The principal nobles who valorously resisted the rebellion and restored order were Priamo de Villalonga, Alfonso Torrella, Salvador Sureda, Jayme Oleza, Matias Fortuñy, Mateo Togores, Albertin Damato, Antonio Gual, Zaforteza, Despuig, Cotoner—all names which appear in the annals of their country, from generation to generation, down to this day.
The insurrection caused great misery and destruction of property, and it was quite a century before the islanders can be said to have recovered from its evil effects, either morally or as regards their industries and general well-being.
CHAPTER XVI
The Majorcan historians—War of succession—Families ennobled—Cotoners—Raxa and Cardinal Despuig—Country houses
With the war of the ‘Comunidades’ the romance of Majorcan history ends. During the seventeenth century the country was very slowly recovering from the effects of that disastrous rising; but it was long before the good relations between the different classes of the people were restored. The island was governed under the Kings of the House of Austria by Viceroys, of whom five were natives of Majorca. The names of Moncada, Fuster, Pax, Zaforteza, and Sureda occur in the list.
But though the making of history seemed to be dead, the work of recording the glorious annals of Majorca under her own kings was zealously undertaken by natives of the island. The first official chronicler, appointed by the Jurados, was Don Juan Dameto. He wrote the ‘Historia General del reino Balearico’ between 1621 and 1631, and died prematurely in 1633. His work commences with the earliest Roman times and is brought down to the death of Jayme II. Dameto had travelled much and was an accomplished scholar. His work is by no means a mere chronicle. The style is agreeable and full without being prolix, and shows a sense of proportion and of the relative importance of events.
Don Vicente Mut, who was born at Palma in 1614, was the continuator of Dameto. He was a military man and major of the militia of his island, an accomplished mathematician, as well as a student of history. He searched the archives with great diligence, and gives valuable details respecting the administration of the island at different periods. His history covers the ground from the accession of King Sancho to the suppression of the ‘Comunidades,’ and contains spirited accounts of the raids of Barbary pirates and histories of the monasteries and hospitals. Mut died in 1687.
With him our accessible island histories end, for the history of Geronimo Alemany, which would bring the record down to the death of Charles II., the last King of the House of Austria, is still in manuscript. We have to thank Don Miguel Moragues Pro and Don Joaquim Maria Bover for having edited the histories of Dameto and Mut, with very copious notes. The three thick volumes were published at Palma in 1841, and a fourth volume containing the history by Alemany was promised. Visitors to Palma who take an intelligent interest in the history of the island will desire to possess and to read them. They will find the three volumes at the excellent book-seller’s shop of Don Felipe Guasp, No. 6 Morey Street, the first turn to the right after crossing the Plaza de Santa Eulalia.
The eighteenth century opened with the war of succession. The French claimant was a grandson of a sister of Charles II. The German claimant was a grandson of Charles’s aunt. Catalonia and Majorca espoused the cause of the German archduke, while the rest of Spain proclaimed the French prince as Philip V. On October 1, 1706, Majorca was occupied by the troops of the Archduke Charles, and all adherents of the French claimant were persecuted or banished. Even after the fall of Barcelona the Majorcans held out. But all was in vain. In June 1715 a large army landed and besieged Palma, which capitulated after a siege of seventeen days, and the Bourbons forced the islanders to submit to their yoke. All the ancient privileges and grants of the Aragonese monarchs to the Majorcans were abolished, with their form of government. Captains-general were substituted for the Viceroys, and the present fortifications of Palma were constructed in the reign of Philip V. Majorca suffered from the misgovernment of Bourbon rule with the rest of Spain. From that time the people have had to rely upon their own virility, energy, and skill for any advance in civilisation and well-being, and not in vain. The Majorcans steadily progressed, while their old families, claiming descent from the soldiers of King Jayme, became distinguished in arms and letters and were ennobled, several as early as the times of the Austrian kings. In 1625 the title of Marquis of Bellpuig was given to the family of Dameto y Cotoner, in 1632 that of Santa Maria de Formiguera to the family of Burgues Zaforteza y Villalonga, in 1634 that of Count of Ayamans to the family of Togores (formerly Moncada), in 1658 that of Count of Montenegro to the family of Despuig, and in 1717 that of Count of Ariañy to the family of Cotoner. Several titles were also conferred on Majorcan families during the eighteenth century; generally well deserved.[23]
Among the distinguished sons of the Cotoner family was Rafael Cotoner, who was Grand Master of Malta from 1660 to 1663. He built Fort Ricasoli and the lines which are still known as the Cotonera. His brother, Nicolas Cotoner, was Grand Master from 1663 to 1680. An almost equally distinguished member of this family was the late General Cotoner, who was Governor of Porto Rico, and was devotedly attached to his native island and her interests.
But it was to members of the ancient family of Despuig that Majorca owed its fame as a place of cultured learning during the eighteenth century. Descended from Bernardo Despuig, a companion of the Conqueror Jayme I., the family has always been closely connected with the history of the island. Among them Juan Bautista Despuig served at Lepanto and in Flanders; but his best title to fame was that he devoted his wealth to the promotion of the well-being of his poorer neighbours and won the title of ‘Father of the Poor.’ His grandson did such good service as a military commander that in 1658 he was created Count of Montenegro. The first Count’s son, Bernardo, was Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem at Malta from 1736 to 1741. Juan Despuig, the second Count of Montenegro and also Count of Montoro by right of his mother, espoused the Bourbon side in the War of Succession, and suffered a long imprisonment in the castle of Belver from 1706 to 1715, the period of the Austrian occupation of the island. Many other members of the family were distinguished for their services to the State. The best-known is Dr. Don Antonio Despuig, who was Archbishop of Valencia and of Seville and Cardinal of San Calisto, a prelate not more famed for his learning than for the love he always showed for his island home.