GUERNIKA

“Guernica (Basque pronunciation: [ɡerˈnika]), official and Basque name Gernika, is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is united in one municipality with neighbouring Lumo, as Gernika-Lumo. The population of the municipality is 16,224 as of 2009….

“Early history

“The town of Guernica was founded … on April 28, 1366…. The strategic importance of the site was increased by the fact that it lay on a major river estuary. ….

“On a small hillock in the town, stands the Meeting House and the famous Tree of Gernika. By ancient tradition, Basques, and indeed other peoples in Medieval Europe, held assemblies under a tree, usually an oak, to discuss matters affecting the community….

“The laws of Biscay continued to be drawn up under this tree until 1876, with each town and village in the province sending two representatives to the sessions, known as General Assemblies. …

“When the Domain of Biscay was incorporated into the kingdom of Castile, the king of Castile visited Guernica and swore an oath under the Tree promising to uphold the fueros or local laws of Biscay. The oath of King Ferdinand, known as the "Catholic Monarch", on June 30, 1476, is depicted in a painting by Francisco de Mendieta popularly known as El besamanos ("The Royal audience"). On July 3, 1875, during the Carlist Wars, the pretender to the throne Don Carlos of the house of Hapsburg also visited Guernica and swore the oath. Throughout the 19th century, there were frequent meetings under the Tree, including both General Assemblies and other political events….

“Modern history

“On April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, Guernica was the scene of the Bombing of Guernica by the Condor Legion of Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe. According to the official Basque figures, 1,654 civilians were killed, but the German sources report a round figure of 300 civilians killed in the bombing, according to the German Bundeswehr Magazine (published in April 2007, page 94)…. The Germans were attacking to support the efforts of Francisco Franco to overthrow the Basque Government and the Spanish Republican government. The town was devastated, though the Biscayan assembly and the Oak of Guernica survived. Pablo Picasso painted his famous Guernica painting to commemorate the horrors of the bombing and René Iché made a violent sculpture the day after the bombing. The bombing went on continuously for three hours….

“Cultural importance

“Guernica is historically the seat of the parliament of the province of Biscay, whose executive branch is located in nearby Bilbao.

“In prior centuries, Lumo had been the meeting place of the traditional Biscayan assembly, Urduña and chartered towns like Guernica were under the direct authority of the Lord of Biscay, and Enkarterri and the Durango area had separate assemblies. All would hold assemblies under local big trees. As time passed, the role of separate assemblies was superseded by the single assembly in Guernica, and by 1512, its oak, known as the Gernikako Arbola, became symbolic of the traditional rights of the Basque people as a whole.”

***Copied from Wikipedia – Guernica, Spain