Based on an historiographic approach of previous studies, the paper proposes a new analysis of the first Basque printed book (Linguae Vascomum Primitiae, LVP) published in 1545 by a priest called Bernat Echepare. The starting point is a review of the way the generally admitted claim that Echepare should be considered as a medieval poet. Michelena (1960) was the first author to defend this analysis, which has been accepted by most specialists since then. The argument given by Michelena lied on the fact that Echepare's poems had both religious and erotic themes, in a way rather similar to what is found in the Spanish verses of El libro de buen amor written two centuries before LPV by another priest, Juan Ruiz, in Spain. In fact this comparison has been already proposed by Etxaide (1958), but for a different reason, which had no relation with literature history. The paper shows that the arguments which have been offered since then in order to establish the medieval flavour of Echepare's poems cannot be maintained, especially if Echepare's production is situated, as it has to be, in the cultural context found in the territories placed under the political, religious and cultural influence of the kingdom of France. The paper also gives a critical account of Altuna's view analyzing Echepare as a popular poet, who should be compared with traditional versifiers of modern periods.