• inlandempire@jlai.lu
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    10 months ago

    The law was repealed in 2015 apparently: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/29/basques-safe-iceland-district-repeals-decree-kill-on-sight

    The edict was issued in 1615 after a storm destroyed three Basque whaling vessels on an expedition in Iceland. Eighty members of the crew survived, said Gudmundsson, and were left stranded in the area. “They had nothing to eat, and there were accounts of them robbing people and farmers,” he said.

    The brewing conflict between locals and the whalers prompted then-sheriff Ari Magnússon to draw up a decree that allowed Basques to be killed with impunity in the district. In the weeks that followed, more than 30 Basques were killed in raids led by the sheriff and local farmers. “It’s one of the darkest chapters of our history,” said Gudmundsson, noting that the incident known as the Slaying of the Spaniards ranks among the country’s bloodiest massacres.

    Four centuries later, Gudmundsson decided it was time to set right the wrongs of history. Last week, at the unveiling of a memorial dedicated to the Basque whalers who were killed, he repealed the decree. “This decision was made 400 years ago and it has never formally been repealed until now.”

    • MissJinx@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      There are no countries without a dark chapter in their history. At some point every coutry had a shitty person in power.

      And btw it took them 400 years to repeale it?! fuck

    • Artyom@lemm.ee
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      10 months ago

      This is horrible but I can’t help but laugh. “Okay, about 80 people are stuck here because their ships ran aground last night. No one knows they’re here, so they have no way to leave unless we help them, so the logical decision here is to simply murder them until there are none left. All in favor of this, say aye!”

      • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        I think it was more of, “hey, who the hell is suddenly robbing us?!”

        They didn’t have the internet and daily news to tip everyone off. There’d just suddenly be stranded people near by, and if they decided to pillage before asking… I could EASILY see being hostile as a reasonable response. Not necessarily the KoS law, unless they really did just resort to pillaging and theft often.

          • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            Yea, I don’t envy their situation for sure. Just that it didn’t necessarily have to start from malice. As you point out, it may not have even been malice from the thieves, maybe even if they were literally stealing.

            Coming from a punitive place will always miss intention.

              • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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                10 months ago

                Yea, we need a historian to tell us how it went down so we can know who to hate! … jk jk… lol the obvious lesson is do not rush to judgement, especially on assumption. Heck, it might’ve even been a very select few genuine crooks that got the rest punished by team sports attitude that sadly persists to this day.

  • db2@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Basques are indigenous to, and primarily inhabit, an area traditionally known as the Basque Country (Basque: Euskal Herria)—a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.

    • pimento64@sopuli.xyz
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      10 months ago

      The Basque language, also known as Euskara, is a language isolate and the last remaining language descended from pre-Indo-European roots after all the others were displaced during the Bronze Age. Though it borrows a lot of vocabulary from other languages now, its roots predate both Romance and Celtic languages.

      • Caveman@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Is it known that it predates Celtic? I thought people didn’t know much about the history of the language since nothing was written, just roughly where and when because of archaeology.

    • meyotch@slrpnk.net
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      10 months ago

      Boise, Idaho hosts a sizable Basque population and features a couple of nice restaurants that feature their cuisine. Basque who emigrated to Idaho have traditionally been sheep-herders and some still work in herding professions.

    • billwashere@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Thank you for subscribing to Basque Facts:

      Basque sports are a huge part of the culture, especially the traditional sport of pelota. There are many variations of this court-based ball game that has been played for centuries.

    • billwashere@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Thank you for subscribing to Basque Facts:

      The Basque region straddles the border between Spain and France along the Bay of Biscay. On the Spanish side it consists of the provinces of Vizcaya, Guipúzcoa, Álava and parts of Navarre.

    • billwashere@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Thank you for subscribing to Basque Facts:

      The Basque language, Euskara, is a language isolate - it is not related to any other known language. It is considered one of Europe’s oldest languages.

  • smeg@feddit.uk
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    10 months ago

    See also any Scotsmen visiting York while carrying a bow and arrow

    • Worx@lemmynsfw.com
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      10 months ago

      There is an answer now in another comment (just wanted to give you a notification)

      • Rolando@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Thanks! “The Slaying of the Spaniards” sounds like something out of Borat, but it shows how we take things like international rescue operations for granted these days