Basque Literature - The 17th Century

The 17th Century

In amongst the trickle of smaller religious works the Counter Reformation movement, which in the Basque Country had its centre in Sare, Soule, produced one of the most notable works of the 17th century. This was a religious publication, the preachings of Pedro Agerre (better known as Axular) but in literary form, published in 1643. Although he was born in Urdax in Navarre and working in Soule, he wrote in Lapurdian which by then had established itself as the most prestigious form of Basque.

Other important authors of this century were

• Dotrina christiana by Estève Materre in 1617, also one of the earliest known learners of Basque
• The works of Silvain Pouvreau, one of the earliest known learners of Basque. His works (some of which were published posthumously) include Giristinoaren Dotrina (Paris, 1656); Filotea (Paris, 1664); Gudu espirituala (Paris, 1665), Andre Dana Maria Privilegiatua (J. Vinson: 1892), Iesusen Imitacionea (1978, Hordago) and an unpublished but important dictionary.
• Arnauld de Oihenart, born 1592 in Mauléon, who was the first Basque layman to write in the language and who produced a large amount of poetry and an important collection of proverbs, the first of which was published in 1657 in Paris. His style of writing is still regarded as one of the highest in the history of Basque literature
• Liburuhauda Ixasoco nabigacionecoa, a book on marine navigation written by Martin de Hoyarzabal and translated by Piarres Detcheverry in 1677
• A book on farming techniques by Mongongo Dessança in 1692

Although Gipuzkoan and Biscayan enjoyed some status as literary dialects, Lapurdian was by far the most commonly used dialect of the 17th century.