Matalas uprising

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The Matalas uprising was a popular uprising against the central power of the king or the state in the French provinces of the Basque Country (especially in the former province of Soule ) in 1661.

background

The French tax system became more and more centralized in the 15th and 16th centuries, which can also be seen from the fact that the tax collectors were usually not local or regional officials, but were always posted from other provinces of the empire. Regional peculiarities (customary rights, traditions, bad harvests, etc.) were not sufficiently taken into account. In addition, there was an almost indissoluble intermingling of state and royal private spending. Under Louis XIV , whose campaigns and building projects cost enormous sums of money, and his finance minister Colbert , the situation worsened.

The Basque provinces ( Labourd , Basse-Navarre and Soule ) were (as well as the result of reaching far back customary rights from most taxes waist ) excluded.

Already Louis XIII. had declared all free or public lands (pastures etc.) to be state property in 1639. The Silviet , the regional parliament of the province of Soule , then felt compelled to buy back these lands from the state, for which the necessary funds were lacking, so that the buyback was financed by taking out loans. The interest and repayment burdens were, however - with royal approval - passed on to the population of the Basque Country in 1661. This broke the barrel.

revolt

Bernard Goyheneche ( Basque : Beñat Goihenetxe ), called 'Matalas', a priest from Moncayolle took the lead in the popular uprising. First (whether with the consent of the Silviet is unclear) a counter-government was set up, which claimed the sole right to raise taxes and to decide on legal and economic issues. This was of course unacceptable to the French central state and - despite negotiations with a royal plenipotentiary - a military solution to the problem was inevitable. This began with a victory of the - depending on the source - about 3,000 to 7,000 strong army of the Souletins under the battle cry Herria! Herria! (“The people! The people!”) In Undurein , but already at the next meeting on October 12, 1661 at Chéraute, the royal troops brought in from Bordeaux were victorious. They were much better armed and also supported by local nobles.

The end

Mauléon - Vieux Château

Matalas escaped from the battlefield, but was caught a day later and taken to the fortress of Mauléon. He and eight of his colleagues were sentenced to death by beheading by the parliament in Bordeaux. Some escaped, but Matalas's death sentence was carried out on November 8, 1661 in the central square in Licharre. Matalas' head was tied to a cannon in the Vieux Château of Mauléon and presented there to the Basques for over a year as a reminder and deterrent - until it decayed and buried secretly.

The (alleged) mortal remains of Matalas are buried today in the Chapelle St-Jean-de-Barraute in Mauléon-Licharre .

meaning

The power of the king and the regional nobility loyal to the king emerged stronger from the dispute. In return, the customary rights of the Basques and the parliament of the Soule , the Silviet , lost their importance. At the end of 1661, for example, the Basques were banned from carrying firearms. In 1730, Silviet , which had already become largely powerless, was completely banned and all assembly rights were restricted. The formerly free, proud and largely independent Basques felt more and more oppressed. To this day, Matalas is viewed by many Basques as a freedom fighter and martyr.

literature