Tells how King Jayme II. at last reigned in peace, and how his page
Raimondo Lulio attained the crown of martyrdom
King Jayme II. of Majorca returned to his island dominions in 1294 with
fifteen years of life before him, which he devoted to the restoration
of prosperity to Majorca. He was now advanced in years, and was far
better fitted for peaceful administration and the work of promoting the
good of his people than for steering safely through the entanglements
and difficulties caused by the war between his brother and his
brother-in-law of France.
His wife, Esclaramunda of Foix, was still by his side, and his children
were taking their places in the world. His eldest son, Jayme, had
adopted a religious life and had become a Franciscan friar. His second
son, Sancho, was therefore to be his successor, and was recognised as
the heir by the Cortes of Gerona in 1302. The third son, Fernando, was
one of the ablest and most valorous soldiers of that chivalrous age,
with honour bright as his sword. The youngest son, Felipe, entered
holy orders. The two daughters married well--Isabel to the Infante Juan
Manuel of Castille, and Sancha to Robert, King of Naples.
Majorca had suffered during the usurpation of young Alfonso. Her
commercial interests had been neglected, and the foreign rule had been
tyrannical. At the same time the population was increasing, and there
was need for the foundation of towns as centres of trade and protection
in the different districts. The companions of Jayme I., forming the
nobility of the island, held large estates. The twenty most prominent
names were:
Surnames Later titles
[10]Berga ----
[10]Burgues ----
[10]Canet Viscount of Canet, 1322
Caro Marquis of Romana, 1739
Cotoner Marquis of Ariañy, cr. 1717
[10]Dameto Marquis of Bellpuig, 1625
Despuig Count of Montenegro, 1658
Fortuñy ----
[10]Morey ----
Oleza ----
[11]Puigdorfila ----
[11]Rocaberti Count of Campofranco, 1718
Sureda Count of Desbrull, 1717
[11]Santa Cilia ----
[11]Sant Marti ----
Togores Count of Ayamans, 1634
Torrella ----
Truyolls Marquis of La Torre, 1728
Villalonga ----
Zaforteza ----
[11]Gual ----
With the aid and consent of these nobles and of the Jurados, Jayme II.
founded several towns which have continued to flourish to this day. One
of the first was Felanitx, on the plain to the east of the capital. The
next was Santañi, on the estate of Sant Marti; and the King, owing to
the want of water, caused large cisterns to be constructed. Binisalem,
near Inca, was founded, and is now a centre of apricot cultivation.
Porreras, Sineu, and Manacor were also founded; the latter is now a
flourishing town and a centre of the vine industry. Lluchmayor, the
scene of his grandson’s fatal overthrow, was also founded by this
King. These towns formed markets and homes for the farmers of the
surrounding districts.
King Jayme next established a coinage, which for its purity and
accuracy of weight was very highly esteemed in all the Mediterranean
commercial marts. Gold coins began to be issued in 1310, but none are
now known to exist. The silver reals and double reals are handsome
coins. They are excessively rare. The silver coinage began to be issued
in 1300. The Mint-master was Bernardo de Oleza, whose arms were gules a
rose argent. The rose appears on each side of the crowned head, and in
the four angles of the cross on the reverse of the silver money.[12]
The representatives of the people agreed to pay a tax, called
_fogatje_, for the support of the mint, assessed on all houses having
hearths.
A pure currency is a great aid to commerce, and the trade of Majorca
increased rapidly under the auspices of En Jayme. Shipbuilding
progressed, and the rich and fertile soil began to yield abundant
crops. The cultivation of olive-trees, though many of them now present
such an extraordinarily antiquated appearance, was introduced into the
island by the Catalans, and not by the Arabs.[13] The raising of stock
also received much attention from the King, who in this as in other
measures for the prosperity of the island, was well supported by his
‘Ricos hombres.’
The ‘Almudaina,’ or alcazar of the Moors, is a huge bastille on the
right of the landing-place. The lofty walls still stand, enclosing
a large space, with square towers at intervals. The exterior has
undergone considerable modern alterations, but it is still quite easy
to make out the appearance of the original building. King Jayme II.
brought artists and expert artificers from Perpignan to convert this
ancient alcazar of the Almudaina into a palace. The royal apartments
were decorated with paintings and bas-reliefs, the beautiful oratory
of Santa Ana was built as the royal chapel, pleasant balconies were
erected, and gardens were laid out in the courts and on the terraces.
The sculptor François Camprodon was employed to adorn the halls and
gardens with statues. A code of palace etiquette was drawn up, and the
Majorcan Court was ceremoniously conducted, while at the same time it
was a home of pleasure and festivity.
To the east of the Almudaina there was a space, said to have been
occupied by a garden in Moorish times, on a high platform overlooking
the Mediterranean. No finer site could be found for a cathedral. The
Capilla Real had been finished in the time of the Conqueror, but during
the usurpation work had been stopped. Funds were raised under Jayme
II. and the construction of this beautiful edifice was continued. All
the stone came from the quarries of Santañi, on the south coast of
the island. The cathedral presents rather a curious appearance from
the sea, owing to the crowd of flying buttresses and the absence of
windows, which are only allowed to give full light through stained
glass in the apse. The nave is very lofty, with eight arches on each
side, between seven high and slender pillars supporting a finely
vaulted roof. There is a clerestory with windows blocked, but no
triforium. The aisles are lower and rather narrow, with side chapels.
The lofty and slender pillars rising to the vault, less than three feet
in diameter, give a peculiarly solemn effect which is alike pleasing
and imposing.[14] The Bishop’s palace, built round a courtyard, is to
the east of the cathedral, and also overlooks the sea.
The King’s eldest son had devoted his life to religion and had become
a Franciscan monk. Out of affection for him Jayme II. founded a large
Franciscan monastery. A fine church rose up in due time, with a very
picturesque cloister of two storeys, other buildings used as schools,
and a large library with a richly carved wooden ceiling. All came to
ruin on the expulsion of the monks in 1835.
En Jayme also planned and commenced one of the finest military works
of his time. The castle of Belver is a beautiful object from the sea,
standing on the summit of a pine-clad hill, with a background of more
distant mountains. It is elliptical in shape, with a large courtyard in
the centre. The accommodation is spacious. On the ground floor there
is a series of vaulted chambers suitable for barracks, guard rooms, or
prisons. Above there is a vaulted gallery opening on numerous large
rooms, also vaulted, including a large hall and a chapel. The roof is
flat and paved. Standing by itself there is a tall tower, called ‘el
Torre de Homenaje,’ connected with the roof by an arch. The whole is
surrounded by a deep moat. Pedro Salva, the architect, was a native
of Majorca. The hill on which the castle stands, 450 feet above the
sea, is entirely covered with pine-trees (_Pinus Halepensis_), with an
undergrowth of _lentisco_-bushes, wild lavender, and a purple cistus.
Between the bushes the ground is covered with asphodel and the leaves
of an arisarum.
En Jayme brought architects, sculptors, and decorators to Majorca, as
well as troubadours and musicians, and he encouraged native talent.
But the great ornament of his reign was an eminent philosopher and
theologian. Ramon Lull, or Raimundo Lulio of Barcelona, was one of the
companions of Jayme I., and received two _alquerias_ or farms at the
partition. He was married to Heril de Cataluña, and their son Raimundo
was born in the capital of Majorca in about the year 1235. His parents
wished him to learn to read, but he cared for nothing but arms, and
became a page to En Jayme. He neglected his duties to the Prince and
gave up nearly all his time to rather scandalous love affairs. His
parents thought that the only cure was marriage, and they married him
to a girl named Catalina Labots; but this only appeared to increase his
devotion to other married women. His conversion was miraculous. He had
a celestial vision in the garden of the bishop’s palace, and another
in his own house, when he heard the words, ‘Raimundo, follow me!’ He
sold all his property, only reserving a small portion for his wife and
children, and in 1266 he embarked for Barcelona to visit the shrines
of Montserrat and Santiago. He then returned home to cause edification
by his example in the same place where his former life had been so
scandalous. He was well past his thirtieth year.
Lulio then began to learn Arabic from a slave, with the intention
of preaching to the Moors; but one day he flogged his teacher for
blaspheming God, who retaliated by stabbing Lulio in the breast.
The new convert then left the abodes of man and went up an isolated
hill called Randa, well in sight from the anchorage off the capital
of Majorca. Here his life was a continual succession of prayers,
penitence, and tears. He was favoured with more celestial visions.
His mind seems to have been filled with zeal for the conversion of
unbelievers; and he also developed some crude philosophical ideas in
his solitude. Jayme II. was at this time at Montpellier, and, hearing
of the miraculous conversion of his former page, he sent for him. En
Jayme was struck by the earnestness, the eloquence, and the ability of
the new convert. When Lulio entreated the King to establish a school in
Majorca for teaching Arabic, with a view to preaching to the infidels,
he consented. He made a grant of money sufficient to sustain thirteen
monks, and assigned for their college a farm in a lovely spot on the
north coast of the island, overlooking the sea, called Miramar. Here
Lulio studied, and wrote his theories and ideas; but his plan did not
succeed, and the college was a failure.
Lulio went to Rome, and then to Paris, where he read his system and
argued some points with the famous Duns Scotus and his disciples.
In 1290 he was at Montpellier and Genoa, whence he embarked for
Tunis. Here he preached the faith of Christ openly, was beaten, and
eventually banished. He travelled through Armenia and the holy Land;
and afterwards wandered over Europe, preaching a crusade to recover
Jerusalem. Another year found him at Paris once more, reading his
system, which at length received the approbation of the University. In
1314 Lulio was again travelling through Egypt and the Holy Land; and
two years afterwards we find him in England, studying physics as then
understood. During the intervals of travel he diligently wrote books on
every imaginable subject. He reached his eightieth year, and longed for
martyrdom. So he embarked in a vessel bound for Tunis, and went thence
to Bugia. He preached Christ openly and persistently until he was taken
out of the town and stoned. Some Genoese begged for the martyr’s body,
and conveyed it to Majorca. The date of the martyrdom was June 29,
1315. Lulio was buried in the church of San Francisco. The effigy of
the martyr rests sideways and rather high up on the wall of a transept;
above it two angels are bearing up his soul, below are the arms of
Lulio and Majorca, at the sides angels in niches.
The philosophy of Lulio is part of the intellectual history of his
century, and can have no place here; but this meagre sketch of his life
and acts is sufficient to show that he was one of the most remarkable
men of his time. Majorca has good reason to be proud of him. His works
were read and taught in the Franciscan monastery and elsewhere, and
his statue at Palma is a sufficient proof of the appreciation of his
countrymen.
Raimundo Lulio survived his old master by four years. Jayme II.
continued to maintain an excellent understanding with his nephew and
namesake of Aragon, affording him assistance in ships and men in his
conquest of Corsica and Sardinia. He died in his palace of Almudaina on
May 28, 1371, and was succeeded by his second son, Sancho. Among many
adherents, his most faithful friend through all his troubles was his
secretary, Guillermo de Puigdorfila. This noble Majorcan was possessed
of a large fortune, which he devoted to the service of his master, and
was his most trusted councillor to the last. His descendants continued
to flourish in Majorca for 540 years, the last male dying in 1846.
Jayme II. was buried in the Royal chapel of the cathedral at Majorca,
and in 1779 Charles III. of Spain erected a monument to his memory, in
doubtful taste. On a parchment at the lid of the shroud it is recorded
that: ‘Here is Jayme (Jacma) of worthy memory, King of Majorca, Count
of Roussillon and Cerdaña, Lord of Montpellier, who departed this life
in this city on the 28th of May, vigil of Pentecost, 1311, son of en
Jayme, King of Aragon, who delivered this city from the heathens.’
The body is well preserved as a mummy. Jayme II. of Majorca was an
excellent king for peaceful times, and in the last fifteen years of his
life his administration was most useful and serviceable to his country.