La razón de la sinrazón. Actitudes hacia las ideas ilustradas en las provincias vascas (1748-1839)

Abstract

This article seeks to discuss some entrenched ideas about Basque Enlightened movement. More concretely, we will revise a common approach in different historiographical tendencies according to which Basque Enlighteners constituted a minority, influenced by foreign currents but placed inside a traditional society reluctant to accept any novelty. As a result, it could be possible to confirm a social cleavage that would set the stage for the later confrontation between Liberals and Absolutists as late as in 1833. Accounts from the period (depiction of the Real Sociedad de los Amigos del País members both from inside as well as from outside the institution) suggest the presence of two ideologically opposed groups. However, the case of Julián de Churruca y Elorza, part of an Enlightened and Liberal milieu and, in spite of that supporter of messianic opinions concerning the superiority of Basque language, seems to put into question the very existence of two ideologically neatly defined sides. That will encourage us to put forward a proposal for a reinterpretation of the period´s intellectual reality.