Aimeric Picaud's opinion on the Basques.
These mountain paths were not created by the pilgrims, who used routes already traced, sometimes very old, those that the shepherds of protohistory had furrowed, but now they were populated with shelters, refuges, oratories, churches and hospitals. . Aimeric Picaud, author of the "Guide", was not content with just indicating the routes to follow. In chapter VII, he provides us with "the name of the regions that the Camino de Santiago crosses and the characters of its inhabitants." His portrayal of the Gascons and the Basques and Navarrese is so unflattering that he can hardly find adequate words to denounce their rapacity. He even questioned Viscount Raimundo de Zuberoa: "For this reason we strongly that these toll drivers, as well as the King of Aragón and the other rich people to whom they deliver the money from this tribute, and all those who agree with them: Raimundo de Solis (Soule= Zuberoa), Viviano de Aigremont (de Gramont)... that all these people, until they have expiated through a long public penance... be punished with a sentence of excommunication, published, not only in the episcopal see of his country, but also in the Basilica of Santiago, in the presence of the pilgrims". Picaud, in a haughty and excessive generalization, lumps together toll collectors and all the country's inhabitants.
See