HISTORY OF GIPUZKOA

HISTORY OF GIPUZKOA

Usategi cave, Ataun.

70,000 - 30,000 BC: Mid Paleolitic. Main characteristic human type: Neanderthal. Lezetxiki site in Mondragó, and Amalda site in Aizarna. Tools and arms from the Musteriense culture, Aizbitarte site in Rentería. The first burials take place.

33,000 - 9,000 BC: Upper Paleolitic. Due to a cooling in the climate, human habitat moves towards the Bay of Biscay side. Human site, Urtiaga cave in Deba of Cro-Magnon type. It may be deduced, though with some reservations, that the Basque ethnic group comes from the Cro-Magnon race. Lezetxiki site in Mondragó, Aizbitarte IV site in Rentería, Ermittia and Urtiaga, Ekain site in Deba, and Altxerri site in Orio. Parietal Art in Ekain and Altxerri.

9,000 - 4,000 BC: Mesolithic. Raise in temperatures. Man leaves the caves, and moves closer to the river valleys. The forests cover the country. Microlites in Marizulo (Urnieta).

3,500 BC: Neolithic, weak and late. Oriented toward cattle raising. Few site. It does not seem unreasonable to state that Euskera (the Basque language) was the language of the Neolithic Basque people. 2,000 BC: The Bronze. Transhumance will give rise to some changes in the autochthonous ways of life. Burials in sepulchral caves and dolmens. Dolmens in Jaizkibel, Landarbaso, Aitzkorri, Altzaina and Ataun. Iron Age sites of Jentiletxe in Mutriku, of Urtiaga in Deba, and of Marizulo in Urnieta.

900 - 500 BC: The Celts will bring iron metallurgy. Judging by the very scant Celtic remains, Gipuzkoa is outside any Celtic influence. Other types of burials appear: the cromlechs, at Jaizkibel, in the mountains at Oiartzun, and at Arano (Navarre).

1th BC - AD 4th: The land belonging to the Basque Country was inhabited by the Basques, Varduli, Caristi and Autrigoni. The Varduli tribe was settled in what is today Gipuzkoa. Acorns were their staple food. Little agriculture and sinnificant cattle raising.

25 BC - AC 150: The Romans are in Irún, Oiartzun (Arditurri mines) and Hondarribia (embarkation port). Gipuzkoa remains outside the Romanization process.

409: Suevi, Vandali, Alani, and later on the Visigoths (415) entered the peninsula via Roncesvalles. It seems there was a unification of the language after the arrival of the Visigoths. Thence forward, those who spoke Basque would be called Basques, and their land was to be called the Basque land.

718: The peninsula was overrun by the Moors. Gipuzkoa remained outside that occupation.

8th - 10th C.: Through these centuries, part of modern Gipuzkoa, the rugged part, belonged to the Kingdom of Asturias, while the rest was part of the new Kingdom of Pamplona (9th C.).

9th -11th C.: Change of collective property, of pagan origin, into private property, in the context of structuring a feudal-type society. Powerful family clans, the future "Elders", who controlled most of the land and the wealth. Man descended from the upper regions to the valleys. Population of about 14,000 people. They gathered in villages, and a group of those villages was called a valley.

9th -13th C.: The people of Gipuzkoa started to put out to sea.

10th C.: Gipuzkoa was systematically and progressively converted to Christianity.

11th C.: Being a distinct entity, Gipuzkoa was named a terra (land). It was an administrative district ruled by a person appointed by the King.

1025: Gipuzkoa was mentioned in a document for the first time.

1076: Gipuzkoa became part of Castile.

1109: Gipuzkoa came under Pamplona again.

12th C.: Until the second half of the century, the population of Gipuzkoa was exclusively rural.

1180: Year of the foundation of San Sebastián. Cestona and Villarreal de Urrechua were founded in 1383. 25 small towns were founded in Gipuzkoa from 1180 to 1383.

1200: Gipuzkoa was finally incorporated into Castile.

Mirandaola foundry, Legazpia.

13th C.: From this century onwards, agriculture, coastal fishing (whaling) and ironworks activities increased. The rural population started to scatter to the farms. The beginning of craft, guild and trade activities.

1379: The first written legal order was drawn up by la Junta de la Hermandad de los Concejos, assembled in Getaria. Until that time, they were governed by the common law, orally transmitted, and based on usages and customs.

1400 -1401: An epidemic which had a great impact on the small towns in Gipuzkoa.

14th - 15th C.: A crisis all over Europa. Gipuzkoa was devastated by complex social confrontations known in History by the name of the "War of the Bands": the oñacino and the gamboíno.

1457: Defeat of the "Elders", and end of the civil war or the families war. The strong family houses were destroyed.

1450: The beginning of a time of growth in agriculture, industry, trade and fishing.

1463: We can say that Gipuzkoa becames a province, from this date onwards, when el Cuaderno de la Hermandad was promulgated, replacing that of 1379. The Provincial Assemblies will be the Government, and the County Council will be the Assemblies' executive body.

1479: From Trujillo dated July 12th, Queen Isabel ll issued the title of Kingdom of Gipuzkoa.

14th C.: The character of the Chief Magistrate, the King's representative in the province, emerged at the end of the century; his presence meant the Crown having more control over Gipuzkoa's affairs.

1500: The population of Gipuzkoa was around 60,000.

Tombstones in the church, Etxalar (Navarre).

1510: People with Moorish, Jewish, Agote or gypsy blood, or who were not well-burn were not allowed to settle in Gipuzkoa. This was an attempt to maintain the nobility of the man of Gipuzkoa.

1525: Charles I granted the title Very Noble and Very Loyal.

1634: The British invaded Hondarribia, Oiartzun and Rentería. 17th C.: Corn was imported from America, and grown in Gipuzkoa. This, together with the use of the spade, lime and manure, gave rise to a mayor change in farming.

17th C.: Trade and industry crisis. Iron from Gipuzkoa became less competitive in Europe.

1700 -1714: The War of Succession.

1706: General uprising in Gipuzkoa.

1718: First "Matxinada" (a popular uprising).

1764: Foundation of the "Real Sociedad Vascongada de Amigos del País", due to the urgent need to introduce industrial and agricultural changes.

1766: Agricultural crisis. The growth due to corn reached an extreme situation. The need for greater output forced a number of ploughings, thus putting pastures and cattle raising in danger.

1766: Second Matxinada, due to the shortage and high price of grain. It broke out in Azpeitia, on April 1 4th.

1767: Expulsion of the Jesuits.

1771: La Real Sociedad Vascongada de Amigos del País (the Enlightened) founded the "Real Seminario de Bergara", an educational centre, that taught members of a progressive and cultivated elite.

1794: The War of Convention. French troops invaded Gipuzkoa and seized Irún, Hondarribia, Pasaia, Lezo and Hernani. San Sebastián surrendered.

1800: The province had 106,552 inhabitants.

1800 - 1841: Commercial and industrial decline of the province.

1807: War of Independence. Napoleon's troops entered via Irún, and seized the Basque Country and the rest of the peninsula.

1815 - 1817: Decrees that weakened the "Régimen Foral" (regional statutes).

1817: First hand-made paper factory in Tolosa.

1833: The start of the First Carlist War.

1839: End of the First Carlist War. The Bergara Convention signed by Espartero and Maroto. Act of Parliament to ratify the "Fueros" (regional laws) although ordering their alteration. A hard blow to Basque autonomy.

1841 -1900: Beginning of the first stage of the industrialization process in Gipuzkoa.

1842: The country's continuous roll paper mill founded in Tolosa.

1845: The Manor of Oñati incorporated into Gipuzkoa.

1846 -1848 to 1858 -1860: The various phases of the Second Carlist War.

1861: First blast furnace in Beasain.

1862: Establisment of the Vitoria Bishoprie of which Gipuzkoa was to be a part.

1872 -1876: Third Carlist War.

1876: The last vestiges of the "Régimen Foral", fiscal autonomy, and exemption from military service vanished after the Cánovas del Castillo Bill.

1878: The abolition of the "Fueros" gave rise to the Economic Agreements (agreements between the County Councils and the Ministry of Finance).

1895: Sabino Arana founded the Basque Nationalist Party.

1900: Gipuzkoa had 195,850 inhabitants.

1900 - 1930: Period of consolidation of industry in Gipuzkoa.

1925: Fifth and last Economic Agreement. It did not come into force until 1927.

1931: 14 April proclamation of the Republic. Eibar is the first town where the Republic is proclaimed. The County Councils are replaced by management committees.

1934: October Revolution: general strike in Gipuzkoa.

1936: July 1 8th, start of the Spanish Civil War. On October Ist, the Republican Parliament passed the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country. The first Basque Government with José Antonio de Aguirre as President.

1937: Gipuzkoa's fall, and abolition of the Economic Agreement, the last vestiges of its autonomy.

1939: End of the Civil War.

1952: San Sebastián First International Film Festival.

1956: The writer Pío Baroja dies. The First International Basque Congres is held in Paris.

1957: In Brazil the sculptor Jorge Oteiza receives the Great International Prize of Sao Paulo Biennial.

1958: The sculptor Eduardo Chillida receives the firts price at the Venice Biennial.

1960: The Basque President José Antonio de Aguirre dies. 1970: The Burgos trail against E.T.A. members.

1975: General Franco dies- King Juan Carlos I takes over the country's leadership.

1976: Referemdum of political reform. Results in Gipuzkoa: 54.75%, abstention; 41.40%, yes; 1.21%, no.

1977: General elections in Spain. Gipuzkoa: P.N.V., 30.82%; P.S.O.E., 28.18%; E.E., 9.39%.

1978: Referemdum to endorse the Constitution. Gipuzkoa: 56.57%, abstention; 27.71%, yes; 12.97%, no.

1979: General elections in Gipuzkoa: PNV (26.55%), PSOE (18.25%), HB (17.62%). The Autonomous Statute of Gernica is passed. The Basque anthropologist José Miguel de Barandiarán is elected president of the Society of Basque Studies.

1980: Elections to the Basque Parliament. Carlos Garaikoetxea is elected president. The University of the Basque Country is officially opened.

Last modified: Nov, 02, 1999