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THE STORY OF MAJORCA AND MINORCA

THE STORY OF
MAJORCA AND MINORCA
BY
SIR CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM, K.C.B.
AUTHOR OF
‘RICHARD III: LIFE AND CHARACTER’ ‘THE LIFE OF THE GREAT LORD FAIRFAX’
‘EDWARD VI: AN APPRECIATION’ ETC.
WITH TWO MAPS
LONDON
SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE
1908
[All rights reserved]
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PREFACE

The story of the Islands of Majorca and Minorcahas never been told in our language in a condensedform, although the interest is great froman historical point of view, and the materialssufficient, though not perhaps abundant. It isso closely connected with the history of Aragonand the recovery of the Sicilies from the intrudingAngevins that the two cannot be altogetherseparated. The most that can be done is, as faras practicable, to treat the Aragonese andSicilian events from a Majorcan point of view.This has been attempted. The stirring eventsof the conquest of Majorca by Jayme I., thelatter part of the reign of his son, and the reignsof Sancho and Jayme III., as well as the adventuresand death of Jayme IV., the last of his race,all belong strictly to Majorcan history, as dothe chapters on Balearic navigators and therevolt of the ‘Comunidades.’ The story fills avigap in the history of Mediterranean countrieswhich may not be altogether unacceptable tostudents. This has been one object of the writer.

Another object has been to supply more detailedinformation respecting the events of formertimes in the islands, for the use of the considerablenumber of visitors who resort to them. Theinterest of the scenery and of many localitiescannot fail to be much increased by a detailedknowledge of the historical associations connectedwith them.

My principal authorities have been the autobiographyof Jayme I., the Chronicle of Muntaner,Desclot, Zurita, and the histories of Dameto andMut, edited by Bover. My thanks are due formuch courtesy and assistance from the Count ofMontenegro, H.M. Consul Don Bartolomè Boschy Cerda, and Señor Albareda of the Grand Hotelat Palma, and to Mr. Gilbert Ogilvy for havingkindly made sketches for me of the memorialchair at Alfavia.

The story of Minorca necessarily embraces anaccount of the several British occupations, and ofsome of the operations of the British fleet withMinorca as a base.

September 1908.

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CONTENTS