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 Emperor was at Brussels, and at last he was induced to attend to
the deplorable condition of Majorca. An expedition was ordered to be
fitted out in the Catalonian ports to restore order and punish the
delinquents. Four large galleys, thirteen ships, and several smaller
vessels were fitted out, and 1,200 men were embarked under the command
of Don Francisco Carroz and Don Juan Velasco. The expedition first went
to Iviça to embark the Viceroy, Don Miguel de Gurrea or Urrea.
On October 15 the fleet entered the port of Pollenza. The rescuers
were received with great joy at Alcudia, where the Viceroy proclaimed
a general pardon to those who laid down their arms and returned
to obedience. Many came in, surrendering under the terms of the
proclamation; but others held out. At Palma there was great confusion,
the Bishop, Dr. Pont, working incessantly to induce the people to
submit.
At Pollenza the insurgents made a desperate resistance and there was
great slaughter, no quarter being given. Very few escaped to the
mountains. On November 5 the Viceroy, with all the chief officers and
three thousand soldiers, left Alcudia and advanced to Puebla, where
they only found two labourers and a priest. Other towns were found
without inhabitants. At Inca the people came out with their priests to
meet the Viceroy, singing a _Te Deum_. On March 1, 1523, the Viceroy
invested Palma with his army. Priamo de Villalonga had held out in the
castle of the Templars, then called the Royal Castle, for many months.
He was now relieved, and this disastrous insurrection approached its
end.
The last act of this melancholy drama was performed and described
by young Don Alonzo Enriquez de Guzman in his very entertaining
autobiography. He was ordered by the Viceroy of Valencia to take
command of five hundred men, and to sail from Murviedro, to reinforce
the army that was employed in re-establishing order in Majorca.
But the five hundred men refused to embark until they had received
their arrears of pay. After a great deal of trouble he at length
persuaded them to go on board, and they sailed to join the army in
Majorca in nine small vessels. Arriving off Palma at nightfall, Don
Alonzo, a young man in his twenty-third year, but with an amount
of self-assurance beyond his age, announced the arrival of a very
important reinforcement. The report was spread that his force consisted
of five thousand men. Captain Crispin, the leader of the rebels, came
out of the town with a guard of fifty men and sought speech with Don
Alonzo. He besought the young commander to mediate between him and the
Viceroy and induce him to consent to a deputation being sent to the
Emperor. He proposed that, while the deputies were going and coming,
Don Alonzo should remain in the city with thirty men, Crispin promising
to deliver the place to whomsoever the King should command.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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