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On July 25, 1374, the future Martin I, King of Sicily, called the Younger to distinguish him from his father, Martin I the Humane, King of Aragon, was born. Not only was he the firstborn but also the only living son of the monarch when he settled in the palace of Bellesguard at the beginning of 1409. However, not for long… he would die on another July 25 of that same year. In the header photo, we can see his tomb in the cathedral of Cagliari, Sardinia. It is an impressive white mausoleum with the four bars of the Royal Signal. Let’s see how this death occurred, which parallels the end of Martin I the Humane at Bellesguard.<\/span><\/p>\n The Sun Rises<\/b><\/p>\n The period of splendor of the House of Barcelona is usually placed between the late 13th century and the mid-15th century, during its expansion throughout the Mediterranean. The current Torre Bellesguard was designed as a tribute to that period, both for the neo-Gothic aspect of the house and for the symbols that make up its decoration. We see, for example, different suns referring to the rise of the sun as an allegory of the glory obtained then (1). However, in reality, dominance over the Mediterranean was rather precarious, with incessant storms, due to constant revolts. Martin I the Humane himself, before being crowned King of Aragon, had to face one.<\/span><\/p>\n At the end of 1408, when this monarch had bought and started the works of the Bellesguard palace, a new insurrection broke out in Sardinia, with the support of the Genoese and the French, the traditional enemies of the House of Barcelona. Once again, it was necessary to quell the uprising. At the head of the troops was Martin the Younger, King of Sicily at that time. To support his cause, the Catalan Courts, gathered in Barcelona, approved the formation of a war fleet in January 1409. At the same time, the father would write to his son, “Very dear firstborn King,” a letter with advice on the hygienic precautions he should observe during his stay on the rebellious island (2).<\/span><\/p>\n The fleet left the city on May 25, under the watchful eye of Martin I the Humane. The next day, the monarch moved, for the first time, to his new palace of Bellesguard. One of the first things he did from there was to write another letter to his son, announcing the dispatch of “the fleet of Catalonia,” wishing that “the Holy Trinity may be your continuous protection” (3).<\/span><\/p>\n The decisive confrontation took place on June 30, 1409, in a place called Sanluri, very close to Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia. Martin the Younger was able to emerge victorious. One of the most exciting chapters of his father’s reign was receiving the good news.<\/span><\/p>\n The king’s chamber at Bellesguard faced the sea. On Sunday, July 14, the monarch, leaning out of the window of this chamber, saw first the arrival at the port of Barcelona of a galley from Sardinia and, shortly after, the messengers announcing the victory with shouts as they rode towards the palace (4).<\/span><\/p>\n The next day, Monday, July 15, Barcelona was in a state of euphoria, and letters were sent to all corners of the crown to inform about the triumph. Hundreds of bells rang in joy and gratitude. That same day, however, Martin the Younger, the beloved firstborn and sole heir of the House of Barcelona, began to feel unwell…<\/span><\/p>\n The Sun Sets<\/b><\/p>\n At Torre Bellesguard, we can find a series of symbols related to the sunrise, always accompanied by its opposite: the darkness of dusk (1). The first symbols refer, as we have already said, to the period of splendor of the House of Barcelona, parallel to the Mediterranean expansion. The second symbols allude to the succession problem that arose after the death of Martin the Younger on July 25, 1409, and the subsequent death of his father on May 31, 1410, without a legitimate direct heir.<\/span><\/p>\n It seems that the cause of Martin the Younger’s death was a fever caused by the marshy area where the battle was fought. However, according to an Italian legend, the illness was a consequence, or worsened, by the amorous excesses of the young king, captivated by a beautiful Sardinian lady known as “the beauty of Sanluri” (5).<\/span><\/p>\n Be that as it may, once again, from his lookout at Bellesguard, Martin I distinguished another galley on the horizon, but this time, the news it brought was the death of the only son who had reached adulthood. Now, the messengers did not ride up the mountain. Instead, who slowly approached the castle was Vincent Ferrer (not yet a saint), a friend of the monarch. The bells rang again throughout Barcelona, but in mourning. On August 8, Benedict XIII, better known as Pope Luna, arrived at Bellesguard to console the monarch and help him manage the serious challenges foreseen in the short and long term…<\/span><\/p>\n The unexpected death of the young firstborn posed, above all, a succession crisis. His brothers had been buried in infancy, and Maria de Luna, the monarch’s first wife, a relative of Pope Luna, and mother of the deceased, had left this world in 1406. To prevent the House of Barcelona from becoming extinct, on September 17, Martin I the Humane married again to Margaret of Prades at Bellesguard castle. It was a discreet wedding, still overshadowed by the recent funeral of the young firstborn. In parallel, the old monarch tried to legitimize Frederick of Luna, the bastard son of Martin the Younger.<\/span><\/p>\n On May 12, 1410, the monarch left Bellesguard and spent a few days at the Valldonzella nunnery, where the monarchs usually rested before formally entering Barcelona. Between the 28th and 29th, he suddenly felt ill. He died on the 31st, without any direct descendant and without having managed to legitimize his bastard grandson (6). With Martin I the Humane, the House of Barcelona came to an end. Two years later, during the Compromise of Caspe, the Crown of Aragon would pass to a new dynasty, the Trast\u00e1maras.<\/span><\/p>\n The exact reason why Martin I the Humane left Bellesguard is not well known. Jacint Verdaguer, the poet friend of Gaud\u00ed, in his poem “La Custodia” (7), attributes it to the sorrow caused by the memory of his beloved son’s death. The stanza ends by mentioning Palermo, the capital of Sicily, and Catalonia. The reference to the Italian city is justified, on the one hand, because both Martin I the Humane and his son, Martin the Younger, as kings of Sicily, had resided in Palermo, and, on the other hand, because, in the last days of the old monarch at Bellesguard, the Sicilian ambassadors had favored the legitimization of Frederick, the bastard son of Martin the Younger, the king who was born and died on July 25, St. James’s Day.<\/span><\/p>\n Del real monestir de Valldonzella,<\/span><\/p>\n En la cambra m\u00e9s amplia i espaiosa<\/span><\/p>\n est\u00e0 malalt de febres<\/span><\/p>\n lo nostre rei Mart\u00ed ja fa tres dies,<\/span><\/p>\n i no en fan pas los metges bon auguri.<\/span><\/p>\n Isqu\u00e9 de Bellesguard, lo real siti,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On era perseguit per la tristesa<\/span><\/p>\n Que li don\u00e0 lo dia de Sant Jaume<\/span><\/p>\n La nova mort de son fill \u00fanic.<\/span><\/p>\n Marti lo de Sic\u00edlia<\/span><\/p>\n B\u00e9 t\u2019ha plorat ton pare,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n B\u00e9 et ploraran Palerm i Catalunya!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Notes<\/b><\/p>\n (1) Garc\u00e9s, Ferran (15\/03\/2019), “Els sols de Bellesguard,<\/a>” blog de Bellesguard<\/span><\/p>\n (2) Vall i Comaposada, Josep M. (2014), Bellesguard. De la resid\u00e8ncia de Mart\u00ed L’Hum\u00e0 a la torre de Gaud\u00ed, Duxelm, Barcelona, p. 145<\/span><\/p>\n (3) Ibid, p. 146-147.<\/span><\/p>\n (4) Bernat Metge, the monarch’s counselor and the first great writer in Catalan, wrote a letter describing the reception of the good news. Thanks to it, we know that, at first, the exact news was not known (see final phrase)<\/span><\/p>\n “Sapigueu que diumenge, a 14 del present mes, estant en la casa de Bellesguard i desitjant molt saber novetats de nostre molt estimat primog\u00e8nit el rei de Sic\u00edlia i de la seva host, de la finestra de la nostra cambra vam veure venir una galera de la part de llevant que va arribar a la platja de Barcelona. I al cap de poc estigu\u00e9 amb n\u00f3s en Guillem Pujada, qui ens va dir que la dita galera venia de Sardenya i que portava bona nova, per\u00f2 que ell encara no la sabia.” Metge, Bernat (1950), Obres completes i selecci\u00f3 de lletres reials per ell redactades, Editorial Selecta, Barcelona, carta del 22 de juliol de 1409. A Internet, podeu accedir a la carta en la web d’Endrets: “Lo Rei. Capit\u00e0”<\/span> https:\/\/www.endrets.cat\/indrets\/barcelones\/barcelona\/torre-de-bellesguard-sarria\/2048<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n