Morella.net - Pàgina oficial de la ciutat de Morella.

It is during this period (714-1231) when the castle began to acquire a greater importance, as the centre of a broad territory that would comprise the present area of Els Ports approximately.Of this period we can point up the two battles that Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (The Cid Campeador) fought in the area of Morella when he was supporting the Muslim king of Zaragoza at the end of the 11th century. One of the two battles was against the Muslim king of Lleida and the other against the Christian count of Barcelona. There are also references of a brief Christian conquest by Alfons el Bataller at the beginning of the 12th century.

The Christian conquest

Medieval History

Morella was conquered by Christians during the second half of October 1232 according to the analysis of the documents, although the traditional date is the 7th of October 1232. This day is Sant Julià's day according to the old calendar of saints, who is one of the patron saints of the town as well as a local festivity.So this date is probably the one of dedicatio in accordance with the Church. Similarly, Jaume I conquered Valencia twelve days before the 9th of October that is nowadays the commemorative day.

This difference of two months could be owing to the negotiations between the noble Aragonese Blasco d'Alagó and the king Jaume I about the conquest of Morella. Blasco had been promised by the king to keep everything he could conquer, but Jaume I who was in Villarroya de los Pinares preparing the conquest of The Kingdom of València, arrived in Morella to tell Blasco that Morella "és llogar que fa per nul hom del món sinò a rei" (Morella deserves a king, not just anybody) because this town was worth as a shire with all its richness. After stiff negotiations in The Roquetes del Puig, out of the city walls, they agreed that Morella would belong to the Aragonese up to his death and meanwhile the king kept the Zelòquia tower, the highest in the castle, as a symbol of his sovereignty.But Blasco was surely not very happy with the agreement since years later he began a private war against Jaume I, in which he died.

The Medieval splendour

Medieval History

There are two key points to be able to understand as a whole the historical importance of Morella. On the one hand, Morella was placed in the geographic centre of the peninsular lands of The Crown of Aragon, in the frontier between Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia and quite near from Majorca. On the other hand, Morella belonged to a king since 1240 and all its surrounding lands were in the hands of powerful military orders, so Morella was the only place owned by a king in many kilometres.

Up to the end of the 1270's Morella had belonged to Aragon, but from this moment on, it was a land of the Kingdom of Valencia. In fact, the only Valencian Courts in which Morella was not present were the ones dating from 1261. InThe Courts, Morella had the formal title of "first village of the Kingdom" (prima villa del regne) only surpassed by Valencia and Xàtiva first and Oriola and Alacant later.

Morella was the second or third village of the Kingdom in terms of payments to the crown. Although to understand the importance of Morella, we have to take into account that the municipal surrounding area had about 30 villages that nowadays belong to Els Ports region, presenting different degrees of autonomy. This complex municipal organization was regulated by royal privileges and sentences varying from the almost complete independence of Olocau and the autonomy of other villages to the lack of legal power in some streets and places.

At that time, Morella was a urban society with a great guild representation: silversmiths, weavers, sculptors… During the medieval period we can find merchants of Morella in the Athens dominated by The Almogàvers or a Morellan maritime expedition to conquer the north of Africa in 1510. There was also a small Jewish community that had the same rights than their community in Valencia thanks to the concession made by Jaume I in 1264.

The Cathars

Gravat medieval amb representació
i motius càtars

In this lively commercial centre which traded with Italy, Guilhem Belibasta, the last of the Cathars, was hidden. He had fled the Inquisition in Occitània and lived in Morella as a basket worker and leading community of followers that spread until distant places such as Sant Mateu, Beseit or Lleida. He used to visit his fellows pretending to sell or buy products, or joining to the movements of cattle towards new pastures through the pathways that are still used today.

Someone told him that he had to assist spiritually a dying person, so in this way he was cheated to come back to The Pyrenees where he was arrested. He was burned at the stake in 1321.

Francesc de Vinatea

Francesc de Vinatea statue,
by Manolo Rodríguez.

Francesc de Vinatea belonged to a family of feudal lords coming from Todolella and he certainly was one of the most important figures of that age. He clashed with the King Alfons el Benigne in the name of the main villages and towns of the Kingdom because they did not want Leonor de Castilla, second wife to the King, to give her son Ferran the main towns of the Crown as feudal domains. With this measure, the integrity of the Crown of Aragon would have been in danger. So, the Queen said that her brother, The King of Castilla, would chop the neck of such a rude subject. But the King said: "Reina, reina! El nostre poble és franc e no és així subjugat com és lo poble de Castella. Car ells tenen a Nos com a senyor e Nos a ells com a bons vassalls e companyons…" (My Queen; our people is honest and they are not subjugate as Castilian people. They consider me as their lord and I consider them as my vassals and companions).

The Compromise of Caspe and the West Schism

Medieval History

In 1410, Martí l'Humà died leaving no descendants, so it was decided that his successor would be chosen by nine delegates, one of them was the Morellan Domènec Ram, who was the bishop of Huesca when Ferran d'Antequera was decided to be the new successor. The new king rewarded Ram due to his support in the way towards the crown and the latter became viceroy of Sicily. He also had different ecclesiastical posts; he even came to be a cardinal. When he was bishop of Lleida, he presided the Government of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya).

In 1414, The Pope Luna (Benedict XIII), the King Ferran I and Brother Vicent Ferrer, who some decades later would be canonized, met in Morella. The reason for the meeting was that they wanted to end with The West Schism, where three popes came to coexist. The conversations lasted 50 days but they reached no agreement. The King and Saint Vicent Ferrer drifted away from the Pope Luna as they stated with a sermon in Perpinyà. The Pope was finally shut away in Peníscola until the end of his days.

Prehistory & Ancient history Modern

Official site of the city of Morella