Did you know? The birth of a palace…

By: Ferran Garcés

In January 1409, King Martin I the Humane began the construction of his Bellesguard palace, a palace that, five centuries later, would inspire Antoni Gaudí to build the current Torre Bellesguard.

It should be clarified that this was not a new building, but rather the renovation of an existing structure, which the monarch expanded and adapted to his royal dignity. Interestingly, we know that the king dedicated his first efforts to his garden. In a short time, Bellesguard became a palace that his contemporaries described as “Domus pulchri aspectus” (“House of fine appearance,” meaning splendid). How did the king come to this idyllic place?

The purchase

The current neighborhood of Sant Gervasi de Cassoles, at the end of the 14th century, was a privileged location where the Barcelona oligarchy often rested outside the city walls. Probably, King Martin I came to know the area at the end of summer 1408. It was love at first sight. He liked it so much that he decided to acquire a property immediately.

After a quick search, the king settled on a place called Vallblanch. The purchase was formalized on the 13th of that same month. At that time, the property was much larger, as it included a noble house “with vineyards, fields, and other lands,” which benefited from a good water supply. As a curiosity, we remember that the notary for the purchase transaction was Bernat Metge, a well-known name in Catalan literature and the king’s secretary at that time (1).

The idea of naming the property Bellesguard, some attribute to the writer, and others to King Martin I himself, as demonstrated by a letter written by the monarch on December 15, 1408, where he literally says: “nós havem comprat aci en lo territori de Barchinona una Torre a la qual havem mes nom bell esguart, hon la maior partida del any entenem habitar; e aço per sanitat, plaer e deport de nostra persona” (2).

In any case, the name Bellesguard (Beautiful view), or bell esguart, as it appears in the original documentation, is well justified by the beauty of the surroundings and the panoramic view from there over the plains of Barcelona, or by being a house nice to look at, as sources referred to the palace as “Domus pulchri aspectus” (3).

The renovation

Once the property was acquired, as we mentioned earlier, improvement works quickly began in January 1409. The beginning of the renovation took place in the garden, where, thanks to some letters, we know that the monarch himself took charge of requesting workers from all corners of his realms, including specialists in the cultivation of plants and trees. Shortly afterward, other letters mention furniture, books, stained glass, tapestries, and even a priest for the palace chapel (4).

On April 10, 1409, to guarantee the upkeep of the palace under construction, Martin I created the office of the mayor of Bellesguard, appointing Ferrer de Gualbes as its first mayor, who was the chief counselor of Barcelona. Interestingly, three centuries later, his successor, Joan de Gualbes, would become the owner of this estate and take charge of storing all written information until the early 18th century. The story of the birth of the Bellesguard palace has been studied recently, precisely because of this archive, known as the Fons Gualbes, which is kept at the Basilica of the Saints Just and Pastor, in Barcelona.

The stay until the last days

By mid-June of 1409, Martin I moved the court to Bellesguard. Although renovations were still underway, the monarch received prominent figures, turning the new palace into the political center of the Kingdom of Aragon. Among these figures were Benet XIII, better known as Pope Luna, and Vicent Ferrer, when he had not yet been declared a saint.

Unfortunately, Martin I would not stay long in Bellesguard. On May 12, 1410, the king left the palace, which was still unfinished, and died a few days later on the 31st of that same month at the Monastery of Valldonzella, located an hour’s walk away at the time. It is true, therefore, that Martin I did not spend his last days in Bellesguard, but despite his brief stay, he had left the place full of history. Five centuries later, Gaudí would turn the project of a modernist home into a tribute to Catalan medieval history, represented by Martin the Humane, the last member of the Barcelona lineage.

Does the story – and the legends – of Bellesguard end with this monarch? Quite the opposite, just then they were beginning!

Notes

(1) Vall y Comaposada, Josep M. (2014), Bellesguard. From Martin the Humane’s residence to Gaudí’s tower, Duxelem, Barcelona, p. 45-47.

(2) Op. cit., p. 47.

(3) Ibid., p. 48.

(4) Ibid., p. 144-149.

For bibliophile readers, we mention the digital copy of an out-of-print book where the birth of King Martin’s palace can also be traced. It has the grace of having been written while Gaudí was building Torre Bellesguard.

Carreras y Candi, Francesh (1905), “Bellesguart. Real Sitio de Martín I” in Miscelánea histórica catalana, Imprenta de la Casa Provincial de Caridad, Barcelona, p. 23-34.