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The twenty years, that had elapsed between 1640 and 1660, until the epilogue of theTreaty of the Pyrenees, were a period of capital importance in the history of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, which found its the apotheosis in the marriage of Louis XIV.
In fact, before 1640, on the one hand, the land between the Bidassoa and Fontarabia and, on the other hand, Bayonne had been a standing parade ground with skirmishes and outpost fights among the French and the Spaniards.
How many times, had Saint-Jean-de-Luz, then occupied by the King of Spain’s armies, been pillaged, burnt down and rebuilt ?
After 1640, the wind seemed to be turning: the local people were having their houses built in stones: they may have had a feeling that a new era was at hand.
They made a great show of their wealth: in 1660, Saint-Jean-de-Luz was a town of 12,000 inhabitants.
For a long time, the town had beneficed from advantages and tax exemptions, which had generously been granted by the Kings of France, in compensation for the sufferings and damages it had had to endure.
Whaling and cod-fishing were flourishing, so was trade and the « Course » was making a good start.
WHALING
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The Basques were daring sailors, used to braving the rough seas, and all its perils, both for inshore and deep-sea fishing.
As soon as the eighth and ninth centuries they had learned the art of whaling from the Vikings, even before they had become the Normans.
In those days, these cetaceans reached our shores: the watchers signaled their presence from the watchtowers built on the cliffs, then the ships attacked them.
Nevertheless, in this mid-17th century, one already needed to sail up to the Spitzberg, to Greenland or to Newfoundland.
The Lohobiagues were among the first whalers who practiced this sort of deep-sea fishing.
The course
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The « course » widely contributed to the wealth of the city, as well.
But, then, who on earth were those corsairs and how could somebody become one?
In the end, wasn’t the course nothing but a polished and regulated form of piracy?
One day perhaps, a whaler in need of supplies, water and even fish, might have had an opportunity to inspect a merchant ship that she came across, by chance.
As these practices where reaching considerable proportions, forbidding them would happen to be both impossible and fanciful : the men were turned out into corsairs: they had to tender to a contract which imposed to be subject to strict rules to the sailors who did not belong to Royal Marine.
Through this change, neither the King, nor his treasure suffered any loss, as the seizures were being shared very accurately.
The Course has brought fantastic results, as can be seen in Saint-Jean -de-Luz, as well as Dunkirk and Saint-Malo.