Cristavaren Cortesia. The Hispanic sources of a good manners manual in Basque

Abstract

At the end of the 19^th century, an extremely unusual manuscript was found in the sanctuary of Loyola, located in the inland of Guipuscoa province (Spain). It was a short manual of good manners in Basque language, thought to be written in the 18^th century. Though extraordinary, very few experts had gone into it in depth since then. In this paper, the manuscript will be contextualized within its historical and cultural milieu where it was probably written. In the same way a supposed original source will also be cleared. To conclude, some brief reflections on its diffusion will be provided, in order to understand the logic of this extraordinary text.