Fuero
Encyclopedia
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
legal term and concept.
The word comes from Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
forum
Forum (Roman)
A forum was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls...
, an open space used as market, tribunal and meeting place. The same Latin root is the origin of the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
terms for and foire and the Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
terms foral
Foral
thumb|left|200px|Foral of Castro Verde - PortugalThe word foral derives from the Portuguese word foro, ultimately from Latin forum, equivalent to Spanish fuero, Galician foro, Catalan furs and Basque foru ....
, forais and foro; all of these words have related, but somewhat different, meanings.
The Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
term fuero has a wide range of meanings, depending upon its context. It has meant a compilation of laws, especially a local or regional one; a set of laws specific to an identified class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
or estate
Estates of the realm
The Estates of the realm were the broad social orders of the hierarchically conceived society, recognized in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period in Christian Europe; they are sometimes distinguished as the three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and commoners, and are often referred to by...
(for example fuero militar, comparable to a military code of justice or fuero eclesiástico, specific to the Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
). In many of these senses, its equivalent in the Anglo-Saxon
Anglosphere
Anglosphere is a neologism which refers to those nations with English as the most common language. The term can be used more specifically to refer to those nations which share certain characteristics within their cultures based on a linguistic heritage, through being former British colonies...
world would be the charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
.
In the twentieth century, Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
's regime used the term fueros for several of the fundamental laws
Fundamental Laws of the Realm
The Fundamental Laws of the Realm were a set of laws organizing the powers of the Spanish state during the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. In 1977, during the transition, an eighth law with the same status as the others was brought into effect, altering the legislative framework, in order...
. The term implied these were not constitutions subject to debate and change by a sovereign people, but bills granted by the only legitimate source of authority, as in feudal times.
Nature
Fuero dates back to the feudal era: a fuero could be conceded or acknowledged by the lordLord
Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
to certain groups or communities, most notably the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, the military, and certain regions that fell under the same monarchy as Castile
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...
or, later, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, but were not fully integrated into those countries.
The relations among fueros, other bodies of law (including the role of precedent), and sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
is a contentious one that echoes down to the present day. The various Basque
Basque Country (historical territory)
The Basque Country is the name given to the home of the Basque people in the western Pyrenees that spans the border between France and Spain on the Atlantic coast....
provinces generally regarded their fueros as tantamount to a constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
, a view that has been accepted by others, including President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
, who cited the Biscay
Biscay
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...
an fueros as a precedent for the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. (Adams, A defense…, 1786) This view regards fueros as granting or acknowledging right
Right
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory...
s. In the contrasting view, fueros were privilege
Privilege
A privilege is a special entitlement to immunity granted by the state or another authority to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis. It can be revoked in certain circumstances. In modern democratic states, a privilege is conditional and granted only after birth...
s granted by a monarch
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
.
In practice, distinct fueros for specific classes, estates, towns, or regions usually arose out of feudal power politics, and (depending on one's point of view) were wrested from the monarch in exchange for the general acknowledgment of his or her authority, were granted by the monarch to reward loyal subjection, or (especially in the case of towns or regions) simply acknowledged distinct legal traditions.
In medieval Castilian law, the king could assign privileges to certain groups. The classic example is the Roman Catholic Church; the clergy did not pay taxes to the state, enjoyed the income via tithes of local landholding, and were not subject to the civil court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
s: church-operated ecclesiastical
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
courts tried churchmen for criminal offenses. The powerful Mesta
Mesta
The Mesta was a powerful association of sheep holders in the medieval Kingdom of Castile....
organization, composed of wealthy sheepherders, enjoyed vast grazing rights
Grazing rights
Grazing rights is a legal term referring to the right of a user to allow their livestock to feed in a given area.- United States :...
in Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
after that land was "reconquered" from the Muslims (see Reconquista
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
). Lyle N. McAlister writes in Spain and Portugal in the New World that the Mesta's fuero helped impede the economic development of southern Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, creating the pressure that encouraged Spaniards to emigrate to the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
.
Aristocratic fueros
During the Reconquista, the feudal lords granted fueros to some villaVilla
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
s and cities
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
, to encourage the repopulation of the frontier
Frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...
and of commercial routes. These laws regulated the governance and the penal
Penal law
In the most general sense, penal is the body of laws that are enforced by the State in its own name and impose penalties for their violation, as opposed to civil law that seeks to redress private wrongs...
, process and civil
Private law
Private law is that part of a civil law legal system which is part of the jus commune that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts or torts, as it is called in the common law, and the law of obligations as it is called in civilian legal systems...
aspects of the places. Often the fueros already codified for one place were granted to another, with small changes, instead of crafting a new redaction from scratch.
List of aristocratic fueros
Date
1125
1127–47
1129
1145
1147
1152
c. 1154
1157
1169
1173
1173
1175
1181
1198
1198
Grantor(s)
Gutiérre Fernández and Toda Díaz
Pedro González de Lara
Pedro González de Lara
Pedro González de Lara was a Castilian magnate. He served Alfonso VI as a young man, and later became the lover of Alfonso's heiress, Queen Urraca. He may have joined the First Crusade in the following of Raymond IV of Toulouse, earning the nickname el Romero...
and Eva
Estefanía Sánchez
Íñigo Jiménez
Osorio Martínez
Osorio Martínez
Osorio Martínez was a magnate from the Province of León in the Empire of Alfonso VII. He served the emperor militarily throughout his long career, which peaked in 1138–41. Besides the documentary sources, which are somewhat meagre at times after his fall from royal favour, he is mentioned in two...
and Teresa Fernández
María Fernández
Manrique Pérez de Lara
Manrique Pérez de Lara
Manrique Pérez de Lara was a magnate of the Kingdom of Castile and its regent from 1158 until his death. He was one of the most important counsellors and generals of three successive Castilian monarchs: Alfonso VII , Sancho III and Alfonso VIII...
Martín and Elvira Pérez
Sancha Ponce
Ponce de Minerva
Ponce de Minerva
Ponce de Minerva was a nobleman, courtier, governor, and general serving, at the same and different times, the kingdoms of León and Castile. Originally from Occitania, he came as a young man to León , where he was raised probably in close connexion to the royal family...
Gonzalo, Constanza and Jimena Osorio
Pedro Pérez and Fernando Cídez
Ermengol VII of Urgell
Ermengol VII of Urgell
Ermengol VII was the Count of Urgell from 1154 to his death. He was called el de Valencia.The son of Ermengol VI and his first wife, Arsenda of Cabrera, in 1157, Ermengol VII married Dulce, daughter of Roger III of Foix and Jimena de Osona, who acted as his regent during his absences in Castile...
Gutierre Díaz
Froila Ramírez
Froila Ramírez
Froila or Fruela Ramírez was a Leonese nobleman and a scion of the Flagínez clan. His power and influence lay chiefly in the heart of the province of León and its west, but it extended into Galicia and the Asturias.-Private activity:...
and Sancha
Grantee(s)
San Cebrián de Campos
San Cebrián de Campos
San Cebrián de Campos is a municipality located in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 471 inhabitants....
Tardajos
Tardajos
Tardajos is a municipality located in the province of Burgos, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 622 inhabitants.-History:...
Villarmildo
Yanguas
Yanguas
Yanguas is a municipality located in the province of Soria, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 128 inhabitants....
Villalonso
Villalonso
Villalonso is a municipality located in the province of Zamora, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 116 inhabitants....
and Benafarces
Benafarces
Benafarces is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 114 inhabitants....
Castrocalbón
Castrocalbón
Castrocalbón is a municipality located in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2010 census , the municipality has a population of 1,081 inhabitants....
Molina
Molina
Molina is a Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian surname. It can possibly refer to:-A:*Alfonso Quiñónez Molina , President of El Salvador twice 1918–1927*Alfred Molina , English actor...
Pozuelo de la Orden
Pozuelo de la Orden
Pozuelo de la Orden is a municipality located in the province of Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 75 inhabitants....
Villarratel
Azaña
Villalobos
Villalobos
Villalobos is a municipality located in the province of Zamora, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 295 inhabitants. Surname of Villalobos come from town of Villalobos, Spain....
Almaraz de Duero
Almaraz de Duero
Almaraz de Duero is a municipality located in the province of Zamora, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2007 census , the municipality has a population of 435 inhabitants....
Barruecopardo
Barruecopardo
Barruecopardo is a village and municipality in the province of Salamanca, western Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile-Leon. It has a population of 504 people and lies 730 metres above sea level.The post code is 37255....
Villavaruz de Ríoseco
Cifuentes de Rueda
Basque fueros
In contemporary Spanish usage, the word fueros most often refers to the historic and contemporary fueros or charters of certain regions, especially of the Basque regions.In the last days of the Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
, the Basques are supposed to have played a prominent role in the Bagaudae
Bagaudae
In the time of the later Roman Empire bagaudae were groups of peasant insurgents who emerged during the "Crisis of the Third Century", and persisted particularly in the less-Romanised areas of Gallia and Hispania, where they were "exposed to the depredations of the late Roman state, and the great...
(peasant
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
revolts resisting the dawn of feudalism). The Basques successfully maintained their independence from the Germanic tribes such as the Goths
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
, forming the Duchy of Vasconia
Duchy of Vasconia
The Duchy of Vasconia , or Wasconia, was originally a Frankish march formed by 602 to keep the Basques in check. It comprised the former Roman province of Novempopulania and, at least in some periods, also the lands south of the Pyrenees centred on Pamplona.In the ninth century, civil war within...
(centered in present-day Gascony
Gascony
Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...
and dynastically connected to the Duchy of Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
). As the Muslims invaded the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
, Vasconia and Aquitaine sought the aid of Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
and subsequent Carolingian monarchs, resulting in a certain amount of assimilation; however, during this period, a bit to the south, a new Basque nucleus grew, in the form of the Kingdom of Pamplona
Pamplona
Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
, later known as the Kingdom of Navarre
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....
. Navarrese law developed along less feudal lines than those of surrounding countries. In 1234 when the first foreign king the French Theobald I of Champagne arrived, he didn't know Navarrese common law and it was necessary for a commission to write it; that was the first fuero.
Castile absorbed Navarre between 1512 and 1526 (up to the summit of the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
). In order to gain Navarrese loyalty, fueros were granted allowing the region to continue to function under its historic laws. (Meanwhile, northern Navarre became increasingly tied to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, a process completed when a Navarrese prince became King Henry IV of France
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
.) Although not without conflicts, until the era of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
on both sides of the Pyrenees quasi-independent Basque regions successfully maintained their fueros.
Every Biscay
Biscay
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...
ne or Guipuscoa
Guipuscoa
Gipuzkoa is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. It limits with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques at the northeast, with the province and autonomous community of Navarre at east, Biscay at west, Álava at...
n was a born hidalgo
Hidalgo (Spanish nobility)
A hidalgo or fidalgo is a member of the Spanish and Portuguese nobility. In popular usage it has come to mean the non-titled nobility. Hidalgos were exempt from paying taxes, but did not necessarily own real property...
(gentry), thus free of torture and to serve in the army. (Don Quixote
Sancho Panza
Sancho Panza is a fictional character in the novel Don Quixote written by Spanish author Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote, and provides comments throughout the novel, known as sanchismos, that are a combination of broad humour, ironic Spanish proverbs,...
remarked humorously that writing and reading and being Biscayne was enough to be secretary to the emperor).
The Aragonese fueros were an obstacle for Philip II
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
when his former secretary Antonio Pérez
Antonio Pérez
]Antonio Pérez was a Spanish statesman, secretary of king Philip II of Spain.- Early years :Antonio Perez was born in Madrid in 1540. In 1542 he was legalized as son of Gonzalo Pérez, Secretary of the Council of State of king Charles I of Spain . Most probably Antonio was indeed the son of...
escaped the death penalty by fleeing to Aragon. The king's only means to enforce the sentence was the Spanish Inquisition
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...
, the only cross-kingdom tribunal of his domains. Pérez escaped again to France, but Philip's army invaded Aragon and executed its authorities.
The Inquisition however had frequent conflicts of jurisdiction with local civil authorities and bishops.
However, the Revolution brought the rise of the centralized nation state (also referred to in a Spanish context as "unitarianism", unrelated to the religion of the same name
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
). Whereas the Ancien Régime had allowed for regional privileges, the new order did not allow for such autonomy. The jigsaw puzzle of fiefs was rationalized into départements, based on administrative and economic concerns, not tradition.
Carlism
Carlism is a traditionalist and legitimist political movement in Spain seeking the establishment of a separate line of the Bourbon family on the Spanish throne. This line descended from Infante Carlos, Count of Molina , and was founded due to dispute over the succession laws and widespread...
of the 19th century, hence the strong support for Carlism from the Basque Country and (especially in the First Carlist War
First Carlist War
The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833-1839.-Historical background:At the beginning of the 18th century, Philip V, the first Bourbon king of Spain, promulgated the Salic Law, which declared illegal the inheritance of the Spanish crown by women...
) in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
and Aragón
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
. Thus, the Carlist effort to restore absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...
was sustained militarily mainly by those whom fueros had protected from the full weight of absolutism. The defeat of the Carlists in three successive wars resulted in continuing erosion of traditional Basque privileges.
The Carlist land-based small nobility (jauntxo) lost power to the new bourgeoisie, who welcome the extension of Spanish customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
borders from the Ebro
Ebro
The Ebro or Ebre is one of the most important rivers in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the biggest river by discharge volume in Spain.The Ebro flows through the following cities:*Reinosa in Cantabria.*Miranda de Ebro in Castile and León....
to the Pyrenees. The new borders protected the fledging Basque industry from foreign competition and opened the Spanish market.
The new class negotiated the Ley Paccionada (in Navarre), which granted a substantial autonomy to the provincial governments within the Spanish state.
Sabino Arana
Sabino Arana
Sabino Arana Goiri, self-styled as Arana ta Goiri'taŕ Sabin, , was a Spanish and Basque writer. He was the founder of the Basque Nationalist Party and father of Basque nationalism....
, founder of the Basque Nationalist Party
Basque Nationalist Party
The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country...
, came from a Carlist background.
He rejected the Spanish monarchy and founded Basque nationalism
Basque nationalism
Basque nationalism is a political movement advocating for either further political autonomy or, chiefly, full independence of the Basque Country in the wider sense...
on the basis of Catholicism and fueros (in old Basque, Fueroac; Standard Basque, Foruak; Arana's neologism, Lagi-Zaŕa, "Old law").
The high-water mark of a restoration of Basque autonomy in recent times came under the Second Spanish Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
. This led the Basque nationalists to support the left
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
-leaning Republic as ardently as they had earlier supported the right-wing
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
Carlists
Carlism
Carlism is a traditionalist and legitimist political movement in Spain seeking the establishment of a separate line of the Bourbon family on the Spanish throne. This line descended from Infante Carlos, Count of Molina , and was founded due to dispute over the succession laws and widespread...
(note, however, that contemporary Carlists supported Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
). The defeat of the Republic by the forces of Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
led, in turn, to a suppression of differential Basque culture, including banning the public use of the Basque language
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
.
The Franco regime considered Biscay
Biscay
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...
and Guipúzcoa as "traitor provinces" and cancelled their fueros. However the pro-Franco provinces of Álava
Álava
Álava is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Álava. Its capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz which is also the capital of the autonomous community...
and Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
maintained a degree of autonomy unknown in the rest of Spain, with local telephone companies, provincial limited-bailiwick police forces (miñones in Alava, and Foral Police in Navarre), road works and some own taxes
The post-Franco Spanish Constitution of 1978
Spanish Constitution of 1978
-Structure of the State:The Constitution recognizes the existence of nationalities and regions . Preliminary Title As a result, Spain is now composed entirely of 17 Autonomous Communities and two autonomous cities with varying degrees of autonomy, to the extent that, even though the Constitution...
acknowledges "historical rights" and attempts compromise in the old conflict between centralism and federalism
Federalism
Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...
by the establishment of autonomous communities
Autonomous communities of Spain
An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
(such as Castile and León
Castile and León
Castile and León is an autonomous community in north-western Spain. It was so constituted in 1983 and it comprises the historical regions of León and Old Castile...
, Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, Valencia, etc.). The provincial governments (diputación foral) were restored, but many of their powers were transferred to the new government of the Basque Country
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
autonomous community, though the provinces still perform tax collection in their respective territories, coordinating with the Basque, Spanish and European governments.
Today, the act regulating the powers of the government of Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
is the Amejoramiento del Fuero ("Betterment of the Fuero"), and the official name of Navarre is Comunidad Foral de Navarra, "foral" being the adjectival form of fuero.
The fuerismo of the 19th century called for autonomy within Spain. Today, Alavese
Álava
Álava is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Álava. Its capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz which is also the capital of the autonomous community...
foralismo strengthens the Alavese identity against what it considers excesses of Basque nationalism.
Private law
While Fueros have disappeared from Spanish administrative law (except for the Basque Country and Navarre), there are remnants of the old laws in family lawFamily law
Family law is an area of the law that deals with family-related issues and domestic relations including:*the nature of marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships;...
. When the Civil Code was established in Spain (1888) some parts of it did not run in some regions. In places like Galicia and Catalonia, the marriage contracts and inheritance
Inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
are still governed by local laws.
This has led to peculiar forms of land distribution.
These laws are not uniform. For example, in Biscay, different rules regulate inheritance in the villas, than in the country towns (tierra llana). Modern jurists try to modernize the foral family laws while keeping with their spirit.
List of fueros
- Fueros of NavarreFueros of NavarreThe Fueros of Navarre were the medieval laws of the Kingdom of Navarre. They were a sort of constitution which defined the position of the king, the nobility, and the judicial procedures...
- Fors de BearnFors de BearnThe Fors de Bearn, or fueros of Béarn, are a series of legal texts compiled over centuries in the Viscounty of Béarn...
- Furs de Valencia
- Fuero de Oreja
External links
- A digitized version of Amalio Marichalar, Marqués de MontesaMontesa, ValenciaMontesa is a municipality in the comarca of Costera in the Valencian Community, Spain....
, Historia de la legislación y recitaciones del derecho civil de España : Fueros de Navarra, Vizcaya, Guipúzcoa y Alava, 2ª ed. corr. y aum., ("History of the legislation and recitations of the civil law of Spain; 2nd edition corrected and augmented") Madrid : [s.n.], 1868 (Impr. de los Sres. Gasset, Loma y compañia) p.; 8º mayr is available on the site of the Biblioteca Nacional Española.