The Story of Majorca and MinorcaMarkham, Clements R. (Clements Robert), Sir
History
The Story of Majorca and Minorca
Markham, Clements R. (Clements Robert), Sir
Balearic Islands (Spain) -- History
The extinction of their reigning dynasty was a great calamity to
the people of Majorca, especially during the prolonged life of the
Ceremonious one. At last he died in 1387. His sons were very different
in all respects. Juan I., surnamed the Huntsman, succeeded as King of
Aragon, and he was also the legitimate heir to the Balearic Islands.
A pestilence in Catalonia led him to visit Majorca. He and his Queen
were in different galleys, and were separated during bad weather.
Juan landed at Soller on July 16, 1394, and proceeded to the castle
of Valdemosa. The Queen, reached Palma safely. They were united at
the castle of Belver, where they spent six pleasant months. Devoted
to the chase, Juan went about over the island hawking the partridges
introduced by King Sancho. He also imported deer. Returning to Aragon,
he was unfortunately killed in the forest of Foxà, near his castle
of Uriols, when hunting a she-wolf. He only had a daughter named
Violante, who became Queen of Naples, mother of Louis, Duke of Calabria.
Juan I. was succeeded by his brother King Martin, an excellent prince,
surnamed ‘the Humane.’ At this time San Vicente Ferrer of Valencia
was flourishing and striving to create a religious revival, and his
zeal made an impression on the minds of King Martin and many of his
subjects. In 1413 San Vicente went to Majorca, where his preaching
aroused the people to make great demonstrations of their religious
fervour. It is even said that the saint wrought a miracle by bringing
down abundant rain during a season of drought. The Catholic zeal of
King Martin led him to grant Sancho’s castle of Valdemosa to the
Carthusians for a monastery on June 15, 1399. Large donations for
the building of the church were received from Majorcan nobles, and
the courtly apartments of King Sancho were converted into cells, a
refectory, and a cloister. The Cartuja of Valdemosa continued to
flourish on this beautiful site for more than four centuries. The
church is a fine edifice, containing the richly carved stalls of the
Carthusians, a profile in relief of King Martin, and a remarkably good
statue, carved in wood, of St. Bruno. After the suppression and the
expulsion of the Carthusians in 1834 their cells were let to families
from Palma and others for the summer. A large portion forms the summer
residence of Don Juan Sureda, who has converted the refectory into a
charming ballroom, with a stage and proscenium at one end for private
theatricals. Georges Sand, with the composer Chopin, occupied two of
the cells. Georges Sand afterwards wrote a book on her winter residence
in Majorca in 1835, animadverting on the country and the people. But
her strictures are unfair and, to a great extent, untrue, and have been
ably refuted by a native author. To this day the Cartuja on its ridge,
surrounded by orange-groves, is a beautiful object in the ascent from
the garden of Palma to Valdemosa, still looking more like the castle
of King Sancho than a Cartuja.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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