CHAPTER IV

King Jayme’s last visits--Settlement of the island--Acts and death of Jayme I., first King of Majorca

The settlement of the country was continued under Bernardo de Torrella, though there were still about two thousand Moors holding out in the mountains under a chief called by the Spaniards Xoarp. Soon alarming news arrived that the King of Tunis was preparing to reconquer Mallorca with a large army, and that he had collected a great number of ships to transport it. The tidings were sent to the King, and were confirmed by Plegamans, who was a newsagent as well as a contractor. En Jayme resolved to go in person to defend his island, in spite of the remonstrances of many of his councillors, who deprecated his exposure to so many dangers. The old Archbishop of Tarragona went so far as to try and hold him round the waist when he was getting into the boat at Salou.

This time the King brought with him a cousin to be Viceroy of Mallorca, in the person of the Infante Pedro of Portugal. This prince’s mother was Aldonza, sister of Alonso II. of Aragon and wife of Sancho, King of Portugal; so that Pedro was a first cousin of King Jayme’s father--the same relation as En Nuño. He married the Countess of Urgel, the greatest heiress in Aragon, and acquired a position of importance in the country. The Countess had died without children, and Pedro received Mallorca on condition that he surrendered all his rights in the county of Urgel. He seems to have been a weak man, fond of his ease, and all real power remained with Torrella and others trusted by the King.

En Jayme, accompanied by En Nuño and the Portuguese prince, sailed from Salou, and in two days his little fleet was anchored in the port of Soller, where the joyful news was received that the King of Tunis had abandoned his intended invasion, at all events for that year. The port of Soller is on the north side of the island, about two miles from the town, which is in the midst of a lovely valley surrounded by magnificent mountain peaks. Rich in the products of its harvests, Soller was even then a place of trade, and En Jayme found a Genoese vessel loading in its port. The King must have been struck by the wonderful beauty of this side of his island, which he had not seen before. Suliar (Soller) in Arabic means a shell, like the golden shell at Palermo. It is now, and probably was then, golden with orange and lemon gardens; the higher slopes of the mountains covered with pine and carob trees, and the grand peaks raising their heads into the sky. The loftiest peak in the island, ‘Puig Mayor d’en Torrello’ (4,700 feet) is not in sight, being concealed by the second highest, the ‘Puig de Massonella’ (4,400 feet), on which the King probably saw patches of snow. To the north-east is a striking peak, called ‘Puig de L’Ofre’ (3,500 feet), and to the south the ‘Teix’ of Valdemosa (3,400 feet). In the division the King gave two-thirds of the Soller valley to the Count of Ampudia, and one-third to Gaston de Moncada, whose father was slain in the battle of Santa Ponza. In riding from Soller to Palma King Jayme had to cross a mountain saddle 2,000 feet high, whence he had glorious views of the Soller valley on one side, and of the fertile ‘garden’ of Palma on the other. At the end of the descent is the estate of Alfavia, the enchanting country seat of Jayme’s Moorish ally, Benahabet. The estate had been granted to En Nuño, but the Moorish owners were allowed to retain it on paying a quit-rent. Here the King probably rested before riding across the ‘_huerta_,’ or garden, to Palma, where he was received with transports of joy by the people.

The King was unable to remain long away from his Continental dominions. He left the Infante Pedro of Portugal as Viceroy, Bernardo de Torrella and a knight named Pedro Maza being the real governors.

There were still over two thousand insurgent Moors in the recesses of the mountains, and their leader refused to surrender to anyone but the King himself. On this being represented to En Jayme, he resolved to pay a third visit to his island kingdom, and sailed from Salou with three galleys in May 1232. He landed at Porto Pi, and was joyfully received by his loyal subjects, who were able to show him great progress in the public works at Palma. The cathedral had been traced out on a site facing the sea, close to the east wall of the Almudaina, and the royal chapel, which was to be the apse containing the high altar, was actually finished. Between the long lancet windows there are marble statues of saints and angels on corbels and under richly carved canopies, placed there at the cost of the Oleza family. This chapel and one on either side were to form the eastern ends of the nave and two aisles, not yet commenced. The King was much pleased at the progress that had been made.

The time had now come for the submission of the other Balearic islands; but first the King received the surrender of the Moorish mountain chief, he and his followers being allowed to retain their homes, paying rent to their overlords. A few obstinate fanatics refused the terms, and had to be starved out.

The Master of the Templars in Majorca, Friar Ramon Serra, was the first to suggest to the King that his galleys should be sent to Minorca, demanding immediate submission and threatening that the King would himself come with a large army to punish any disobedience. The three knights, Torrella, Maza, and Serra himself, were accordingly ordered to proceed to Minorca with an interpreter, and the King’s demand written in Arabic. The Moorish Alcaide and headmen of the town received the knights with much respect. The letter was read to them, and they asked for time to deliberate. This was granted. On that very evening the King, with only six knights, was stationed on Cape Pera, the eastern extreme of the island of Majorca, near Arta, with Minorca clearly in sight. As soon as the sun set they fired some immense piles of _lentisco_ bushes, to make the Minorcans believe that a great army was encamped there. When the chief men of Minorca saw the fires, they hurried to the Catalan knights to inquire what they were. ‘It is the great army,’ they were told, ‘that will come directly the King hears of a refusal of his demands.’ Next day they submitted, surrendered all their strong places, and declared that they trusted in the clemency of the King. Meanwhile En Jayme remained on the Cape of Pera, continuing the stratagem of the bonfires for four days, when the news of the submission of Minorca without bloodshed was brought and gave him great satisfaction. Iviza and Formentera submitted in the following year.

The King was in Majorca during July and August 1232. He granted very liberal _Fueros_ to the people and completed the settlement of the island. The final document in which the distribution of lands among the conquerors is recorded was signed on July 1, 1232. The lands were divided into _jovadas_, and these were subdivided into _cuarteradas_, a _cuarterada_ being a certain portion of squared land, with each side forty _brazas_ in length. A _braza_ was the length of King Jayme’s arms from finger-tips to finger-tips, and, as he was over six feet, this was a good fathom. The length of each side of a _cuarterada_ was therefore eighty English yards. A _jovada_ was originally the portion of land that a yoke of bullocks could plough in one day; but in the Majorca division it was counted at sixteen _cuarteradas_. The Arabic names were used, _rahal_ being a house or property near a town; _alqueria_ a farm, a word still in use; _beni_ preceding a place-name meaning ‘the house of.’ As many as 573 _rahales_ and _alquerias_ were thus granted by the King, the grantees paying certain dues to the four great feudatories, En Nuño, Count of Roussillon, the Count of Ampurias, Gaston de Moncada, and the Bishop of Barcelona. But this only includes half the grants, the rest having been made by the great feudatories themselves to their own followers. Altogether upwards of fifteen hundred farms must have been distributed. There was also a division of the mills, and of the rights to running water. The number of farms gives an idea of the flourishing condition of the island in the time of the Moors. They were succeeded by an equally energetic and intelligent race of farmers and artisans.

The Knights Templars received the strong castle near the south-eastern angle of the city walls, afterwards called the Temple, and a great number of farms. The Knights Hospitallers also acquired very considerable landed property.

On a small island the population, under circumstances like the conquest of Mallorca, is soon changed. A great number of the Moors perished, many escaped to Muhammadan Spain or Africa, many were taken away by their new masters. There is certainly no trace of Moorish blood among the present inhabitants.

The government of Majorca, according to the _Fueros_ of King Jayme I., granted in 1240, consisted of six persons, elected annually, called _Jurados_, who formed the municipal authority. The president, called _Jurado en cap_, belonged to the class of nobles; two were citizens liable for military service, two were of the merchant class, and one of the labouring class. Until 1447 the _Jurados_ were co-opted, but afterwards a sort of ballot was adopted. There was a General Council of 143 deputies, the _Jurado en cap_ presiding. The deputies consisted of a fixed number of representatives of the capital and other towns, and of knights, merchants, and artisans. There was one judge, called the _Bayle General_, until the institution of the Audiencia in 1576.

This was a remarkably liberal constitution for the thirteenth century, and indicates the trust and reliance felt by King Jayme in the loyalty and good sense of his people. In this, as in other respects, we are reminded of our own Edward I., his parliaments and legislation.

The conquest of Majorca was a matter of the greatest importance to the island, but it was only a brief episode in the long reign of more than sixty years. En Jayme showed ceaseless activity in the work of government, consulting assemblies of his people, framing laws and granting privileges, and settling complicated disputes. Popular representation was strengthened under Jayme I. He sometimes met the Cortes of Aragon in the capital or one of the towns, and the Council of Catalonia separately; at other times the representatives, for special reasons, met in one assembly, usually at Monzon. In one case the meeting was called a parliament, in the other ‘Cortes Generales.’ Mr. Hallam, in his ‘Middle Ages,’ has given a good general account of the Aragonese Constitution. En Jayme frequently visited the whole of his dominions, and thus became intimately acquainted with his people and their needs. In 1238, nine years after the conquest of Majorca, King Jayme found it necessary, owing to the frequent and audacious inroads of the Moors, to undertake the conquest of the rich and important kingdom of Valencia. The capital city was taken at Michaelmas, and a Christian population substituted; but it was a much longer military operation to reduce the numerous strongholds up to the frontier of Murcia. The work was finally completed, and King Jayme, well named ‘El Conquistador,’ granted _Fueros_ to his new kingdom of Valencia, and a representative assembly, or Cortes.

It now becomes necessary to allude to the King’s children and family relations. By his wife Violante of Hungary Jayme I. had eight children. Pedro, his successor in Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia, was born in 1243. In July 1262, at the age of nineteen, he was married to Constance, daughter of Manfred, King of Sicily, son of the Emperor Frederick II., by Beatrice, daughter of Amadeo, Count of Savoy. The marriage took place at Montpellier. The second son was Jayme, who was to succeed his father as King of Majorca, as well as to the possessions in the south of France. King Jayme married his second son to Esclaramunda, sister of the Count of Foix, the most powerful nobleman in Gascony. The third son, Fernando, did not turn out well. Of the daughters, Violante married Alonso X., King of Castille, in 1248; Isabel became the wife of King Philip III. (_le Hardi_) of France; and Constance of the Infante Don Manuel of Castille. Maria was a nun, and Leonor, the youngest, died in childhood.

The Infante Pedro of Portugal died childless in 1244, and was buried in the cathedral at Palma. En Nuño, the King’s cousin and most able general, also dying childless, left all his vast possessions to the master he had served so long and so well. He was Count of Roussillon, Cerdaña, and Conflent.

After the marriages of his children, the last great enterprise of En Jayme was undertaken at the earnest request of his son-in-law, Alonso X. of Castille. This was the conquest of the Muhammadan kingdom of Murcia, in which his son Pedro took a prominent part. The campaign was a complete success, and King Jayme honourably handed over to Alonso X. the prize he had won at great cost and no little trouble. He also made some liberal grants in the south of Valencia to his other son-in-law, the Infante Manuel.

Jayme was happy in his two sons Pedro and Jayme, both brave, accomplished, and dutiful. He determined to provide for both. Pedro was to succeed his father as King of Aragon, King of Valencia, and Count of Barcelona. He thus, by the addition of Valencia, gave to his heir far more extensive dominions than he had himself inherited. To his second son, Jayme, he gave the kingdom of Majorca, the counties of Roussillon, Cerdaña, and Conflent in the Pyrenees, inherited from En Nuño, and the barony of Montpellier, the inheritance of his mother. He declared his resolution to make this division on January 19, 1248, and his act was recognised and confirmed by the Cortes in 1251, and again in 1262. Pedro could have no cause for complaint, because he succeeded to all that his father had inherited and a great deal more. The division was confirmed many years before the death of King Jayme, so that both his sons had ample time to become reconciled to an arrangement which was perfectly fair and just in itself. Young Jayme, indeed, assumed his position in Majorca as heir-apparent, and ruled there under his father for several years.

One of the last acts of En Jayme was to attend a Papal Council at Lyons, where he was magnificently fêted. This led to his contemplating the command of a crusade, and his fourth and last visit to Majorca was undertaken to raise recruits; but it came to nothing. The great King died at Valencia on July 27, 1276, in his seventieth year, after a reign of sixty-four years. He was buried with great pomp, but amidst the heartfelt sorrow of his people, in the monastery of Poblet, near Tarragona. Here his body rested in peace for 560 years. But in 1835 a vile mob sacked and destroyed the monastery. The King’s coffin was eventually taken to the cathedral of Tarragona. It has found a final resting-place at Valencia, where his sword is also preserved.

King Jayme I. of Aragon, ‘El Conquistador,’ was a remarkable man--one of the greatest men of the thirteenth century. In his long reign he consolidated his dominions, while preserving the autonomy of each part which possessed a separate history and separate interests. He rendered the national assemblies more popular. He granted privileges most liberally to his subjects, encouraging agriculture and commerce. He gave an impulse to municipal government by the appointment of _jurados_ and by instituting the ‘Council of One Hundred’ at Barcelona, a model for a popular magistracy. By the publication of his ‘Libro del Consulado de Mar,’ the first code of maritime law of its kind, he formed a pattern which was adopted by all other naval Powers. He compiled the _Fueros_ of Aragon and Valencia, and granted those of Huesca on the model of the famous _Fueros_ of Sobrarbe. He was a patron of learning; and the arts, especially architecture, flourished under his fostering care. He founded the university of Lerida. In his warlike undertakings he planned all his operations with such care and forethought that he was always successful. The institutions perfected by King Jayme were so thoroughly based on the interests and genius of the people, that they lasted, with modifications, for more than four centuries. Just, affable, and sympathetic, the memory of Jayme the Conqueror is enshrined in the hearts of the descendants of his people, and when the seventh centenary of his birth came round, on February 8, 1908, it was seen that the great King is not forgotten. In Majorca, on the day of St. Silvester, the day on which Palma was taken, there was an annual procession in which the bishop and the authorities joined, with En Jayme’s banner borne before them; followed by a high Mass in the cathedral, when all the people prayed for the soul of their beloved King. Relics of King Jayme, consisting of his saddle, a stirrup, and a helmet, were long preserved at Palma. They are now in the royal armoury at Madrid; and the procession which revived old memories and aroused patriotic feelings has itself become a thing of the past.