Elizate

An elizate (Basque pronunciation: [elis̻ate]), (Spanish: anteiglesia) is an early form of local government in the Basque Country which was particularly common in Biscay but also existed in the other provinces. The terms elizate (in Standard Basque) and elexate (in Biscayan) literally translate as "church door" (eliza "church" + ate "door"). The Spanish term anteiglesia translates as "before [the] church".

The peculiar name derives from the Basque custom where the family heads of a settlement connected to a particular parish would gather after mass at the entrance or portico of the church to make decisions regarding issues affecting their community. Their medieval history is closely linked to the emergence of the Batzar Nagusiak or "Grand Meetings", especially those of Biscay and Gipuzkoa (Juntas Generales de Vizcaya/Guipúzcoa in Spanish) and the establishment of parochial churches. Each elizate would elect a representative who would represent the elizate at a Batzar Nagusia, so the elizate represents an early form of local democracy. These enjoyed considerable autonomy in decision-making from the higher administrative authorities.

An elizate was steered by a fiel sindiko (fiel síndico in Spanish), who would organise meetings and bear a makila as a sign of authority. A fiel was normally chosen for one year through a number of methods. Some were nominated by the outgoing fiel, in some places the position of fiel would rotate through all farmholders of the elizate and in others the most recently married farmholder would be named fiel. Each elizate was subdivided into smaller units called kofradiak (cofradías in Spanish, "brotherhoods") which corresponded to the individual boroughs of an elizate.

A group of elizates was a merindad.

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