Bellesguard in Two Operas

By Ferran Garcés

The history of Bellesguard, from the palace of Martin I the Humane in 1409 to the house designed by Gaudí in 1909, can be narrated from many angles. Today we have chosen one based on the coincidence between some decorative elements added in 1916 by Domènec Sugranyes, a collaborator of the master, and the background theme of two operas by Giuseppe Verdi.

The first theme is the conquest of Sicily by Peter the Great, following a revolt known as “The Sicilian Vespers” (1282), the pinnacle of the Crown of Aragon’s expansion in the Mediterranean. The second theme is the struggles between James of Urgell and Ferdinand I of Antequera following the Compromise of Caspe in 1412, resulting from the death of Martin I the Humane (1410), the last descendant of the House of Barcelona, who died without an heir or having designated a legal successor.

The Sicilian Vespers

The opera I vespri siciliani (“The Sicilian Vespers”) premiered in French at the Opéra Garnier in Paris on June 13, 1855, and later in Italian at La Scala in Milan on February 4, 1856. In Spain, the first performance, following the Italian version, took place at the Gran Teatro del Liceo on October 4 of the same year. What is the historical context of this opera?

Thanks to the conquest of Valencia and Mallorca, James I the Conqueror died in 1276, having laid the foundations for the Mediterranean expansion of the Crown of Aragon. It was not an easy expansion. The main obstacle came from the Anjou, a dynasty of French origin, which coveted the same territory. In 1266, one of their members, Charles of Anjou, conquered the island of Sicily with the support of Clement IV, a French pope. Shortly after, due to abusive tributes and cruel behavior, the Sicilians rose in arms against the invaders on March 30, 1282, during the evening prayer of Easter Monday. Thousands of French were massacred that night and in the days that followed.

To face the inevitable French retaliation, the Sicilians sought help from Peter the Great, who was married to Constance II of Sicily, whose family had been murdered by the Anjou. The survivors took refuge in Catalonia. Among them was the son of Bella d’Amichi, nurse of Queen Constance. History knows him as Roger of Lluria, a young man of great military talent who became the best admiral of Peter the Great’s fleet. After repeatedly defeating the French, he claimed that no fish would dare to rise above the Mediterranean Sea if it did not bear a shield with the four stripes of the royal standard on its tail. And this is precisely what we see at the entrance of Torre Bellesguard, on the benches designed by Domènec Sugranyes.

Il trovatore

In 1836, Antonio García Gutiérrez, a Spanish Romantic writer specializing in historical dramas, premiered a play titled *El trovador*. It was an instant success. Verdi adapted it into an opera with the same title, *Il trovatore*. Its debut was at the Apollo Theatre in Rome on January 19, 1853. In Catalonia, it took place on May 20, 1854, at the Gran Teatro del Liceo. What is the historical context of both the drama and the opera?

The protagonist of the opera is Manrico, an officer in the army of James of Urgell, while his enemy, the Count of Luna, is a nobleman serving Ferdinand I of Antequera. Their confrontation has its origins in the last days spent by Martin I the Humane at the castle of Bellesguard…

In July 1409, the king received two very different pieces of news at this castle. The first was that his only surviving son, Martin the Younger, then king of Sicily, had achieved an important victory in one of the many battles fought by the Crown to maintain control of the Mediterranean. The second piece of news was that he had died shortly after the victory due to a fever. Both pieces of news arrived by sea, with a ship like the one we see on one of the sides of the ceramic bench designed by Domènec Sugranyes.

To secure a new heir, Martin the Humane married at the castle of Bellesguard a few weeks after the death of his son. One of the candidates for marriage was Cecilia of Urgell, sister of James of Urgell. However, in the end, the monarch chose Margaret of Prades as his wife. Unfortunately, in 1410, the monarch died, and the new queen was not pregnant. With Martin I the Humane, the king of Bellesguard, the dynasty of the House of Barcelona, to which James the Conqueror and Peter the Great belonged, came to an end.

In the following two years, different claimants sought the crown of Aragon, which also meant control of Sicily. In the Compromise of Caspe of 1412, Ferdinand of Antequera, from the Castilian Trastámara dynasty, emerged victorious. Displeased with the decision, James of Urgell, the preferred candidate of the Catalans, rose in arms against him, and thus we arrive at the historical context in which the confrontation between Manrico, an officer in the army of James of Urgell, and the Count of Luna, a nobleman serving Ferdinand I of Antequera, takes place.

The confrontation ended with the defeat of James of Urgell, which is why he is known in history as “the Unfortunate.” Subsequently, like his family, Catalonia also entered a period of decline. This crisis is summarized by Domènec Sugranyes in the ceramic bench with the mountain of Montserrat, a symbol of Catalonia, and behind it, the setting sun, cloudy skies, cold colors, and the date XCCCCX, 1410, the year of Martin I the Humane’s death.

In summary, in *I vespri siciliani* we witness the peak of the House of Barcelona, thanks to the conquest of Sicily, the era of Roger of Lluria’s famous phrase, while in *Il trovatore*, by contrast, we witness its downfall. Verdi belonged to a movement called Il Risorgimento, which is the equivalent of La Renaixença of Gaudí and Sugranyes. All three hoped for the same thing, the recovery of past splendor…

Notes

(1) For more information: Garcés, Ferran (16/11/2023), “Sabies què? Una foto amb sorpresa…”, blog Torre Bellesguard.

(2) The original phrase is a bit longer. It is found in chapter CLXVI of the Crònica de Bernat Desclot, a book written in 1288. Chronologically, it is the second of the so-called “Four Great Chronicles”, and narrates the historical events from Ramón Berenguer IV to Peter the Great:

“Ne sol hom pens que galera ne altre vexell gos anar sobre mar, menys de guiatge del rey d’Aragó; ne encara no solament galera, ne leny, mas no creu que nengun peix se gos alçar sobre mar, si no porta hun escut o senyal del rey d’Aragó en la coha, per mostrar guiatge de aquell noble senyor, lo rey d’Aragó e de Cecilia”.

For more information: Garcés, Ferran (24/03/2021), “Roger de Llúria. L’expansió pel Mediterrani”, blog Torre Bellesguard.

(3) For more information on the contrast between light and darkness in the rest of the garden, through the symbol of the rising and setting sun: Garcés, Ferran (2019), “Els sols de Bellesguard”, Blog de Torre Bellesguard.