#cotlliure

[useless-catalanfacts]

Cotlliure, Northern Catalonia.

Photo by by.perrine on Instagram.

[negreabsolut]

La torre gòtica del castell reial de Cotlliure, a Cotlliure, Principat de Catalunya. N'és la part més antiga i noble.

[quatregats]

Very funny how neither CS Forester nor Patrick O'Brian were buried in England. Guys really said yeah I'll write about it but I don't like it that much

[gardenofkore]

"I am Manfredi, grandson to the Queen Costanza: whence I pray thee, when return'd, To my fair daughter go, the parent glad Of Aragonia and Sicilia's pride; And of the truth inform her, if of me Aught else be told. [...]

Look therefore if thou canst advance my bliss; Revealing to my good Costanza, how Thou hast beheld me, and beside the terms Laid on me of that interdict; for here By means of those below much profit comes.

Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy, Purgatory, III, 112-117 & 141-145   

Costanza was born around 1249 to Manfredi of Sicily and his first wife Beatrice of Savoy ("et filiam suam Constantiam, quam ex prima consorte sua Beatrice filiam quondam A. Comitis Sabaudiae"). The exact date is unknown, but historian Saba Malaspina attests that when she was born, her grandfather was still alive (“imperatore vivente"). As for the place, it might have been one of the Apulian castles where the Emperor settled down in the last period of his life.

Her wet nurse was Bella d’Amico, mother of admiral Roger of Lauria. Bella, while she was alive, never parted from Costanza, acting like a mother and confidante, especially since Beatrice of Savoy, Manfredi’s first wife, had died when her daughter was just months old.

Nothing is known about Costanza’s childhood. She’s first mentioned when Berthold von Hohenburg asked for her hand on behalf of his nephew Januarius, son of his brother Diepold VIII. Berthold had married Isotta Lancia, cousin of Manfredi’s mother Bianca, and certainly intended to deepen his relationship with the Hohenstaufen’s family. Manfredi, on the other hand, was strenghtening his position (to the point he would be crowned on August 1258 King of Sicily, despite the true heir, his nephew Corradino was still very much alive, although far away in Germany) and so he could afford to reject this marriage proposal.

From a princess of low importance (despite the pretentious name which honored her great-grandmother Costanza I), Costanza soon became a valuable asset and, until Manfredi’s second marriage to Epirote princess Elena Angelina Doukaina, her father’s heir. The Sicilian King then started looking for an important match for his daughter, and ended up selecting Peter, son of Aragonese King James I.

Marriage agreements required that Manfredi supplied his daughter of a dowry of 50000 golden ounces (worth in gold, silver and jewels). On the other hand, the Aragonese crown committed to return the dowry to her family if Costanza were to die without heirs. She would also act as regent for her children (until they were 20 years old) in case Peter were to die before her. In addition, the Sicilian princess was given personal ownership of the city of Girona and the castle of Cotlliure.

Still, the future union presented some problems. First of all, that 50000 golden ounces dowry was indeed a large amount. Manfredi had an hard time collecting it (he had to increase taxes and that spread discontent among the population) and a lot of time passed before the Aragonese crown could collect it (alongside with the bride). The Papacy was obviously against this marriage, and Urban IV asked James I to give up to this union to avoid disgracing his House. Furthermore, in order to save the plans of the future marriage between his daughter Isabella and the heir to the French throne, James had to promise King Louis IX to not support Manfredi in his fight against the Papacy, as well as not helping Provençal rebel Bonifaci VI de Castellana against Charles of Anjou (the King’s younger brother).

Despite all the external pressure, James didn’t give up to the Sicilian match and on July 13th 1262, Peter and Costanza got married in the church of Notre-Dame des Tables (Montpellier). The difference between the lavish Hohenstaufen court and the more simple Aragonese one was huge (“And the said King Manfred lived more magnificently that any lord in the world, and with greater doings, and with greater expenditure”), but thanks to the accounting records of the time, we know that James and Peter tried their best to meet Costanza’s need, purchasing large amounts of luxury items. Since the incomes deriving from Girona and Cotlliure weren’t enough, she was given an annual pension worthy of 30000 Real de Valencia (a type of billon coin) which also soon wasn’t enough to cover the expenses. 

Following the death of Manfredi in the Battle of Tagliacozzo (1266) against Charles of Anjou, many of his former supporters (or simply people linked to him, like the former Nicaean Empress as well as his sister Costanza) fled the Kingdom of Sicily and took refuge in Aragon. The death of Corradino (executed in Naples in 1268 by order of Charles after the Battle of Benevento) and the fact that Manfredi’s sons from Helena Doukaina were just children and in French hands (they will die in captivity years later), made Costanza the only legitimate heir to the Sicilian crown. Starting this moment Costanza started being referred as queen (not infanta or madama) in the documents of the Aragonese Chancellery.

In 1276 James I died, and so Peter was crowned king of Aragon. In the meantime, Costanza had already given birth in 1265 (November 4th) to the firstborn and heir, Alfonso. Followed by another male, James (April 10th 1267), and then Isabella, future Queen consort of Portugal (1271), Frederick (December 13th 1272), Yolanda (1273) and finally Peter (1275). According to historian Muntaner, although it wasn’t a love marriage, Peter and Costanza came to care for each a lot and “there were never was so great love between husband and wife as there was between them, and always had been”.

On Easter 1282, Sicilians started their revolt against the French rule, starting the so called Sicilian Vespers. Peter was quick to reclaim the crown of Sicily and Apulia on behalf of his wife. To the eyes of many Sicilian nobles the King of Aragon could be considered their legitimated master due his marriage to Queen Costanza (”nostre natural senyor, per raho de la regina e de sos fills” ). Before leaving headed for Africa (from where he would launch his invasion of Sicily), Peter named Costanza and their son Alfonso regents of the Kingdom of Aragon during his absence. As soon as he took possession of the island, Peter asked his wife and their children James, Frederick and Yolanda to join him. When the Queen arrived in Trapani in the spring of 1283, she received a warm welcome and was saluted by the people as their natural leader (”cela qui era lur dona natural”;  Bernat Desclot, Llibre del rei en Pere d'Aragó e dels seus antecessors passats, ch. 103).

It is around this period that her strained relationship with lady-in-waiting and de facto second lady of the Island, Macalda di Scaletta (wife of Alaimo da Lentini, Grand Justiciar of the Kingdom of Sicily), was born. Macalda, who is described by historical sources as an ambitious and greedy woman, had tried to seduce Peter of Aragon, but without success. Since the King had declared himself devoted to his wife, the Sicilian baroness developed a burning hate towards her rival, the Queen.

In Messina, Costanza could finally embrance her husband again, but their meeting only lasted three days and it was their last. The King named his wife Regent of the Kingdom of Sicily (“Quant lo rey hac estat ab sa muller e ab sos infants en la ciutat de Mecina, e hac stablit sos balles e sos vicaris per tota Cecilia, si los feu comandament que tots fessen lo manament de la reyna e de son fill En Jaume, axi com perell, e comana la reyna als homens de Cecilia e de Mecina, e sos fills”) and returned to Aragon as his rival, Charles of Anjou, had proposed a trial by combat (who would never take take place) to be ideally fought in Bordeaux to decide the fate of the contended Kingdom. Peter died two years later in Villafranca del Penedès (Catalonia), on November 11th 1285.

Before leaving Sicily, Peter had declared that the Kingdom wouldn’t be merged into the Aragonese-Catalan territories, mantaining his autonomy, and that in thet future the succession of the two reigns would be handled separately, specifically with the Sicilian throne bequeated to the second son (at that time, James, already named Lieutenant of the Realm).

With Peter dead, Costanza didn’t choose to rule over Sicily by herself despite being its titular queen, but, as it had already been decided, relinquished her rights to her second son James (although she would keep managing the island on his behalf), while Alfonso succeeded his father. In accord to the pre-nuptial arrangements, the Dowager Queen supported her teen son in the matter of ruling the Kingdoms he had inherited.

In 1284, Costanza’s milk brother, Roger of Lauria carried out a successful expedition in the Gulf of Naples. The admiral captured Charles of Salerno, the Angevin heir, and took him in Messina, where he was saved by the angry mob thanks to the intervention of the Dowager Queen. During the same raid, Lauria had freed Princess Beatrice of Hohenstaufen, Costanza’s younger half-sister. The Queen soon put her unfortunate sister under her protection, arranging Beatrice’s marriage with Costanza’s half-nephew, Manfredo IV Marquis of Saluzzo. The wedding was celebrated in October 1286 in Messina, and during the celebration the Princess had to give up on her rights to the Sicilian throne.

In 1290 she deployed troops to defend the city of Acre, but given the excommunication of Pope Martin IV against Peter III of Aragon and the Sicilian people, those troops were sent back. The following year, 1291, Acre would be conquered by Mamluk forces.

Also that year, Alfonso III died heirless. James succeeded him as King of Aragon, Valencia and Majorca, Count of Roussillon, Cerdanya and Barcelona, and, in normal circumstances, his brother Frederick would have inherited the Sicilian Crown, but James had other ideas. The new King kept Sicily for himself, naming Frederick Lieutenant of the Realm. The dispossessed Prince then left the Kingdom headed to Sicily, where he joined his mother Costanza.

Her son’s death represented a turning point in her life. Although already a pious woman, she started pondering about a future in the cloister and retired in a Clarisse nunnery she had personally founded in Messina.

In 1295, James signed the Treaty of Anagni, an accord signed by Boniface VIII, James II of Aragon, James II of Majorca, Charles II of Anjou and Philip IV of France, which should have put to an end to the Vespers War. As part of the terms, the King of Aragon had to return the island of Sicily to the Pope (let’s remember the fact that officially, since Norman times, the Kingdom of Sicily was actually one of the Papacy’s many fiefs, and that its lords were just lieutenants), who would in turn give it to Charles of Anjou, in exchange for the annulment of the excommunication weighing over him and the concession of the licentia invadendi (the permission to invade) concerning the islands of Sardinia and Corsica. The treaty required moreover a double dinastic union, James would have married Princess Blanche of Anjou, while her brother Robert was wed to James’ sister Yolanda.

There was someone in particular, though, who wasn’t happy about this settlements. Backed up by the Sicilian population who refused to return under French domination, Infante Frederick was crowned King of Sicily in Palermo on March 25th 1296, de facto nullifyng any attempt to stop the war.

This had a huge impact in his mother’s life. Unlike her son, Costanza had always recognized the Papal authority. By not accepting the treaty’s terms, Frederick had in fact rebelled against the Pope (not mentioning his own brother). Costanza chose then not to support him and, because of this, she had to leave Sicily since, as Papal emissaries put it, if she stayed she could be considered an accomplice (“E madona la regina Costança fo absolta per lo Papa, é tots aquells qui eren de sa companyia , si que tots dies oya missa; que axi ho hach a fer lo Papa, per convinença a les paus quel senyor rey Darago feu ab ell. Per que madona la regina parti de Sicilia ab deu galees , e anassen en Roma per pelegrinatge” in Crónica de Ramon Muntaner, ch CLXXXV).

Together with her longtime supporters, Giovanni da Procida and Roger of Lauria, in february 1297, she traveled to Rome where the Pope had promised to economically support her staying in Rome (although apparently it was a short-lived promise) and where she witnessed her daughter Yolanda’s marriage to Robert of Anjou. In 1299 the Dowager Queen returned to Catalonia and died in Barcelona on April 8th 1302 (“Non sine cordis amaritudine vobis presentibus intimamus quod die Veneris Sancta, quasi in media nocte, serenissima et karissima domina et mater nostra domina Constancia, fidelis recordacionis Aragonum regina, diem clausit extremum, ex quo tanto nos pungit doloris ictus acerbus quanto per eius obitum sentimus nos tante matris solacio destitutos.” in La muerte en la Casa Real de Aragón..., p.20). 

Aside from many donations to various religious houses, in her will (dated february 1st 1299) Queen Costanza would include a small bequest in favor of her son Frederick with the condition he had to make peace with the Pope, observing thus the terms of the Treaty of Anagni.

She was buried wearing the Franciscan habit in the convent of St. Francis in Barcelona (“E a Barcelona ella fina , e lexas a la casa dels frares menors, ab son fill lo rey Nanfos, e muri menoreta vestida ” Crónica de Ramon Muntaner, ch CLXXXV). In 1852 her remains would be moved to Barcelona Cathedral by order of Queen Isabella II of Spain.

Sources

Claramunt Rodríguez Salvador, Alfonso III de Aragón

Corrao Pietro, PIETRO I di Sicilia, III d'Aragona in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 83

Desclot Bernat, Crónica

Ferrer Mallol María Teresa, Constanza de Sicilia

Hinojosa Montalvo José, Jaime II

La Mantia Giuseppe, FEDERICO II d'Aragona, re di Sicilia in Enciclopedia Italiana

La muerte en la Casa Real de Aragón Cartas de condolencia y anunciadoras de fallecimientos (siglos XIII al XVI), ARCHIVO DE LA CORONA DE ARAGÓN

Malaspina Saba, Rerum Sicularum

Muntaner Ramon, Crónica / translation by Lady Goodenough

Sicily/Naples: Counts & Kings

Walter Ingeborg, COSTANZA di Svevia, regina d'Aragona e di Sicilia in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 30

[xavierbautistagarcia]

Santa Pau, a castle between history and fashion

The origins of the castle of Santa Pau date back to the 9th century, when this place name seems to have been mentioned for the first time. However, the present-day castle, with a square floor plan and perched on the rocky promontory where the village of the same name is located, began to be built around the 12th century.

At that time, the lords of Finestres, who belonged to the Porqueres family lineage, granted the castle of Santa Pau as a fief to the family of the same name. Over a period of more than 60 years, between the 12th and 13th centuries, four constables of this lineage succeeded one another, at which point the lords of Santa Pau appeared, although it is assumed that the title had already existed before that time.

The Porqueres, when their family castle was sold to the abbot of Banyoles in the mid-12th century, adopted the surname of Santa Pau and settled in La Garrotxa, acting as hosts to King Pere el Gran in his campaign against the French, which ended with the battle of the coll de Panissars.

Several barons of Santa Pau were at the side of the kings of the Crown of Aragon, such as Ponç III, who took part in the Sicilian campaign in 1297, and Huguet II, who paid homage to James II in 1312 for his castles, including those of Finestres and Santa Pau.

Later, in the 15th century, the ownership of the barony was in the hands of the Oms family. The first baron of Santa Pau of this lineage was probably Berenguer V, who also held the barony of Montesquiu and was the constable of Cotlliure, among other titles.

From then on, the Oms lineage adopted the addition "de Santa Pau". The first to do so was Berenguer's son, Guillem I d'Oms de Santa Pau, who died in 1517. Later, when he joined the Sentmenat family, the barony of Santa Pau remained in the hands of the marquises of Castelldosrius.

Currently, the noble title is held by a descendant of the Sentmenat family, the fashion designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada y Sentmenat, who occupies the 29th position in the list of holders of the Garrotxan barony. However, the castle no longer belongs to the family, who had it in disuse.

[castellsipalaus]

Castell de Santa Pau

El castell de Santa Pau es remonta en els seus orígens documentats al segle IX, quan aquest topònim pareix esmentat per primera vegada. No obstant, l’actual castell, de planta quadrada i assentat sobre el promontori rocós on és situada la població homònima, va començar a ser bastit cap al segle XII.

En aquell moment, els senyors de Finestres, pertanyents al llinatge familiar dels Porqueres, van concedir en feu el castell de Santa Pau a la família del mateix nom. Al llarg de més de 60 anys, a cavall entre els segles XII i XIII es succeïren quatre castlans d’aquest llinatge, moment en que apareixen els senyors de Santa Pau, encara que el títol es presuposa que ja existia anteriorment.

Els Porqueres, en vendre’s a mitjan del segle XII el seu castell familiar a l’abat de Banyoles, van adoptar el cognom de Santa Pau i s’instal·laren a la Garrotxa, exercint-hi d’amfitrions del rei Pere el Gran en la seva campanya contra els francesos, que va acabar amb la batalla del coll de Panissars.

Diversos barons de Santa Pau van estar al costat dels reis de la Corona d’Aragó, com Ponç III, que participà a la campanya siciliana el 1297, o Huguet II, que reté homenatge el 1312 a Jaume II pels seus castells, inclosos els de Finestres i Santa Pau.

Més tard, al segle XV, la propietat de la baronia figura en mans de la família Oms. Probablement el primer baró de Santa Pau d’aquest llinatge va ser Berenguer V, que també ostentava la baronia de Montesquiu i era castlà de Cotlliure, entre d’altres títols.

A partir d’aquí, el llinatge d’Oms adopta l’afegit “de Santa Pau”. El primer en fer-ho va ser el fill d’en Berenguer, Guillem I d’Oms de Santa Pau, que morí el 1517. Posteriorment, en unir-se als Sentmenat, la baronia de Santa Pau restà en mans dels marquesos de Castelldosrius.

Actualment, el títol nobiliari és ostentat per una descendent de la família Sentmenat, la dissenyadora de moda Agatha Ruiz de la Prada i Sentmenat, que n’ocupa la vint-i-novena posició en la llista dels titulars de la baronia garrotxina. No obstant, el castell ja no pertany a la família, que el tenia en desús.

[jmartiaguila]

Desembre a Cotlliure

[marcelorubens-blog]

🗓Un día como hoy...

🔸El 2️⃣2️⃣ de febrero de 1️⃣9️⃣3️⃣9️⃣ fallecía en Cotlliure,Antonio Machado.

🔹Visitar la tumba de Antonio Machado cualquier tarde,bajo la luz gris mineral de Cotlliure y el viento zumbando,es algo que da la medida de las cosas. Las pasadas,las que vendrán,las que no habría que olvidar.

La suya es una tumba pequeña,insignificante para la grandeza de quien la ocupa,casi anónima,tapizada de cartas y flores de quienes la visitan en peregrinación.

Ellos recuerdan,estos días,que el 22 de febrero de 1939,el poeta Antonio Machado moría en esa tierra,

donde había recalado sólo 26 días antes huyendo de las tropas franquistas.

《🅿️or Núria Escur Licenciada en Ciencias de la Información por la UAB,es Premio Ciudad de Barcelona de Periodismo.》

🔹El 28 de enero de 1939,hacia las 5.30 de la tarde,el joven ferroviario Jacques Baills miraba cómo en la estación de Cotlliure,bajo la lluvia,bajaban del tren, vacilantes,cinco personas con aspecto de refugiados españoles.

Ante su desorientación Baills les indicó la dirección del hotel Bougnol-Quintana. Más tarde sabrá que bajo el nombre de Profesor Antonio Machado se han inscrito tres personas más: José Machado,su esposa Matea Monedero y la madre del poeta.

Los dos primeros ocupan una habitación inferior,los dos últimos comparten otra en el primer piso.

En cuanto Baills descubre que aquel hombre derrotado es el poeta que leía en su infancia se le regala dos libros de Pío Baroja y uno de Gorki.

Los últimos que el poeta leerá.

🔹"La madre,Ana Ruiz de Machado,

de 84 años,no se tenía en pie.

La cogió en brazos como una pluma el periodista Corpus Barga,mientras ella le musitaba al oído: '¿Llegamos pronto a Sevilla?'",explica el periodista Xavier Febrés en 'Els últims dies de Machado' (La Mansarda),libro en el que detalla las vicisitudes del último tramo de vida del poeta. Febrés,

como corresponsal del periódico de Perpinyà L'Indépendent tuvo acceso en 1979 a valiosas fuentes.

"Recuperé testimonios con la ocasión del 40.º aniversario del éxodo de medio millón de republicanos en la demarcación fronteriza francocatalana. La opción cívica del poeta, voluntariamente inmerso en aquella avalancha humana tan mal acogida por las autoridades francesas,

sigue viva entre las nuevas generaciones",explica el periodista,

que jamás,en las últimas décadas,

ha visto sin visitantes la tumba de Machado.

🔹¿Por que bajaron en Cotlliure? Quince minutos más y,en Perpiñán,podrían haber sido atendidos en un hospital,el poeta de su bronquitis crónica y sus problemas de corazón y su madre de ese desgaste brutal. Pero no pueden con su alma. Llevan tres o cuatro noches sin dormir,son incapaces de continuar. Además,Machado se resiste hasta el último momento a abandonar España. Así lo dejó escrito: ↪"Cuando pienso en un posible destierro,en otra tierra, que no sea esta atormentada de España, mi corazón se turba y conturba de pesadumbre. Tengo la certeza de que el extranjero sería para mi la muerte".

Dos años antes decía "soy viejo y estoy enfermo porque paso de los 60,que son muchos años para un español".

🔹Tampoco quiso Antonio Machado -aunque tuvo oportunidad según Corpus Barga de aceptar un ofrecimiento de José Bergamín- irse a París.

Le evocaba un mal recuerdo:

allí contrajo su amada Leonor la tuberculosis que la llevaría a la tumba. Se había casado con ella cuando apenas tenía 15 años y él 34 y su muerte le sumió en una absoluta depresión.

Es entonces cuando Machado solicita su traslado a Baeza (Jaén),donde vivirá con su madre dedicado a la enseñanza.

Con el estallido de la guerra civil se traslada a Valencia.

🔹En abril de 1938 Machado llega con sus familiares a Barcelona y se instalan un mes,bajo la protección del subsecretario del Ministerio de Instrucción Pública,Wenceslao Roces, en el hotel Majestic de Paseo de Gracia.

De ahí van a la Torre Castanyer, en el número 21 de Paseo Sant Gervasi.

🔹Poco antes -el 27 de marzo de 1938- el poeta había iniciado su colaboración con La Vanguardia,un conjunto de 24 artículos (14 de ellos bajo el lema "Desde el mirador de la guerra").

El gran maestro -absurdamente será expulsado post mórtem del cuerpo de catedráticos de Instituto- publica allí el último artículo de su vida el 6 de enero de 1939.

🔹A principios de 1939 se inician,

desde Barcelona,los preparativos para la expedición hacia la frontera y el 22 de enero,a las tres de la madrugada,forman la comitiva con coches y ambulancias militares facilitadas por el doctor José Puche,director general de Sanidad. Además de la familia Machado están los hermanos Joaquim y Josep Xirau Palau. Se alojan primero en la señorial masía Can Santamaria,

a diez kilómetros de Girona,

donde el poeta llega en tan malas condiciones que se desmaya.

Royo Gómez le fotografía en el jardín de la casa,abatido, demacrado.

Cae Barcelona. El día 26 prosiguen.

🔹Llegan a Mas Faixat, donde se les une un tercer grupo de intelectuales entre los que figuran Josep Pous i Pagès,presidente de la Institució de les Lletres Catalanes,el poeta Carles Riba -le regala un poema a Machado- y Corpus Barga. El camino tortuoso -Armentera,Sant Pere Pescador,El Port de la Selva,Llançà,etcétera...- resulta extenuante para todos. A medio kilómetro del límite con la frontera les advierten de que ese tramo sólo puede hacerse a pie y así es como lo recorren, bajo la lluvia,Machado y su madre.

🔹Varias veces tuvo que pedir ayuda Corpus Barga. En una ocasión presenta al poeta "como lo que sería Paul Valéry para un francés" y logra,a cambio,

una estufa de leña; en Cervera les dejan un vagón vacío en vía muerta donde madre e hijo pasarán la noche a oscuras y sin calefacción.

Machado llega a preguntarle a Carles Riba si sabe dónde puede empeñar un reloj para conseguir algo de moneda francesa.

🔹Una vez en el hotel de Cotlliure el animo no mejora y él sigue por prensa y radio las noticias de la guerra.

En el comedor prefiere comer en una mesa apartada para que no le molesten. José Machado recordaría cómo,días antes de su muerte,salen a pasear. Antonio,entre rachas de viento,

le dice señalando las humildes casitas de pescadores: ↪"Quien pudiera vivir ahí,tras una de esas ventanas, libre ya...".

🔸"Los últimos cuatro días de Machado fueron agitados con momentos de conciencia y otros de delirio,en los que repetía : 🗣 'Adiós,madre; adiós,madre'",explica Febrés. A su lado,en otra cama,separados por una delgada tela,

su madre en estado semicomatoso, agonizaba como él.

El médico confirma que,a causa de su neumonía,nada pueden hacer.

🔸Finalmente,el día 22 de febrero,miércoles de ceniza,cerca de las cuatro de la tarde,fallece Antonio Machado en el hotel Bougnol-Quintana.

Tiene 64 años.

A la familia les ofrecen una habitación contigua para que puedan velarle sin que la madre se de cuenta pero ella,

entre delirios,abre los ojos y pregunta por Antonio. Le cuentan que se lo han llevado a un sanatorio para curarlo.

Su madre llora y cierra los ojos.

Tres días más tarde -el 25 de febrero,a las 8 de la noche- morirá en esa misma cama; su cuerpo será inhumado en un lugar reservado a los pobres del mismo cementerio,a una calle del hotel.

🔸Amortajan su cuerpo sólo con una sábana,luego fotografían su cadáver cubierto con la bandera republicana que, aquella misma noche, ha cosido Julieta Figueres. El entierro,civil,cuenta con representación de refugiados y autoridades republicanas y el féretro es llevado a hombros por seis soldados republicanos uniformados.

Llegan tres coronas de flores:

una del Gobierno,otra de la embajada en París y otra del Centre Español de Perpinyà. El elogio fúnebre corre a cargo de Zugazagoitia,compañero de Machado en La Vanguardia durante la guerra que será fusilado al año siguiente en otra tapia de cementerio,en Madrid.

🔸Un día después del entierro llega a Cotlliure una carta a nombre de Antonio Machado ofreciéndole un lugar de lector en la universidad de Cambridge.

Su hermano José les responde amablemente: 🗣 "Lo enterramos ayer en este sencillo pueblecito de pescadores en un sencillo cementerio cerca del mar. Allí esperará hasta que una humanidad menos bárbara y cruel le permita volver a sus tierras castellanas que tanto amó". En un bolsillo del abrigo de Antonio,

su hermano encuentra un papel arrugado con tres anotaciones:

↪"Ser o no ser...",una cuarteta a Guiomar y un verso alejandrino,el último de su vida: ↪"Estos días azules y este sol de la infancia...".https://marcelorubensbalboa.blogspot.com/2023/02/el-22-de-febrero-de-1939-fallecia-en.html?m=1

🅱️log...Entre Lápices Y Letras Claros Y Oscuros ®️

(...)

"Cantares"

Todo pasa y todo queda,

pero lo nuestro es pasar,

pasar haciendo caminos,

caminos sobre el mar.

Nunca persequí la gloria,

ni dejar en la memoria

de los hombres mi canción;

yo amo los mundos sutiles,

ingrávidos y gentiles,

como pompas de jabón.

Me gusta verlos pintarse

de sol y grana,volar

bajo el cielo azul,temblar

súbitamente y quebrarse...

Nunca perseguí la gloria.

Caminante,son tus huellas

el camino y nada más;

caminante,no hay camino,

se hace camino al andar.

Al andar se hace camino

y al volver la vista atrás

se ve la senda que nunca

se ha de volver a pisar.

Caminante no hay camino

sino estelas en la mar...

Hace algún tiempo en ese lugar

donde hoy los bosques se visten de espinos se oyó la voz de un poeta gritar "Caminante no hay camino,se hace camino al andar..."

Golpe a golpe,verso a verso...

Murió el poeta lejos del hogar.

Le cubre el polvo de un país vecino.

Al alejarse le vieron llorar.

"Caminante no hay camino,

se hace camino al andar..."

Golpe a golpe,verso a verso...

Cuando el jilguero no puede cantar.

Cuando el poeta es un peregrino,

cuando de nada nos sirve rezar.

"Caminante no hay camino,

se hace camino al andar..."

Golpe a golpe,verso a verso.

🅰️ntonio Machado✍

(...)

Ⓜ️arcelo Rubéns Balboa Art

[laieennon]

Cotlliure

[joanmolar]

Cotlliure, revisitada

Pel pont del desembre vam tornar a visitar de nou la vila de Cotlliure, preciosa població marinera de la Costa Vermella de la Catalunya Nord, ja dins França. Vam fer tota la costa, des de Llança a Argelers. Grifeu, Colera, Port-Bou, Cervera, Banyuls, Port-Vendres. Petits pobles mariners, dormits a l’hivern, vora una mar grisa, calmada. Sense turistes, sense gentades. A Cotlliure, tot i ser…

[useless-catalanfacts]

Cotlliure, Northern Catalonia.

The tower was originally built in the Middle Ages as part of the defensive city walls. It was later turned into a lighthouse, and since the 18th century it serves as the bell tower for the 17th-century church of Santa Maria dels Àngels.

Behind, there’s the Royal Castle. The first documented reference to this castle dates back to the year 673, but it was completely rebuilt between 1242 and 1280. It was later partially rebuilt in the 17th century following the orders of the famous military engineer Vauban, who adapted the fortification to the needs of 17th century war.

Photo by isaura_viver on Instagram.

[negreabsolut]

El castell reial de Cotlliure, a Cotlliure, Principat de Catalunya.

[quatregats]

Hmmm...there is a little voice in the back of my head that is already planning an Aubreyad Places Tour when next I go to the Catalan Countries and I think it should Not

[no-passaran]

Quan amics (sud-)catalans viatgen a la Catalunya Nord i pengen instastories amb coses com "France 😍😍" o banderetes franceses.... yikes

[hariesautomoto]

Colours of the sea by HariesAutoMoto

[sky60038]

Pyrénées Orientales, Collioure par Olivier Boyer Via Flickr : DSC6123