Sir Clements R. Markham

“ He had been recruiting for him in Valencia and was in Majorca, preparing to join him, when the sad news of his death arrived. The kind old grandmother, En Fernando’s mother, Esclaramunda de Foix, died in the sane year. Alas! the good Muntaner had preserved a life destined in the years to come to more than the usual share of sorrow, misfortune, and disaster. The child became the unhappy Jayme III., last reigning King of Majorca, Count of Roussillon, Cerdaña, and Conflent, and Lord of Montpellier. He was also Lord of Clarencia in the Morea and of Matagrifon. ”

“ Fernando was well prepared. His men were formed to resist attack. The Moor was one of the most famous warriors of Granada. He was well in front, scimitar in hand, shouting, ‘Ani ibn es-Sultan.’ ‘What does he say?’ asked Fernando. ‘He says that he is the King’s son,’ replied the interpreter. ‘If he is a King’s son, so am I,’ answered the Prince; and, putting spurs to his horse, he attacked the Moor. Before he could reach him he had killed six of the enemy with his own hand, breaking his lance on the sixth. He then drew his sword and closed with the Moorish King’s son. ”

“ The descendants of the second son of Jayme the Conqueror have left a goodly record. To them Majorca owed her rights and liberties, the settlement of her people, the founding of her towns, and all the beginnings of her future prosperity. Devoted to the good of their people, honourable and true to their word, wise in counsel, steadfast in adversity, they produced also knights-errant of the most chivalrous type, like En Fernando and like young Jayme IV., the last of his race. ”

“ During four days there were festivities at Zaragoza, joined in by the Queen and her children, when the two faithful companions of the King, En Bernardo and En Domingo, were fêted and richly rewarded. Then En Gilbert de Cruilles arrived from Bordeaux with the attested copy of the notary’s statement, and with the news of the 75 astonishment and departure of the French King and his uncle of Anjou: how they kept watch all night, expecting to be attacked, and how they went to look at En Pedro’s horse’s hoof-marks; which gave rise to much laughter at Zaragoza. ”

“ The best-known is Dr. Don Antonio Despuig, who was Archbishop of Valencia and of Seville and Cardinal of San Calisto, a prelate not more famed for his learning than for the love he always showed for his island home.
Cardinal Despuig has left many memorials which will ever secure for him an honourable place in the island’s history. He devoted both time, money, and a cultivated taste to enriching the country seat of his nephew, the Count of Montenegro, as well as his palace in Palma, with the most precious literary and artistic productions of Italy and Spain. ”

“ En Pedro assembled his army on the 90 hill of Panisars to intercept the retreat. The French King raised the siege of Gerona and fell back on Peralada with the remnant of his forces. Many had died of sickness, while the losses in numerous harassing encounters had been most serious. The King of France was very ill, anxiety and regret hastening his end. Feeling that he was dying, he sent for his son, and said: ‘You were wiser than I. Had I followed your advice I should not now be on my death-bed; nor would the many brave men have been lost who have died and will die in this war. ”

“ At this juncture the tyranny of the French led to the ‘Sicilian Vespers.’ The people rose throughout Sicily while Charles of Anjou prepared to wreak vengeance upon them, collecting a large army and fleet. The Sicilians turned to the King of Aragon, whose wife was the heir to their King, for help in their sore need, and their appeal was not in vain. He was engaged in some successful operations on the coast of Barbary, with a large, well-appointed fleet, when the message reached him. Pedro did not hesitate. ”

“ Minorca was the chief gainer by the Peace of Utrecht. She secured many years of good government and freedom from oppression by her connection with her English friends. But England herself derived almost equal advantage. She had become a Mediterranean Power. She had Gibraltar, but it was necessary that she should also have a base within the inland sea where her ships could refit and her sailors could be refreshed; and this need was supplied in full measure by the splendid harbour of Port Mahon. ”

“ Soon afterwards the cause of Pedro of Castille became hopeless. His illegitimate brother Henry of Trastamara, aided by the Ceremonious tyrant of Aragon, advanced into Spain with an army and besieged the castle of Burgos, which had been occupied by Jayme and his troops. The King of Majorca made a gallant defence, but at last he was obliged to surrender. His odious uncle of Aragon tried to get his unfortunate nephew into his clutches again; but love was ready to make greater sacrifices than hatred. The Queen of Naples ransomed her husband for sixty thousand doblas. ”

“ The intelligence and energy of the Catalans of Barcelona and Majorca, combined with their industry and perseverance, raised the kingdom of Aragon to a very important position as a maritime Power in the Mediterranean. Long the rivals of the Genoese, the Catalans at one time gained complete ascendency. Their fleets dominated the western half of the great inland sea, with Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Malta, and the Balearic Islands either under the sovereignty or in close alliance with the Kings of Aragon. ”

“ Never did sovereign ascend a throne under such appalling circumstances as did Jayme IV., the last King of Majorca. The young Prince was little more than fifteen years of age, yet he fought by his father’s side and was severely wounded. He was carried to Belver Castle by the side of his father’s corpse. As soon as he was well enough to be moved, he was again taken to Barcelona and thrown into prison, where his uncle, the Ceremonious one, intended him to rot and die. ”

“ The other two chiefs of the company, En Berenguer de Entenza and En Ferrar Ximenes, remained at Gallipoli; but the Prince, with Muntaner, proceeded to Nona, where he was received with great honour. Rocafort was at enmity with Entenza and Ximenes, and secretly wished to get rid of the Prince so as to have sole command of the company. He therefore intrigued with all the chiefs and officers, persuading them to accept the Prince as their lord, but not as a representative of the King of Sicily. They all agreed, and Rocafort knew what the Prince’s answer, as a man of honour, must necessarily be. ”

“ Fernando, the third son of King Jayme II. of Majorca, was a splendid type of a chivalrous knight, trained to arms from early youth, eager to win renown, but placing honour and his word before all earthly considerations. He was very young when he left his home in Majorca to fight for his gallant cousin, Federigo of Sicily. After the peace with Naples, Fernando still remained with his cousin. Then news came of the murder of Friar Roger de Flor, and of the critical position of the Catalan company at Gallipoli, which place they had held for several years, making occasional raids into Roumania. ”

“ At the same time that the corrupt government of Godoy sent the Marquis of Romana and fourteen thousand patriotic soldiers to Denmark, an equally illustrious man was sent a prisoner to Majorca. Jovellanos is connected with the island, not as a native, but as one whose iniquitous imprisonment won for him the warm sympathy of the islanders. ”

“ At the peace in 1763 Minorca was restored to England, and enjoyed another nineteen years of good government and prosperity, making altogether sixty-seven years.
But when the American colonies broke out in rebellion and the chief Powers of Europe seized the opportunity to attack our country in its great difficulty—first France, then Spain, then Holland, England’s enemies, thought their opportunity had come. They were mistaken, for England is never greater than when surrounded by enemies. ”

“ The allies made their first attack on Syracuse, where they suffered disastrous defeats both by sea and land. Charles of Naples then sent a force of 1,200 men, in fifty galleys, under the command of his son, the Prince of Tarentum, to effect a landing at Trapani. En Federigo, with some of his Catalan 100 supporters, Moncadas and Entenzas, was ready to defend the coast. The gallant young King of Sicily led on the almogavares, who shouted ‘Dispierto hierro!’ and fell with such fury on the invaders that they broke and fled. ”

“ The Prince of Majorca went with his cousin of Aragon to the siege of Almeria. This seaport town, very beautifully situated at the entrance of a fertile valley backed by mountains, was a place of great commercial importance in the days of the Beni Omeyya Khâlifas, and here they had their naval dockyard. Almeria continued to flourish under the Kings of Granada, and at one time it had kings of its own. The siege lasted for nine months, and 125 the Aragonese brought with them all the artillery of the day to batter the walls. Prince Fernando was well fitted out by his father. ”

“ The French Prince was acknowledged as King of Spain, being Philip V. of that country, but resigning any right of succession to the French crown. The Duke of Savoy was to have Sicily; Gibraltar and Minorca were ceded to England; the Netherlands, Naples, Milan, and Sardinia to the Emperor. Lord Stanhope, the descendant of the conqueror of Minorca, has pleaded with some truth that, whilst the glories of the war belong to the whole British people, the disgrace of the peace, the unworthy result of such great achievements, rests on a small knot of factious politicians. ”

“ The Minorcan builders of stone temples, tombs, and dwellings, and pilers up of stones were prehistoric beyond any doubt, and may have worked and worshipped them four thousand years ago. The Phœnicians probably found their descendants on the island, and they became subject to the Semitic traders and their Carthaginian offshoots, who held the Balearic Islands while they were dominant in Spain. Minorca was best known as possessing the most capacious and safest harbour in the Mediterranean, and its name of Port Mahon makes the giver of that name an important factor in the story of the island. ”

“ The dead could be counted by thousands. The King placed himself at the head of his troops and led them through the town until he reached the ‘Almudaina’ palace on the sea-face. Those within it surrendered on condition that their lives were spared.
The house in which his brave antagonist the Amír Abu Yahye had taken refuge was pointed out to King Jayme. He went there, accompanied by his cousin En Nuño. When he entered the room, the Amír, who was in a white burnous and quilted coat, stood up and tendered his submission. ”

“ This merchant, named Domingo de la Figuera, was a man of considerable influence, carrying on an extensive trade in horses between Bordeaux and Navarre, Castille, and Aragon. He knew intimately every road and path in the Pyrenees, every man who frequented them, and every post and tavern. The King explained his wild scheme to En Domingo. The horse-dealer was to provide twenty-seven horses, nine to be stationed along the road from Jaca to Bordeaux, nine on the route from Bordeaux to Navarre, and nine for a return journey in Castille. ”

“ But in the risings of so-called Comuneros in Valencia and in Majorca there is no such noble story to tell. These were mere insurrections of artisans and peasantry, goaded on by the violent harangues of leaders as ignorant as themselves, 181 without fixed aims or objects, and influenced only by envy and jealousy of those who were placed above them. From Valencia the contagion spread to Majorca in 1521. The people, called pageses, and inhabitants of the country towns, complained that the nobles, living in their palaces at Palma, oppressed them with taxes and misgoverned the country. ”

“ Captains-general were substituted for the Viceroys, and the present fortifications of Palma were constructed in the reign of Philip V. Majorca suffered from the misgovernment of Bourbon rule with the rest of Spain. From that time the people have had to rely upon their own virility, energy, and skill for any advance in civilisation and well-being, and not in vain. The Majorcans steadily progressed, while their old families, claiming descent from the soldiers of King Jayme, became distinguished in arms and letters and were ennobled, several as early as the times of the Austrian kings. ”

“ The country seat of Raxa is a place of enchantment at the foot of the mountains, approached from Palma through miles of almond-groves in full blossom during February. In Moorish times it was called Araxa, and was granted by King Jayme I. to the Count of Ampurias, becoming the 196 property of the family of Despuig in 1620. Raxa is a large house of three storeys, built round a courtyard, with an ancient elm-tree in the centre. The rooms are exceedingly numerous, and all the furniture is of a date at least 150 years ago. ”

“ The north coast is deeply indented, and Port Fornelle is a large harbour.
Ciudadela, at the head of an inlet on the western coast, was the capital in the time of the Moors, and continued to be so during the Aragonese and Austrian rule. It was then the place of residence of the Governor, and was a flourishing and well-built town. Vessels of small draft, trading with Majorca and Barcelona, came up the inlet and supplied the island with foreign goods. The wall which encircled Ciudadela dates from the time of the Moors, to which more modern fortifications had been added. ”