The Old Law of Bizkaia (1452)

Download or read book The Old Law of Bizkaia (1452) written by Gregorio Monreal Zia and published by Center for Basque Studies Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1452, Bizkaians assembled at the Oak of Gernika and approved the Fuero Viejo de Bizkaia (the Old Law of Bizkaia) one of Europe's most important yet little known medieval legal codes. Its laws encompassed an extraordinary range of individual and collective liberties, anticipating the 18th-century Declarations of Rights contained in the constitutions of the U.S. and France. It was extraordinarily modern in both spirit and letter and attracted the attention and admiration of John Adams and William Wordsworth. Its influence survives to the present day, underpinning Bizkaian and Basque claims to their own political identity within the Spanish state. Distributed for the Center for Basque Studies.