Editing Fuero (section)

==Basque and Pyrenean ''fueros''==
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2024}} 
===Approach===
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]]. The equivalent for [[Occitan language|Occitan]] usage is ''fòr'', applying to the northern regions of the [[Pyrenees]].

The whole central and western Pyrenean region was [[History of the Basque people|inhabited by the Basques]] in the early Middle Ages within the [[Duchy of Vasconia]]. The Basques and the Pyrenean peoples—as Romance language replaced Basque in many areas by the turn of the first millennium—governed themselves [[Custom (law)|by a native set of rules]], different from [[Roman law|Roman]] and [[Visigothic Code|Gothic]] law but with an ever-increasing imprint of them. Typically their laws, arising from regional traditions and practices, were kept and transmitted orally. Because of this oral tradition, the Basque-language regions preserved their specific laws longer than did those Pyrenean regions that adopted Romance languages. For example, [[Fueros of Navarre|Navarrese law]] developed along less feudal lines than those of surrounding realms. The [[Fors de Bearn]] are another example of Pyrenean law.

Two sayings address this legal idiosyncrasy: "en Navarra hubo antes leyes que reyes," and "en Aragón antes que rey hubo ley," both meaning that law developed and existed before the kings. The force of these principles required monarchs to accommodate to the laws. This situation sometimes strained relations between the monarch and the kingdom, especially if the monarchs were alien to native laws.

This tradition of "laws before kings" was enshrined in the legendary [[Fueros de Sobrarbe]], claimed to have been enacted by king [[Iñigo Arista]] in the 850s in the pyrenean [[Sobrarbe|valley of Sobrarbe]]. Although a 13th-century fabrication, the ''Fueros de Sobrarbe'' were subsequently used as the legal foundation for most Navarrese and Aragonese ''Fueros'' from the 13th century onwards. They enshrined the traditional principle "laws before kings" both in Aragonese and Navarrese law, justified the right to rebel against illegal royal decisions, and legitimised the existence of specific institutions such as the [[Justicia de Aragón]], designed to

===''Fueros'' in the High and Late Middle Ages===
The Fueros de Sobrarbe first appear mentioned in the context of the ascension of the House of Champagne to the Navarrese throne. In 1234, when [[Theobald I of Navarre|Theobald I of Champagne]] inherited the Navarrese throne from his uncle [[Sancho VII of Navarre]], he was pressured by burgers and nobility alike to swear he would abide his decisions by customary law and honour their customary rights and privileges. As a result, Theobald I appointed a commission to codify said laws; this resulted in the first written general ''fuero'', the [[Fuero General de Navarra]], enacted in 1238 and which drew its legal foundation from the fabled ''Fueros of Sobrarbe'' to justify the king's authority being subjected to the Fuero.

The accession of French lineages to the throne of Navarre brought a relationship between the king and the kingdom that was alien to the Basques. The resulting disagreements were a major factor in the 13th-century uprisings and clashes between different factions and communities, e.g. the [[Pamplona#Three boroughs and one city|borough wars of Pamplona]]. The loyalty of the Basques (the ''Navarri'') to the king was conditioned on his upholding the traditions and customs of the kingdom, which were based on oral laws.

===Relations with the crown and rise of absolutism===
[[File:Fuero de Vizcaya.png|thumb|upright|''Fuero'' or law compilation of Biscay (16th century)]]
[[File:Fueros y Actos de las Cortes de Tarazona de 1592.jpg|thumb|upright|Compilation of the Fueros and Acts of Aragon (1592)]]
[[Image:Mapa político de España, 1850.jpg|thumb|220px|Spain in 1850, with the colors representing the different [[bailiwick]]s]]

[[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] [[Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre|conquered and annexed Navarre]] between 1512 and 1528 (up to the [[Pyrenees]]). In order to gain Navarrese loyalty, the Spanish Crown represented by the Aragonese Fernando upheld the kingdom's specific laws (''fueros'') allowing the region to continue to function under its historic laws,<ref name="ConqNavarre">{{cite book | author1 = Monreal, Gregorio| author2 = Jimeno, Roldan|year = 2012 | title = Conquista e Incorporación de Navarra a Castilla| publisher = Pamiela | location=Pamplona-Iruña| isbn = 978-84-7681-736-0}}</ref>{{rp|36–39, 44}} while [[Lower Navarre]] remained independent, but increasingly tied to [[France]], a process completed after [[Henry IV of France|King Henry III of Navarre and IV of France]] died. [[Louis XIII of France]] failed to respect his father's will to keep Navarre and France separate. All specific relevant legal provisions and institutions (Parliament, Courts of Justice, etc.) [[Lower Navarre#History|were devalued in 1620–1624]], and critical powers transferred to the French Crown.

Since the high Middle Ages, many [[History of the Basque people#Modern Period|Basques]] had been born into the ''[[hidalgo (Spanish nobility)|hidalgo]] nobility''. The Basques had no uniform legal corpus of laws, which varied between valleys and seigneuries. Early on (14th century) all [[Gipuzkoa]]ns were granted noble status, several Navarrese valleys ([[Salazar Valley|Salazar]], [[Roncal – Erronkari|Roncal]], [[Baztan (river)|Baztan]], etc.) followed suit, and [[Biscay]]nes saw their universal nobility confirmed in 1525. [[Álava]]'s distribution of nobility was patchy but less widespread, since the Basque specific nobility only took hold in northern areas ([[Ayala/Aiara|Ayala]], etc.). [[Biscay]]nes,<ref>Note that ''Biscayne'' during this period holds an ambiguous meaning, it often refers to the Basques in general.</ref> as nobles, were theoretically excluded from torture and from the need to serve in the Spanish army, unless called for the defence of their own territory (''[[Don Quixote]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s character, [[Sancho Panza]], remarked humorously that writing and reading and being ''Biscayne'' was enough to be secretary to the emperor). Other Basque regions had similar provisions.
The reach of the {{lang|es|fuero}} was not limited by the territory.
Biscayans in other parts of the [[Crown of Castile]] had [[extraterritoriality]].
They could take the [[appellation]]s in cases involving them to the {{lang|es|Sala de Vizcaya}} ("Biscay Hall") at the top court of Castile, the [[Real Audiencia y Chancillería de Valladolid|Chancillería de Valladolid]] ("Court of last resort ({{lit|"[[chancery (medieval office)|chancery]]}}) of [[Valladolid]]").<ref name="Camazón">{{cite news |last1=Camazón |first1=Alba |title=Un ratón, una denuncia por injurias y la justicia exclusiva para vizcaínos: uno de los pleitos de la Chancillería de Valladolid |url=https://www.eldiario.es/castilla-y-leon/cultura/raton-denuncia-injurias-justicia-exclusiva-vizcainos-pleitos-chancilleria-valladolid-eus_1_11541236.html |access-date=6 August 2024 |work=ElDiario.es |date=5 August 2024 |language=es-ES}}</ref><ref name="Emperador">{{cite journal |last1=Emperador |first1=Cristina |title=El archivo de la Real Chancilleria de Valladolid y la Sala de Vizcaya: fondos documentales producidos por una sala de justicia en el Antiguo Régimen |journal=Clío & Crímen: Revista del Centro de Historia del Crimen de Durango |date=2013 |issue=10 |pages=13–34 |url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oKLZsYY72uA7w3_CNLXppjUvsGAEVIRO/view |access-date=6 August 2024 |trans-title=The Archive of the Royal Chancellery of Valladolid and the Hall of Biscay: Documentary Funds Produced by a Justice Court in the Ancient Regime |language=es-ES |issn=1698-4374}}</ref>

The Castilian kings took an oath to comply with the Basque laws in the different provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa. These provinces and Navarre kept their self-governing bodies and their own parliaments, i.e. the ''diputaciones'' and the [[Juntas Generales|territorial councils]]/[[Parliament of Navarre]]. However, the prevailing Castilian rule prioritized the king's will.<ref name="ConqNavarre"/>{{rp|39–43}} In addition, the ever more centralizing absolutism, especially after the accession to the throne of the [[Bourbon Reforms|Bourbons]], increasingly devalued the laws specific to regions and realms—Basque provinces and the kingdoms of Navarre and Aragon—sparking uprisings (Matalaz's uprising in [[Soule]] 1660,<ref name=Collins1990>{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Roger|title=The Basques|year=1990|publisher=Basil Blackwell|location=Oxford, UK|isbn=0631175652|edition=2nd}}</ref>{{rp|267}} regular ''Matxinada'' revolts in the 17-18th centuries) and mounting tensions between the territorial governments and the Spanish central government of [[Charles III of Spain|Charles III]] and [[Charles IV of Spain|Charles IV]], to the point of considering the [[Parliament of Navarre]] dangerous to the royal authority and condemning "its spirit of independence and liberties."<ref name=InstitucionesNav>{{cite journal |last1=Usunáriz Garayoa |first1=Jesús M. |year=2001 |title=Las Instituciones del Reino de Navarra durante la Edad Moderna (1512-1808) |journal=Revista Internacional de Estudios Vascos |volume=2 |issue=46 |publisher=Eusko Ikaskuntza |url=http://www.eusko-ikaskuntza.org/es/publicaciones/colecciones/riev/publicacion.php?o=1273 |access-date=14 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112002250/http://www.eusko-ikaskuntza.org/es/publicaciones/colecciones/riev/publicacion.php?o=1273 |archive-date=12 November 2013 }}</ref>{{rp|716–717}}

Despite vowing loyalty to the crown, the Pyrenean Aragonese and Catalans kept their separate specific laws too, the "King of the Spains" represented a crown tying together different realms and peoples, as claimed by the Navarrese ''diputación'', as well as the [[Parliament of Navarre]]'s last trustee.<ref name="ConqNavarre"/>{{rp|45}} The Aragonese ''fueros'' were an obstacle for [[Philip II of Spain#Domestic policy|Philip II]] when his former secretary [[Antonio Pérez (statesman)|Antonio Pérez]] escaped the death penalty by fleeing to Aragon. The king's only means to enforce the sentence was the [[Spanish Inquisition]], the only cross-kingdom tribunal of his domains. There were frequent conflicts of jurisdiction between the Spanish Inquisition and regional civil authorities and bishops.<ref name="Auñamendi Inquisición">''[http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/74536 Inquisición]'' at the [[Auñamendi Encyclopedia]].</ref> Pérez escaped to France, but Philip's army invaded Aragon and executed its authorities.

In 1714 the Catalan and Aragonese specific laws and self-government [[Nueva Planta decrees|were violently suppressed]]. The Aragonese [[count of Robres]], one strongly opposing the abolition, put it down to Castilian centralism, stating that the royal prime minister, the [[House of Olivares|Count-Duke of Olivares]], had at last a free rein "for the kings of Spain to be independent of all laws save those of their own conscience."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kamen|first1=Henry|date=2001 |title=Philip V of Spain: The King who Reigned Twice |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=htkqJr0SThsC&q=Philip+V+of+Spain%3A+The+King+who+Reigned+Twice+kamen&pg=PP4|publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0-30008-718-7 |access-date=16 November 2013}}, p. 222</ref>

The Basques managed to retain their specific status for a few years after 1714, as they had supported the claimant who became [[Philip V of Spain]], a king hailing from the lineage of [[Henry III of Navarre]]. However, they could not escape the king's attempts (using military force) at centralization (1719–1723). In the run-up to the [[Napoleonic Wars]], the relations between the absolutist Spanish Crown and the Basque governing institutions were at breaking point. By the beginning of the [[War of the Pyrenees]], [[Manuel Godoy]] took office as Prime Minister in Spain, and went on to take a tough approach on the Basque self-government and specific laws. Both fear and anger spread among the Basques at his uncompromising stance.

===The end of the ''fueros'' in Spain===
The 1789 Revolution brought the rise of the Jacobin [[nation state]]—also referred to in a Spanish context as "unitarism",{{Citation needed|date=January 2014}} unrelated to the [[Unitarianism|religious view of similar name]]. Whereas the French [[Ancien Régime]] recognized the regional specific laws, the new order did not allow for such autonomy. The jigsaw puzzle of fiefs was divided into ''[[département]]s'', based on administrative and [[Political unitarization|ideological concerns]], not tradition. In the [[French Basque Country]], what little remained of [[End of Basque home rule in France|self-government was suppressed in 1790]] during the French Revolution and the new administrative arrangement,<ref name=Collins1990/>{{rp|267}} and was followed by the interruption of the customary cross-border trade between the [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque districts]] (holding minor internal customs or duties), the mass deportation to the [[Landes (department)|Landes]] of thousands of residents in the bordering villages of [[Labourd]]—Sara, [[Itxassou]], [[Ascain]]—,<ref name="Orhipean">{{cite book|last=Etxegoien (Xamar)|first=Juan Carlos|title=The Country of Basque|year=2009|publisher=Pamiela|location=Pamplona-Iruñea, Spain|isbn=978-84-7681-478-9|edition=2nd |page=23}}</ref>{{rp|18}} including the imposition (fleetingly) of alien names to villages and towns—period of the [[National Convention]] and [[War of the Pyrenees#Western Pyrenees|War of the Pyrenees]] (1793–1795).

Some Basques saw a way forward in the 1808 [[Bayonne Statute]] and [[Dominique-Joseph Garat]]'s project, initially approved by Napoleon, to create a separate Basque state,<ref name="Orhipean"/>{{rp|19}} but the French invasive attitude on the ground and the deadlock of the self-government project led the Basques to find help elsewhere, i.e. local liberal or moderate commanders and public figures supportive of the ''fueros'', or the conservative [[Ferdinand VII]]. The 1812 Spanish [[Constitution of Cadiz]] received no Basque input, ignored the Basque self-government, and was accepted begrudgingly by the Basques, overwhelmed by war events. For example, the 1812 Constitution was signed by Gipuzkoan representatives to a [[Francisco Javier Castaños, 1st Duke of Bailén|general Castaños]] wielding menacingly a sword, and tellingly the [[Siege of San Sebastián|San Sebastián]] council representatives took an oath to the 1812 Constitution with the smell of smoke still wafting and surrounded by rubble.

During the two centuries since the French Revolution and the [[Napoleon]]ic Era, the level of autonomy for the Basque regions within Spain has varied. The cry for ''fueros'' (meaning regional autonomy) was one of the demands of the [[Carlism|Carlists]] of the 19th century, hence the strong support for Carlism from the Basque Country and (especially in the [[First Carlist War]]) in [[Catalonia]] and [[Aragón]]. The Carlist effort to restore an [[absolute monarchy]] was sustained militarily mainly by those whom the ''fueros'' had protected from the full weight of absolutism, due to their readiness to respect region and kingdom specific legal systems and institutions. The defeat of the Carlists in three successive wars resulted in continuing erosion of traditional Basque privileges.

The Carlist land-based small nobility (''jauntxos'') lost power to the new [[bourgeois]]ie, who welcomed the extension of Spanish [[customs]] borders from the [[Ebro]] to the Pyrenees. The new borders protected the fledgling Basque industry from foreign competition and opened the Spanish market, but lost opportunities abroad since customs were imposed on the Pyrenees and the coast.

===Echoes of the ''fueros'' after suppression in Spain===
[[Image:Si el famoso árbol de Guernica da este fruto, procuremos que no vuelva á retoñar, La Madeja Política, 2 de mayo de 1874.jpg|thumb|220px|Spanish satiric depiction against the ''fueros'' embodied in the [[Tree of Gernika]]]]
After the [[First Carlist War]], the new class of Navarre negotiated separately from the rest of Basque districts the ''Ley Paccionada'' (or ''Compromise Act'') in Navarre (1841), which granted some administrative and fiscal prerogatives to the provincial government within Spain. The rest of the Basque districts managed to keep still for another 40 years a small status of self-government, definitely suppressed in 1876. The end of the [[Third Carlist War]] saw the Carlists strong in the Basque districts succumb to the Spanish troops led by King [[Alfonso XII of Spain]] and their reduced [[End of Basque home rule (Spain)|self-government was suppressed]] and converted into [[Basque Economic Agreement|Economic Agreements]]. Navarre's status was less altered in 1876 than that of Gipuzkoa, Biscay, and Álava, due to the separate agreement signed in 1841 by officials of the Government of Navarre with the Spanish government accepting the transformation of the kingdom into a Spanish province.

Despite capitulation agreements acknowledging specific administrative and economic prerogatives, attempts of the Spanish government to bypass them spread malaise and anger in the [[Southern Basque Country|Basque districts]], ultimately leading to the 1893–94 ''Gamazada'' uprising in Navarre. [[Sabino Arana]] bore witness to the popular revolt as a Biscayne envoy to the protests.

The enthusiasm raised by the popular revolt in Navarre against the breach of war ending agreements made a deep impact on Sabino Arana, who went on to found the [[Basque Nationalist Party]] in 1895, based in Biscay but aiming beyond the boundaries of each Basque district, seeking instead a confederation of the Basque districts. Arana, of a Carlist background, rejected the Spanish monarchy and founded [[Basque nationalism]] on the basis of [[Roman Catholicism|Catholicism]] and ''fueros'' (''Lagi-Zaŕa'', as he called them in Basque, "Old Law"). The competitive, Carlist vision of fueros was laid out in 1915 by [[Eustaquio Echave-Sustaeta Pedroso|Eustaquio Echave-Sustaeta]] and in 1921 by [[Teodoro de Arana y Beláustegui]].

The high-water mark of a restoration of Basque autonomy in recent times came under the [[Second Spanish Republic]] in the mid twentieth century. An attempt was made at restoring some kind of Basque self-government in the [http://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Estatuto_General_del_Estado_Vasco_aprobado_en_la_Magna_Asamblea_de_Municipios_Vascos_celebrada_en_Estella_(Lizarra)_el_d%C3%ADa_14_de_Junio_de_1931 Statute of Estella], initially garnering a majority of the votes, but controversially failing to take off (Pamplona, 1932). Four years later and amid a climate of war, Basque nationalists supported the [[left-wing politics|left]]-leaning Republic as ardently as they had earlier supported the [[right-wing politics|right-wing]] [[Carlism|Carlists]] (note that contemporary [[Carlists]] supported [[Francisco Franco]]).{{Clarify|date=January 2014}} The defeat of the Republic by the forces of [[Francisco Franco]] led in turn to a suppression of Basque culture, including banning the public use of the [[Basque language]].

The Franco regime considered [[Biscay]] and [[Gipuzkoa]] as "traitor provinces" and cancelled their ''fueros''. However, the pro-Franco provinces of [[Álava]] and [[Navarre]] 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 taxes to support local government.

The post-Franco [[Spanish Constitution of 1978]] acknowledged "historical rights" and attempted to compromise in the old conflict between centralism and [[federalism]] by establishing a constitutional provision catering to historic Catalan and Basque political demands, and leaving open the possibility of establishing their own [[autonomous communities of Spain|autonomous communities]]. The Spanish Constitution speaks of "nationalities" and "historic territories", but does not define them. The term ''nationality'' itself was coined for the purpose, and neither Basques nor Catalans are specifically recognized by the Constitution.

After the [[23-F|1981 coup d'état attempt]] and the ensuing passing of the restrictive LOAPA act, such possibility of autonomy got opened to whatever (reshaped) Spanish region demanded it (such as [[Castile and León]], [[Valencia (autonomous community)|Valencia]], etc.), even to those never struggling to have their separate identity recognized and always considering themselves invariably Spanish. The ''[[Autonomous communities of Spain|State of Autonomous Communities]]'' took the shape of administrative districts and was ambiguous as to the actual recognition of separate identities, coming to be known as ''café para todos'', or 'coffee for everyone'.

However, the provincial chartered governments (''Diputación Foral'' / ''Foru Aldundia'') in the Basque districts were restored, getting back significant powers. Other powers held historically by the chartered governments ("Diputación") were transferred to the new government of the [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque Country]] autonomous community. The Basque provinces still perform tax collection in their respective territories, coordinating with the Basque/Navarrese, Spanish, as well as European governments.

Today, the act regulating the powers of the government of [[Navarre]] is the ''Amejoramiento del Fuero'' ("Betterment of the Fuero"), and the official name of Navarre is ''Comunidad Foral de Navarra'', ''foral'' ('chartered') being the adjectival form for ''fuero''. The conservative governmental party in Navarre [[Unión del Pueblo Navarro|UPN]] (2013) claimed during its establishment (1979) and at later times the validity and continuity of the institutional framework for Navarre held during [[Franco's dictatorship]] (1936–1975), considering the present regional ''status quo'' an "improvement" of its previous status.