HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION
The conquest of Valencia was an issue that had been settled plenty of time beforehand. In the Treaty of Tulledén (1151), Kings Ramon Berenguer IV and Alfonso VII had already discussed how would the lands be shared, and they tackled the matter again in the treaties of Cazorla (1179), Almirra (1244) y Torrellas (1304), shaping the borders between their two countries.
Actually, the conquest of Valencia was decided in a meeting at the castle of Alcanyís, between King Jaume I and noblemen Balasc d’Alagó and Hug de Fullalquer, in early 1233. This was preceded by the taking of other important cities, like Castelló, Borriol, Vilafamés, Alcalatén and Peníscola.
The campaign was fought mainly by Aragonese hosts, because the Catalan troops were still pacifying the recently conquered Balearic Islands. At the battle of Puig, the Catalan and Aragonese armies, led by Berenguer d’Entença, managed to crush the muslims and got a firm position in Valencian lands.
In April 1238 King Jaume and his troops arrive before Valencia and the siege begins; they were reinforced a little later by the Archbishop of Narbona, gathering together about 1000 knights and 60.000 foot soldiers.
At the sight of such a great strength, the Muslims surrendered the city – so, there was no bloodletting (well, almost), but the noblemen had quite a deception because they planned to enrich themselves by means of sacking the place.
THE VIGNETTE
My idea was representing an early event, when King Jaume, with a representative group of Crusader leaders, look at Valencia’s walls and discuss the forthcoming operations.
I wanted to build the scene using, as much as possible, commercial parts. It is usual to see scenes, composed with figures of diverse origin, with do not quite gel – I thought that, with a little work, a well balanced scene could be accomplished, one in which their components would interact.
The vignette is formed by an Aragonese nobleman, a Military Orders representative, a Catalan nobleman, and the King himself.
For the Aragonese, I chose a mounted figure from El Viejo Dragón (ref. CG-28), to which I modified its right arm, holding the Royal Pennon. This knight sports the Luna family colours, this being one of the foremost Aragonese families. The Military Order warrior is a Soldiers’s figure (SA-40). Modelled by Mike Blank, and I painted it in the Order of Calatrava colours, because this was a national Order, and the most important one at the time. The Catalan leader is Bernat de Centelles, again an important familiar name. As a basis, I used another Mike Blank’s figure, this time Andrea’s (SM-F32). Fittingly enough, King Jaume I is a creation, just the head (Mussini) and the sword (Pegaso) being commercial items.
THE PROCESS
The first four images show the process I followed until the final composition was decided. You can see I figures appearing and disappearing, and changes in their poses.
I had a clear mental image of the knight mounted in the caparisoned horse acting as a backdrop for the scene. There is not much “action”: the King and a knight are engaged in conversation, the other two are mere spectators.
The last photo shows the definitive layout.
REFERENCES
I would like to mention my sources.
First of all, Augie Rodríguez, a real expert on all things Medieval; I want to thank him and also express my support for his endeavours in favour of historical accuracy.
I’m proud also of having as a friend Armand de Fluvià, a very prestigious catalan heraldist.
Books:
Historia Militar de Catalunya, vol. II: Temps de conquesta
F. Xavier Hernàndez
Rafael Dalmau Editor, Barcelona 2002
Heràldica Catalana des de l’any 1150 al 1550
Martí de Riquer
Quaderns Crema
Gran Enciclopedia Catalana
I can not fail to mention my most important visual referents: the mural paints at the castle of Alcanyís, portraying the conquest of Valencia, and those at Palau Aguilar, showing the conquest of Mallorca.
