Basque literature

Although the first instances of coherent Basque phrases and sentences go as far back as the San Millán glosses of around 950, the large-scale damage done by periods of great instability and warfare, such as the clan wars of the Middle Ages, the Carlist Wars and the Spanish Civil War, led to the scarcity of written material predating the 16th century.

The earliest surviving traces of Basque literary activity go back to the 16th century, but significant production does not seem to have set in until the 17th century. Since the end of the Francoist period in Spain, the formation of a standard language, and the large scale introduction of Basque into the education system consequently increased literary activity. While much of the literature written in Basque remains targeted at the native audience, some works by Basque authors have been translated into other languages, such as Bernardo Atxaga, and achieved global recognition.

A few songs from the 16th century have survived, such as the Song of the Battle of Beotibar that deals with the battle fought in 1321 and a group of verses known as The Burning of Mondragón from the time of the Basque Clan Wars.

The earliest piece of prose writing in Basque is a letter written in 1537 by the Biscayan Juan de Zumárraga from Durango, the first bishop of Mexico.

Only a few years later in 1545, the first book known to have been put into print is published - a collection of poems by Bernard Etxepare, a priest from Lower Navarre in the Northern Basque Country, by the title Linguæ Vasconum Primitiæ ("Beginnings of the Basque Language"). In this book, Etxepare expresses his hopes that the first publication of a book in Basque will serve to invigorate the language and the culture. His efforts were undoubtedly influenced by wider movements in Europe at the time that encouraged literary production in vernacular languages rather than Latin.

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