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Well, Spain went on to conquer a sizable portion of the American continent but left Iceland totally alone. It seems to have been a stunning success!
More seriously, I will also point out that Basques aren’t Spaniards. But I guess Sheriff Magnússon didn’t really give a turkey about the finer points of Iberic peninsula ethnicities.
For matters of law in other countries, I think it’s fair to say that people who are subjects of the Spanish king are “Spaniards”.
What if they were french basques ?
Then they’d be snooty enough that they’d say they’re French before they say a word about being Basque.
Same reasoning, but you can call them “Frenchmen”. Also, don’t murder them, it’s considered a diplomatic faux pas and really quite uncouth.
Explanation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaying_of_the_Spaniards
Some Basque whalers went on a whaling expedition to Iceland and were killed after a conflict in 1615 with local people in the region of the Westfjords.
…
On the 13th of October, Martín and the other 17 of his group were killed at Æðey and Sandeyri in Ísafjarðardjúp while they were fishing, by troops commanded by Ari Magnússon. According to Jón Guðmundsson, the bodies were stabbed in the eyes, ears and noses and had their genitals mutilated. The captain, Martín de Villafranca, was injured in the shoulder and chest with an axe but managed to escape into the sea. However, he was stoned in the water and dragged to the shore where he was tortured to death.
Two verdicts were instigated by Sheriff Ari Magnússon of Ögur, Ísafjarðardjúp, in October 1615 and January 1616. The Spaniards were considered criminals after their ships were wrecked and in accordance with the Icelandic law book of 1281, it was decided that the only right thing to do was to kill as many of them as possible. An estimated 32 Spaniards were killed.[2][3]
“Oh your ship crashed? Guess I have to kill ya. 🤷♂️”
😳
“… quickly, right, since this was all a big mistake?”
“…”
“… q-quickly… right…?”
sharpens eyeball knife thoughtfully
I wonder how they treat that at immigration at an airport for tourists …
Oh, you’re from Spain? … please go through that door please … door shuts … gun shots go off
[sweating] “I-I’m from Catalonia, d-definitely not Spain”
Catalonia eh? … you have to go through that door then … door shuts … sounds of whip cracking and screaming
The first conflict began when one group entered the empty house of a merchant of Þingeyri and stole some dried fish. As retaliation, on the night of October 5th, a group of Icelanders entered the hut where the Spaniards were sleeping and killed 14 of them.
Memo to myself: Never steal a fish in Iceland!
I thought it was because the basques were hunting in iceland, but there actually seems to have been a mutually beneficial agreement for that. Apparently the basques were declared outlaws and hunted down because one of them stole some dried fish? Psychos.
People, of all regions and cultures, can be utterly bizarre.
This just seems like xenophobia to me, which is too common to call it “bizarre” …
Xenophobic sentiment is common, but I feel like “We found people shipwrecked on our shore, the only moral thing left to do is torture them to death” is maybe a bit abnormal in intensity.
I can’t imagine modern day Icelandic people being like this 🤣
Some of the friendliest and most generous people; love sharing their country and culture with others.
Very different story if it were an invading force, though.
Some of the friendliest and most generous people; love sharing their country and culture with others.
unless your basque
According to the wikipedia article they made up and repealed the law, though.
Sentinel Iceland
Bad news for the Basque-Icelandic pidgin speaking community
It’s literally in the comments.
