Labourd

Labourd(French pronunciation:[labuʁ];Basque:Lapurdi;Latin:Lapurdum;Gascon:Labord) is a formerFrench provinceand part of the present-dayPyrénées AtlantiquesdépartementofNouvelle-Aquitaineregion.It is one of the traditional Basque provinces, and identified as one of the territorial component parts of theBasque Countryby many, especially by theBasque nationalists.

Labourd Lapurdi
Province
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Labourd within thePyrénées-Atlantiquesdepartement.
Location of Labourd within theBasque Country.
Coordinates:43°24′N1°27′W
Country	France
CA	Pays Basque
Largest city	Bayonne(Baiona)
Area
• Total	859 km2(332 sq mi)
Population (2013)
• Total	266,237
• Density	310/km2(800/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1(CET)

Labourd extends from thePyreneesto the riverAdour,along theBay of Biscay.To the south areGipuzkoaandNavarrein Spain, to the east isLower Navarre,and to the north are theLandes.It has an area of almost 900 km²(347 sq mi) and a population of over 200,000 (115,154 in 1901; 209,913 in 1990), making it the most populous of the three French Basque provinces. Over 25% of the inhabitants speak Basque (17% in the Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz zone, 43% in the rest). Labourd has also long had a Gascon-speaking tradition, notably along the banks of the river Adour but also more diffusely throughout the whole viscounty (about 20% in Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz).

The main town of Labourd isBayonne,although the capital up to the French Revolution wasUstaritz,13 km away, where local Basque leaders assembled. Other important towns areBiarritz,Anglet(between Bayonne and Biarritz),Hendaye,CiboureandSaint-Jean-de-Luzalong the coast, andHasparreninland. The area is famous for the five-dayFêtes de Bayonneand the red peppers ofEspelette.Many tourists come to the coast, especially to Biarritz, and to the hills and mountains of the interior for walking and agri-tourism.La Rhune(Larrunin Basque), a 900 m high mountain, lies south of Saint-Jean-de-Luz on the border with Spain.

The traditional buildings of Labourd have low-roofed, half-timbered features, stone lintels, and red, white and green paint. The house ofEdmond Rostand,Villa Arnaga atCambo-les-Bains,is such a house and is now a museum dedicated to the author ofCyrano de Bergeracand to Basque traditions.

Lapurdian(Lapurtera) is adialectof theBasque languagespoken in the region.

History

Ancient Labourd was inhabited by theTarbelli,anAquitaniantribe. They had the fortified town ofLapurdum,which eventually would become modernBayonneand give its name to the region.

In the Middle Ages, it formed part of theDuchy of Vasconia,which eventually came to be calledGascony.

After the early 9th century, the area of the riverAdourwas referred to as the County of Vasconia. According to many authorities, DukeSancho VI of Gasconyceded Labourd and its ports, Bayonne and Biarritz, to KingSancho III of Navarrearound 1023, and Sancho in turn bestowed it on his majordomo, Lope Sánchez, as viscount. This Lope was supposedly the king's relative, being a nephew of KingRamiro Garcés of Viguera.This oft-repeated story has no basis in contemporary documents, and there is no evidence that Navarre extended its territory north of the Pyrenees prior to the late 12th century.

Around 1125, Bayonne was chartered by DukeWilliam IX of Aquitaine.In 1130–31, KingAlfonso the Battlerof Aragon and Navarreattacked Bayonneover a dispute on jurisdictions with theDuke of Aquitaine,William X the Saint.

Labourd was ruled directly, between 1169 and 1199, byRichard Lionheart,who gave a second charter to Bayonne c. 1174 and, c. 1175, returning to the merchants of this city the duties they paid in the tolls of Poitou, Aquitaine and Gascony. This caused an uprising of Gascons and Basques (including Labourdins from outside Bayonne), but Richard defeated all the cities that had revolted.

Richard married the Navarrese princessBerengaria of Navarrein 1191, which favored the trade between Navarre and Bayonne (and England). This marriage also included a jurisdictional transaction that shaped the borders of theNorthern Basque Country:Lower Navarre was definitively annexed to Navarre, while Labourd and Soule remained as parts of Angevin Aquitaine. This pact was materialized in 1193 in form of the sale of their rightsby the legitimate viscounts of Labourd, who had established their seat inUstaritz.From that point, Ustaritz was the capital of Labourd, instead of Bayonne, until the suppression of the province in 1790.

John I of England,gave to Bayonne the Municipal Law, that created the figures ofmayor,12jurors,12 councilors and 75 advisors.

Labourd passed to French hands in 1451, just before the end of theHundred Years' War.Since then and until theFrench Revolution,Labourd was largely self-ruled as an autonomous Frenchprovince.

In 1610, Labourd suffered a majorwitch-huntat the hands of the judgePierre de Lancreafter feuds between the elites (merchant bourgeoisie vs nobility) and different social layers (nobility vs common people) took a turn for the worse over elements of superstition and alleged public morality, which ended up with some 70 supposedsorginakburnt at the stake (seeBasque witch trials).

In 1790, Francesuppressed the historical provinces,including Labourd, incorporating them into the newly created département ofBasses-Pyrénées,together withBéarn.Dominique Joseph Garatand his older brother were then representing the Biltzar (Assembly) of Labourd'sthird estatein Paris. Like the other Basque representatives, he opposed the new administrative layout (but eventually voted for it) and the inclusion of the Basques in the same department with Bayonne and Béarn.

During theWar of the Pyrenees,Labourd had its customary trade with theSouthern Basque Countryinterrupted, and was shaken by indiscriminate repression unleashed by the Convention (1793-1794) resulting in mass deportation to theLandes of Gascony,seizure of landholdings, and the death of an estimated 1,600 civilians from the bordering towns of Sara, Itxassou, Ascain, Biriatu, etc. The abuses included the establishment of new, alien names to the villages and towns of Labourd, but they were soon after reverted to their usual names.

In the last decades, petitions have asked for the separation from Béarn and the creation of aBasque département,together with the other two historical Basque provinces of Lower Navarre andSoule.

• 
  Status of French customs in 1732 roughly clinging to linguistic boundaries; Labourd including Bayonne shows an autonomous fiscal system
• 
  Aerial view over northern Labourd fromMount Baigura
• 
  Ainhoavillage houses showing some aspects of traditional Basque architecture

Mariner activities

Basque fisheries in Canada
(click to enlarge)

Labourd, like the other coastal territories of theBasque Country,played an important role in early European exploitation of the Atlantic Ocean.

The earliest document (a bill) that mentions the whale oil or blubber dates from 670. In 1059, Labourdinwhalersalready gave to the viscount the oil of the first captured animal. It seems that Basques disliked the taste ofwhalesbut made good business selling their meat and oil to the French, Castilian and Flemish. Basque whalers used for this activity the longboats known astraineras,that only allowed whaling near the coast or based in a larger ship.

It seems that it was this industry, along withcod-fishing, is what brought Basque sailors to the North Sea and eventually to Newfoundland. Basque whaling in Newfoundland and Labrador began in the 1530s. By at least the early 17th century Basque whalers had reached Iceland.

The development of therudderin Europe seems also a Basque and specifically Labourdine development. Three masted ships appear in afrescoofEstella(Navarre), dating to the 12th century, seals preserved in the Navarrese and Parisian historical archives also show similar ships. The rudder itself is first mentioned as steer "a la Navarraise" or "a la Bayonaise".

After Navarre lostSan SebastianandHondarribiato Castile in 1200, it signed a treaty with Bayonne that made it the "port of Navarre" for nearly three centuries, a role that extended also into the Early Modern Age, after Navarre had been annexed by Castile (but both provinces remained autonomous).

See also

• Basque Country (historical territory)
• Basque language
• Northern Basque Country

References

• Urzainqui, Tomás, and Olaizola, Juan M. de (1998).La Navarra marítima.Pamiela.ISBN84-7681-284-1.

External links

• Media related toLabourdat Wikimedia Commons