The rising of the people of Spain against their rulers coincided in point of time with the accession of the Austrian dynasty in the person of Charles V. In the Castilles it was a very noble attempt of the towns, under the leadership of patriots such as Padilla, to preserve the constitutional liberties of the people. It failed, but the best feeling of the country will always look back to it with approval and with pride. The picture of the execution of Padilla now has an honoured place in the hall of the Cortes at Madrid, and the story of the Comunidades of Castille has occupied the pen of one of Spain’s most accomplished historians. 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, 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. The insurrection began with a meeting of artisans in a house near the church of San Nicolas in Palma, where an inflammatory speech was addressed to them by a man named Juan Crespi. The movement rapidly spread, and came to the notice of the Viceroy, Don Miguel de Gurrea. He called a meeting of officials, but the only result was the arrest of a shoemaker named Pedro Begur and three others. The Viceroy had no sufficient force at his command, and the arrests only infuriated the mob, who flew to arms and liberated the prisoners. The Viceroy then rode through the streets with some attendants, calling on the rioters to disperse, and promising to listen to their complaints. The insurgents then occupied the public buildings, seized all the arms they could find, and chose Juan Crespi to be their captain. This was in the end of January 1521. Crespi’s title was ‘Instador del beneficio comun’; and the Viceroy, to gain time, actually issued a decree conferring it upon him. In February both the Viceroy and the insurgents sent letters to the King, giving different versions of what had taken place. In March the insurgents had organised a force of 1,800 men and had got possession of all the gates of the city. Many of the nobles were killed, and the rest escaped to Alcudia, a fortified town. The Viceroy escaped to the island of Iviça.