The Oak of Gernika

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The Oak of Gernika

The meetings to discuss the problems of the Basque territory were held under the shade of the emblematic Oak of Gernika in the ancient times. These gatherings lasted until 1876, when the old laws which governed life in the province Biscay, the Fueros, were abolished.

The tree that provided shelter or shade for the early Assemblies of the Seigniory of Biscay has become, in time, the symbol of the permanence of a nation and its institutions against the historical ups and downs that the Basques have experienced in their existence as a community.

The Tree of Gernika has spread beyond the geographical limits of Biscay to become a reference point for the whole of the Basque Country. The fame of its symbolism has spread beyond Basque frontiers. The English poet William Wordsworth wrote a sonnet taking this emblematic tree as its inspirational source in 1810 that reads as follows.

The Oak of Gernika by William Wordsworth, 1810

Oak of Guernica! Tree of holier power Than that which in Dodona did enshrine
(So faith too fondly deemed) a voice divine
Heard from the depths of its aerial bower-
How canst thou flourish at this blighting hour?
What hope, what joy can sunshine bring to thee,
Or the soft breezes from the Atlantic sea,
The dews of morn, or April's tender shower?
Stroke merciful and welcome would that be
Which should extend thy branches on the ground,
If never more within their shady round
Those lofty-minded Lawgivers shall meet,
Peasant and lord, in their appointed seat,
Guardians of Biscay's ancient liberty.