''Gero'' (, in contemporary spelling) is a 17th-century
ascetic book in
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
written by
Pedro Agerre, better known as Axular. It is considered one of the masterpieces of classic Basque prose and literature altogether.
Its accomplished, elaborate language in classic
Lapurdian
Navarro-Labourdin or Navarro-Lapurdian ( eu, nafar-lapurtera) is a Basque dialect spoken in the Lower Navarre and Labourd (Lapurdi) former provinces of the French Basque Country (in the Pyrénées Atlantiques ''département''). It consists of ...
dialect turned it into a writing model for later writers from
Labourd.
It was published in
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...
in 1643 under the patronage of
Bertrand D'Etchauz, the
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
archbishop of
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...
(1617-1641). The book was written after the period of the harrowing "
witch
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
" persecution (
Pierre de Lancre
Pierre de Rosteguy de Lancre or Pierre de l'Ancre, Lord of De Lancre (1553–1631), was the French judge of Bordeaux who conducted the massive Labourd witch-hunt of 1609. In 1582 he was named judge in Bordeaux, and in 1608 King Henry IV commande ...
's intervention in Labourd). While the title's tagline reads "divided into two parts", only the existence of one book has been attested. Basque scholar Pierre Lafitte claimed that both parts had been merged into one. By contrast, former president of the
Basque Language Academy Luis Villasante held that the second part had been actually lost.
[{{cite web , last1=Aierbe , first1=Axun , title=Gero (1643) , url=https://aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/es/gero-1643-pedro-agerre/ar-154234/ , website=]Auñamendi Encyclopedia
The Auñamendi Encyclopedia is the largest encyclopedia of Basque culture and society, with 120,000 articles and more than 67,000 images.
History
Founded in 1958 by the Estornés Lasa brothers, Bernardo and Mariano. He began publishing in 196 ...
, publisher=Eusko Ikaskuntza , language=eu , access-date=28 April 2022
The book, written in an instructive tone, dwells on the idea of the harm and misfortunes issued from putting off one's religious duties, on the grounds that men need to turn to Christ with no delay. ''Gero'' shows no mysticism, but the book intends to explain and prove an ascetic idea, arranged as if it was to be addressed from the pulpit to the parishioners.
See also
*
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 ...
References
External links
Full text with modernized spelling at ''Klasikoen Gordailua''
Basque-language books
1643 in Christianity
1643 books
Christian asceticism
Lost books