El euskara en la administración navarra a finales del XVIII. Tensa relación entre el hospital y el ayuntamiento de Pamplona

Abstract

This article recounts the story of the appointment on the part of the Corporation of Pamplona of a chaplain for the General Hospital of Pamplona, who could neither speak nor understand the Basque language. The situation which came about with this appointment, a new one due to his being the first to become a non-Basque speaking priest, is reflected in some letters sent between the hospital board – the administrative body of the institution – and the mayor and councillors of Pamplona, the true owners of the hospital. Throughout this article, the confrontation between two great powers may be evidenced: the civil power embodied by the Corporation of Pamplona, and the religious one, represented by senior officials from the cathedral and for the Order of St. John. The controversy focused on what the religious side called “helping to die properly.” Diverse information about other cases also appear in this article; these are always related to the General Hospital, in which emphasis is given to the importance placed on knowing Euskera at that time in order to ensure a good service to all the citizens of Navarre.