drafted to the front. While across the border
Gipuzkoa and
Biscay thrived on their shipbuilding and steel processing industry supplying the European war effort, continental Basques under the age of 49 were required to travel to the front in north-east France. From the beginning and as the
slaughter of the trenches wore on, thousands of Basques objected to military service, defected and fled
to the south or the Americas. However, war took a heavy toll; 6,000 died at the front, equivalent to 3% of the French Basque population. It also produced strengthened the notion in the Basque psyche that it is an integral part of the French nation, fostered by the above weekly
Eskualduna on the grounds that "God champions France." During
World War II, the French Basque Country was part of
Occupied France and the coast was fortified as part of the
Atlantic Wall. Over the last 200 years, the territory has shown a slow demographic rise: 126,493 (in 1801); 162,365 (1851); 226,749 (1979) (79% in Labourd, 13% in Lower Navarre, 8% in Soule); 259,850 (1990) (81%; 13%; 6% respectively); 262,000 (1999 census). On 29 January 1997 the area was made an official
pays of France named , i.e., a representative body promoting several activities, but without its own budget. ==Culture==