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Euskal-herri or the Pays Basque was at one time the Kingdom of Navarre,
with Pamplona as its Capital (now a Spanish city). The Kingdom was formulated by 7
provinces as an independent Country, 4 on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees and 3 on the
French (Soule, Basse-Navarre and Labourde), with no allegiance to France or Spain). The
Kingdom was invaded and conquered by the Spanish Kings in the 16th Century and separated
into two provinces, Basse (Low) to the North (France) and Haute (High) to the South, which
was now to be ruled by Spain, with Pamplona remaining as the Capital of the Haute-Navarre,
while Saint-Palais (in France) became the Capital of the Basse-Navarre, under the control
of the Bourbons.
The borders of Navarre have changed over time and various attempts had been made to unify
all the Basque people under the throne of Navarre. However, the division of the Kingdom
into two provinces eventually led to the division of Navarre between Spain and France
later in the 16th century, which is as it is today.
We only refer to the three original French Basque provinces in this site
as the Pays Basque, South West of France.
The origins of the Basque people pre-date the Indo-European settlements of
Europe. The Basque language, spoken by 20% of the current population, is very different
from Gaelic and the European languages spoken in the rest of the world. The Basques also
have a very distinct and lively culture, sports such as Pelote, their Basque games (not in
the Olympics) and their own cuisine. They are very durable people with large
personalities, who like to sing, with magnificent voices in all male choirs and play and
support Rugby (just like Wales) with 2 teams in the first division. |
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