View source for Elizate

[[File:Zamudio - Iglesia de San Martín de Arteaga 11.jpg|thumb|Porch of Saint Martin's church in Zamudio.]]
An '''{{lang|eu|elizate}}''' ({{IPA-eu|elis̻ate}}), ({{langx|es|anteiglesia}}) is an early form of local government in the [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque Country]] which was particularly common in [[Biscay]] but also existed in the other provinces. The terms '''{{lang|eu|elizate}}''' (in [[Standard Basque]]) and '''{{lang|eu-biscayan|italic=no|elexate}}''' (in [[Biscayan dialect|Biscayan]]) literally translate as "church door" ({{lang|eu|eliza}} "church" + {{lang|eu|ate}} "door"). The [[Spanish language|Spanish]] term {{lang|es|anteiglesia}} translates as "before [the] church" or "[[parvise]]".

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.
[[Image:BedonaArrasate.JPG|thumb|right|The ''elizate'' of Bedoña near [[Arrasate]] which was only incorporated into a municipality in the 1960s]]

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]]''.

Through time ''elizates'' often became municipalities. In Biscay, during the time of the [[Basque señoríos|Lordship of Biscay]] (''Bizkaiko Jaurerria'' in Basque, ''Señorío de Vizcaya'' in Spanish), the territory of all ''anteiglesias'' were referred to as Flat Land (''[[Lur Laua]]'' in Basque, ''Tierra Llana'' in Spanish), as opposed to the more stratified cities. It was further incorporated into the administration. They became subject to the [[fuero]]s which at the same time re-affirmed the status of nobility to all farmholders. This meant that unlike in most of [[feudal]] Europe, the farmers legally owned their land.

After centuries of political change, very few ''elizate'' remain today, two of the most notable in [[Iurreta]] and [[Derio]]. In 1962, in [[Francoist Spain]], the name of the ''elizates'' was changed to ''auzo''{{Citation needed|date=July 2021|reason=Francoism would not change the term to a Basque word. Do you mean "barrio"?}} (neighbourhood, district) and they were merged into municipalities. The current term, ''auzo'', is undistinguishable from the subdivisions of a city, which are called by the same term.

==See also==
*The [[Water Tribunal]] of [[Valencia, Spain]] is unrelated to elizates, but also holds sessions at the church door.

==References==
{{reflist}}
*Kasper, M. ''Baskische Geschichte'' Primus: 1997
*[[Larry Trask|Trask, L.]] ''The History of Basque'' Routledge: 1997

==External links==
*[http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/1312 Anteiglesia] in the Spanish-language [[Auñamendi Encyclopedia]].

[[Category:Culture of the Basque Country]]
[[Category:Political terminology]]
[[Category:Basque history]]
[[Category:Politics of Spain]]