Decía mi profesor Jon Juaristi que Euskadi es lo más parecido a una conurbación urbana salpicada de grandes espacios verdes. Algo parecido opina el escritor y filósofo catalán Rafael Argullol, para quien "el País Vasco es una gran ciudad".
La visión del País Vasco como una gran metrópoli sirve para contrarrestar las abundantes muestras de sensiblería provinciana de unos y exaltación patriótica de otros. Las grandes urbes propician otra suerte de condiciones: cosmopolitismo, mestizaje, pluralidad; aunque también marginación y desigualdad como, por desgracia, sucede en la mayor parte de la jungla global.
Sea como fuere, el País Vasco ha vivido durante demasiado tiempo una
situación insoportable, y somos muchos los que hemos optado por un
"exilio interior". Ni, beste asko bezala, nazkatuta
nagok!
Eugenio Alberdi o
Blas Pedro Uberuaga
ofrecen una visión idealizada de su país. Yo sólo me
siento algo mundano y bastante
campezano.
Hizkuntzalari edo euskaltzale bazara, ez galdu nire Basque
vs. Spanish Language Page!
¡Si te interesa la lingüística vasca, no te pierdas mi
Basque vs. Spanish Language
Page!
[ Origen de los vascos ] [ ¡Basta ya! ]
The Aquitaine region encompasses the départements of Dordogne, Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, and Pyrénées-Atlantiques in south-western France. The capital is Bordeaux.
In Julius Caesar's description of Gaul, "Aquitania" was an area extending from the Pyrenees to the Garonne River. The Roman emperor Augustus (reigned 27 BC-AD 14) made it a Roman administrative district, and its borders were extended as far north as the Loire River and east to the Massif Central. In the first millennium the possession of its constituent parts depended very much on the outcome of various rivalries between Dukes and Counts in Gaul and Kings in England (after the Norman Conquest.)
A Visigothic province in the 5th century, Aquitaine came under Frankish rule in the 6th century, retaining a measure of provincial identity exploited by local rulers. Long resistant in the 8th century, it was finally subdued by Charlemagne, who bestowed it (less Gascony) as a kingdom upon his son Louis (the future emperor Louis I). It remained a kingdom under Louis's son Pepin I and the latter's son Pepin II, its chief towns being Toulouse, Limoges, and Poitiers.
Devastation by the Normans in the 9th century resulted in political and social upheavals during the course of which various feudal domains were established. Elenore of Aquitaine may have had more influence on the history of France than Marie Antoinette inasmuch as her marriages resulted each time in a change in the sovereignty of the Duchy of Aquitaine. The title of Duke of Aquitaine, which had already been used by various little-known persons in the 7th century, was assumed at the end of the 9th by William I the Pious, count of Auvergne, the founder of the Abbey of Cluny.
In the first half of the 10th century the counts of Auvergne, of Toulouse, and of Poitiers each claimed this ducal title, but it was eventually secured by William I, count of Poitiers (William III of Aquitaine). The powerful house of the counts of Poitiers retained Aquitaine during the 10th and 11th centuries, endeavouring from time to time to restore to the name its former significance by extending the boundaries of the duchy to include Gascony and Toulouse.
Then, on the death without heirs of the last duke, William X (William VIII of Poitiers), in 1137, his daughter Eleanor united Aquitaine to the kingdom of France by her marriage with Louis VII. When Louis divorced her, however, Eleanor of Aquitaine married in 1152 the count of Anjou, Henry Plantagenet, who two years later became king of England as Henry II. The duchy thus passed to her new husband, who, having suppressed a revolt there, gave it to his son, Richard the Lion-Heart (later Richard I of England), who spent most of his life in Aquitaine. When Richard died in 1199, the duchy reverted to Eleanor, and, on her death five years later, it was united to the English crown and henceforward followed the fortunes of the English possessions in France.
Aquitaine, as it came to the English kings, stretched as of old from the Loire to the Pyrenees, but its extent was curtailed on the south-east by the wide lands of the counts of Toulouse. The name Guyenne (or Guienne), a corruption of Aquitaine, seems to have come into use about the 10th century, and the subsequent history of Aquitaine is merged in that of Gascony and Guyenne which were completely reunited to France by the end of the Hundred Years' War.
Lowlands predominate in Aquitaine outside the Pyrenees mountains themselves, which rise in the south. The highest point in the region is the peak of Midi d'Ossau (9,465 feet [2,885m]); most land, however, lies below 1,600 feet. Annual precipitation exceeds 30 inches (800 mm) outside Lot-et-Garonne and southern Dordogne and increases toward the Pyrenees. An oceanic climate prevails.
The population of the Aquitaine region is increasingly urban, and small towns are generally in decline. Corn (maize) was introduced into Aquitaine in the late 16th century and has become the leading cereal. Viticulture is widespread. Cash crops were introduced in the late 19th century and include tobacco, apples, pears, peaches, French beans, and peas. Forests cover much of the land. The industrial sector is of little importance outside Bordeaux. Area 15,949 square miles (41,309 square km). Pop. (1990) 2,796,093. The Aquitaine region encompasses the départements of Dordogne, Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, and Pyrénées-Atlantiques in south-western France. . The capital is Bordeaux. In Julius Caesar's description of Gaul, "Aquitania" was an area extending from the Pyrenees to the Garonne River. The Roman emperor Augustus (reigned 27 BC-AD 14) made it a Roman administrative district, and its borders were extended as far north as the Loire River and east to the Massif Central. In the first millennium the possession of its constituent parts depended very much on the outcome of various rivalries between Dukes and Counts in Gaul and Kings in England (after the Norman Conquest.) A Visigothic province in the 5th century, Aquitaine came under Frankish rule in the 6th century, retaining a measure of provincial identity exploited by local rulers. Long resistant in the 8th century, it was finally subdued by Charlemagne, who bestowed it (less Gascony) as a kingdom upon his son Louis (the future emperor Louis I). It remained a kingdom under Louis's son Pepin I and the latter's son Pepin II, its chief towns being Toulouse, Limoges, and Poitiers. Devastation by the Normans in the 9th century resulted in political and social upheavals during the course of which various feudal domains were established. Elenore of Aquitaine may have had more influence on the history of France than Marie Antoinette inasmuch as her marriages resulted each time in a change in the sovereignty of the Duchy of Aquitaine. The title of Duke of Aquitaine, which had already been used by various little-known persons in the 7th century, was assumed at the end of the 9th by William I the Pious, count of Auvergne, the founder of the Abbey of Cluny. In the first half of the 10th century the counts of Auvergne, of Toulouse, and of Poitiers each claimed this ducal title, but it was eventually secured by William I, count of Poitiers (William III of Aquitaine). The powerful house of the counts of Poitiers retained Aquitaine during the 10th and 11th centuries, endeavouring from time to time to restore to the name its former significance by extending the boundaries of the duchy to include Gascony and Toulouse. Then, on the death without heirs of the last duke, William X (William VIII of Poitiers), in 1137, his daughter Eleanor united Aquitaine to the kingdom of France by her marriage with Louis VII. When Louis divorced her, however, Eleanor of Aquitaine married in 1152 the count of Anjou, Henry Plantagenet, who two years later became king of England as Henry II. The duchy thus passed to her new husband, who, having suppressed a revolt there, gave it to his son, Richard the Lion-Heart (later Richard I of England), who spent most of his life in Aquitaine. When Richard died in 1199, the duchy reverted to Eleanor, and, on her death five years later, it was united to the English crown and henceforward followed the fortunes of the English possessions in France. Aquitaine, as it came to the English kings, stretched as of old from the Loire to the Pyrenees, but its extent was curtailed on the south-east by the wide lands of the counts of Toulouse. The name Guyenne (or Guienne), a corruption of Aquitaine, seems to have come into use about the 10th century, and the subsequent history of Aquitaine is merged in that of Gascony and Guyenne which were completely reunited to France by the end of the Hundred Years' War. Lowlands predominate in Aquitaine outside the Pyrenees mountains themselves, which rise in the south. The highest point in the region is the peak of Midi d'Ossau (9,465 feet [2,885m]); most land, however, lies below 1,600 feet. Annual precipitation exceeds 30 inches (800 mm) outside Lot-et-Garonne and southern Dordogne and increases toward the Pyrenees. An oceanic climate prevails. The population of the Aquitaine region is increasingly urban, and small towns are generally in decline. Corn (maize) was introduced into Aquitaine in the late 16th century and has become the leading cereal. Viticulture is widespread. Cash crops were introduced in the late 19th century and include tobacco, apples, pears, peaches, French beans, and peas. Forests cover much of the land. The industrial sector is of little importance outside Bordeaux. Area 15,949 square miles (41,309 square km). Pop. (1990) 2,796,093. Recommended reading: Eleanor of Aquitaine. Alison Weir