UNIVERSIDAD SANCTI SPIRITUS UNIVERSITY
aspectos titulado La formación intelectual de los vascos. La Universidad de Oñati..., estima que el Gobierno de Madrid trató, desde el siglo XVIII, de acabar con aquel vivero de fueristas que se oponían a los designios centralizadores y jacobinos de los monarcas borbones. Se intentó por todos los medios de cerrar la Universidad y trasladarla a Valladolid, aduciendo razones de deficiencia académica y económica. La realidad contradecía las excusas presentadas por Madrid, puesto que se dio la casualidad de que en el curso 1832-33, en vísperas de las guerras carlistas, se superaron los 600 estudiantes, número equiparable en el mismo período al de la prestigiosa Salamanca. Oñati, cuya Universidad hacía la competencia a Valladolid, a la que hurtaba muchos estudiantes, se convirtió, en opinión de Morales, en el objetivo prioritario de la lucha contra un sistema que defendía cotas de gobierno que escapaban al control de Madrid. De este modo, se sucedieron los cierres y las reaperturas, hasta que hace justo un siglo, en 1901, el Conde de Romanones decidió formalizar el traslado oficial de la Universidad a Valladolid. Sobre los criterios académicos que prevalecieron en el traslado nos puede dar idea una anécdota bastante significativa. Junto con los archivos del centro se trasladaron también los libros de texto del momento, dejando en el histórico edificio, para nuestra fortuna, los “libros viejos e inservibles”, esto es, una magnífica colección de incunables y libros de los siglos XVI y XVII que constituyen un preciado tesoro cuya vista alegró los ojos del ya desaparecido Niklas Luhmann. Este, en su visita al IISJ, el año 1991, afirmó que entre sus más poderosas razones para una futura visita a Oñati, valoraba la posibilidad de acceder a los antiguos fondos de Derecho conservados en la mencionada biblioteca. A las pasadas grandezas sobrevinieron épocas de crisis y castigo. El País Vasco, que había contado con la Universidad Sancti Spiritus de Oñati hasta hace un siglo, no ha merecido, a pesar del enorme crecimiento demográfico y económico provocado por la moderna industrialización, la consideración de dotarla de una Universidad hasta la transición del post-franquismo. En estos momentos, sobre todo a partir de la creación en Oñati del Instituto Internacional de Sociología Jurídica, el espléndido edificio del Renacimiento vuelve a cumplir con las finalidades que promocionaron su fundación. José Antonio Azpiazu
THE UNIVERSITY OF OÑATI AND ITS ERA The first thought that often comes to mind upon seeing Sancti Spiritus University (also known as the Old University of Oñati) for the first time, is that it is somewhat anomalous and out of context. What is such a magnificent renaissance building (1548) doing in a village with no more than 10,000 inhabitants that is well off the beaten track and nestled in a beautiful valley surrounded by majestic mountains? The backdrop against which this splendid building is set takes us on a journey back in time, to the era of medieval towers, including the imposing Zumelzegi Tower, residence of the Counts of Guevara, a family with close ties to the Castilian aristocracy; the magnificent San Miguel Church and cloister; and splendid palaces such as Lazarraga Palace next to the Town Hall, or Hernani Palace opposite the main entranceway of the parish church, where classes were held from 1542-48 while the University building itself was under construction. In view of this rich urban landscape, which has resulted in Oñati becoming known as the ‘Basque Toledo’, visitors may be forgiven for asking themselves whether such architectural exuberance is mere coincidence or whether it stands as a silent witness to the town’s glorious past, characterised by the central figure of the University. Such questions are soon answered when we discover that, in addition to being the location of many splendid buildings, the town was also the birthplace of a number of distinguished historical personages from the beginning of the Modern Age - the Basque Country’s most glorious era. A contemporary of Bishop Rodrigo Mercado of Zuazola, a highlyplaced member of Charles V’s court and the founder of the University, Oñati’s own Juan Pérez de Lazarraga was secretary to Queen Isabel the Catholic and the executor of her will. But perhaps ‘the most famous son of Oñati’ (in the words of the historian Iñaki Zumalde) and a mythological figure still in Latin America, was Lope de Agirre, the conquistador and adventurer who rebelled against Philip II in the Indies and proclaimed the independence of Peru after a series of dramatic adventures in the Amazon. Widening our focus to encompass the Basque Country as a whole, we discover that some of Charles V and Philip II’s most
14 Oñati-IISL Newsletter – 13 – 2001 Read our Web Page – http://www.iisj.es
influential secretaries were Basques, as in the case of Francisco de Eraso and Juan de Idiakez. The presence of Basques in the heart of the era’s most powerful governing body was, at one point, seen as evidence of an influential and much envied lobby, members of which included Philip II’s official Chronicler, Esteban de Garibay from Mondragón, who was also one of the first students to attend the University of Oñati. We should perhaps ask ourselves whether the economic prosperity and social prestige enjoyed by so many Basques during that era was a direct result of their links with the enormously powerful Castilian crown. What role did the Basque Country play in that emerging world? Did Oñati belong to the world in which, according to Braudel, 90% of the population survived thanks to subsistence farming? The coastal provinces of Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia were ‘poor in bread and wine’, but nevertheless managed to hold their own throughout the early Middle Ages both against feudal lords seeking to subjugate them and the poorness of their native mountain soil. Thanks to the iron and steel industry that transformed luscious green valleys into thriving industrial centres manufacturing everything from agricultural tools to high quality steel and weapons, the region carved itself a niche in the European market and, in the words of the anthropologist Caro Baroja, became the ‘homo faber’ of the Iberian Peninsular. The area in which the Basque Country really made its presence felt, however, was at sea. Using the so-called ‘sea of the Basques’ as a spring board, the Basques developed a fleet that was respected throughout the western world for the quality of its ships, the expertise of its crews and its pioneering explorations to new fishing grounds in Newfoundland and Canada, for example. In short, it was an era during which the key role played by the Basque Country recently prompted the North American historian Mark Kurlansky to give his book the somewhat unusual title of The Basque History of the World. Thanks to these activities, Basque society, which was only able to produce one third of the food required to feed its population, nevertheless enjoyed a standard of living and material wealth far superior to that of neighbouring regions. The key was a commercial system that offered iron and marine products in exchange for wheat, wine and oil, in an era marked by a chiefly industrial and mercantile society. Oñati,