The document you hold in your hands, which is the cause of the commemoration we are holding today, represents a transcendental milestone in the history of our peoples. In the first place, it represents the rupture and disappearance of the administrative Muslim division in force in our area, and secondly, it marks the territorial boundaries that will remain from its origin, at that time, until the present day.
Let's forget about the urban population of the Valencian taifas and focus on the rural world. This, during the Muslim period, showed a different structure to that typical of the medieval Christian world. Except for the large cities, which had a concentrated population within their boundaries, in the rest we find farmers in a habitat, not completely dispersed, but settled in farmhouses, which in that period were small centres of population, what we call today villages, depending administratively and militarily on a larger entity, the "castle". This, as Guichard states and we can see by the numerous archaeological remains existing in our country, presents several types, of all of them we are interested in one in particular, not the one that includes a series of complex constructions, where the stately residence with a permanent military garrison is found, but that other model that simply consists of a wide defensive enclosure, with walls and taking advantage of the incidences of the land, being in its interior a great cistern and perhaps some isolated construction that serves as a grain store, or of residence of a tiny garrison.
This type of castle, which has its influence on an important area populated by scattered farmhouses, is the so-called "Castle of Calpe", which will serve as a refuge for small towns in times of danger.
Therefore, we must imagine an agricultural world gathered in small population centres, the farmhouses, which in case of threat are momentarily abandoned, and whose inhabitants, together with their most precious and earned belongings, are concentrated in the castle.
Therefore, when before and after the Christian conquest we find denominations such as the castle of Pego, that of Gallinera, Alfandech, Penáguila or Calpe, the sources are referring to that defensive enclosure and its term that includes a certain number of small towns or villages.
This denomination of Muslim origin, which is a characteristic form of settlement, was maintained for a long time after the incorporation into the Western world by the conquest of Don Jaime I.
The "Castle of Calp" or "district of the castle of Calpe" encompasses a geographical area, in which during the 18th and part of the 14th century we only find farmhouses such as Teulada-Moraira, Benissa, Canuta, Lomber, Benimanyunt, Lleus, Albinyent, Senija, etc. All in the same circumstances more or less. With time some disappeared, like the case of Lomber, Paratella, etc..., others lost their population but have remained in the memory as rural areas, such as Canor, La Canuta, Benimanyunt, etc... And finally, the lesser ones, either because of time, or because of their geographical location, or the interest of the nobility or their inhabitants, will evolve into relatively important population centres. This is the process that Calpe, Benissa and Teulada-Moraira underwent from the second half of the 14th century onwards.
The only attempt at a new settlement, created by the wishes of the monarchy and then the lords, which took place in "Calpe Castle", failed miserably; we refer to Ifac.
The gradual increase in population and the complexity of society led to the need for a territorial division. The "district of the castle of Calpe" was somewhat too vague for the needs of the time. Calp, Benissa and Teulada-Moraira would need, for their good development, their own municipal government and a well-marked territory belonging to them. As a logical consequence of progress, the need to divide up the "district of the castle of Calpe" was raised. This is a slow process, initiated several years before its last chapter, the one we commemorate today.
We have already commented on the failure of various attempts to achieve a stable population in Ifac. In year 1. 344, due to the insecurity of the time due to the continuous attacks by Muslim pirates and its proximity to the coast, a large part of those who had houses and estates in Ifac abandoned them, and chose to look for safer places, moving away from the coast, some in Calpe, a little further away from the coast although the majority of the former inhabitants of the Rock went to settle in the Benissa village, a fact that will allow the latter to take off and later develop by considerably increasing its population in relation to the other villages in the district. From that moment on, Benissa became the most populated centre of the "Castillo de Calpe".
In the middle of the 14th century, specifically in 1355, the "district of Calpe Castle" became part of an important lordship, both because of its size, the County of Denia, which included the two Marinas, and because of the lords who held its domain, the son and grandson of the Infante Pedro, Count of Ribagorza, fourth son of King Don Jaime II.
Don Pedro received from his father Dénia and Gandía, to which he soon added the territories that had been under the lordship of Admiral Bernat de Sarriá. In this way, all the lands from Dénia to La Vilajoiosa y Callosa were under his power, except for a small territory, which was precisely that of "Calpe Castle", which was in the hands of the heiress of the other great Admiral Roger de Lluria. By a post-mortem donation, the goods of Doña Margarita de Llauria passed to the Crown, that is, to Don Pedro el Ceremonioso. The latter, who was extremely grateful to his uncle, at that time his main advisor, despite the provisions of the Countess of Newfoundland's will, arranged the matter so that these domains passed to the infant too, but the latter had already decided on his future, which was to abandon the Court and his assets in order to join the Franciscan Order.
Before he entered religion, Don Pedro divided his many possessions among his children. Thus Don Alfonso, the first-born of the Infante, was paid for the services rendered to the Monarchy by his father. Pedro the Ceremonious named him Count of Denia, including within its boundaries the "castle of Calpe", with all its villages and belongings.
Don Alfonso of Aragon, the first Count of Denia, became one of the most powerful feudal lords of the Catalan-Aragonese crown, firstly because of his status as a member of the Catalan Royal House, grandson and cousin of kings; and because of the great extension of his domains. Don Alfonso had inherited from his father the County of Ribagorza, Gandía, Dénia, Ayora and Cortes. Due to his marriage to Doña Violante de Arenós, he incorporated the Barony of this name into his estate.
The Count of Denia actively participated in the Castilian civil war in support of Enrique de Trastamara. In Nájera, Don Enrique's troops suffered an important defeat at the hands of Don Pedro el Cruel's allies, the English and Burgundians. Don Alfonso was taken prisoner and after complicated negotiations, he obtained his freedom in exchange for handing over his son Don Alfonso, known as El Jove (Junior), as a hostage to differentiate him from his father. Alfonso el Vell (Senior). Finally, Don Enrique was awarded the Castilian crown and thanked the Count for handing over the Marquisate of Villena.
Alfonso El Joven (Junior) remained in the hands of the English and Burgundians for more than 20 years, waiting for his father to reach an agreement and make the payment of the ransom finally fixed between the two parties. This fact would greatly affect the inhabitants of the paternal domains, since systematically and throughout the period, all the places belonging to Alfonso, would have to face the payment of special contributions destined to the payment of the heir's ransom.
In parallel to the problems of the nobility, the very dynamics of the new Christian society, with its concentrated population, together with the many internal and external problems that characterised the 14th century, favoured the change that the region was experiencing. The many Muslim populations that existed at the time of the conquest had reduced their numbers, and the Christian population, which was slow to arrive and was initially in the minority, sought to counteract their smaller size through unity and concentration.
From 1350-1360 we find in the documentation that the centres that will later ask for territorial division are already perfectly developed and with a majority of Christian population. From this point onwards there is a clear differentiation between the "places" of Calpe, Benissa and Teulada-Moraira and the rest of the districts, which in most cases appear to be anonymous. The three towns seem to have divided up the functions of protection and control over the other districts. In the year 1368 the maximum civil authority of the district resides in Benissa, and orders that the juries of the district come to this place to fulfil the obligation of advising it in court.
Once the court of justice is installed in Benissa and having the municipal officials and also anyone who has administrative problems go there, it seems that Benissa becomes the centre or capital of the "termino del Castillo de Calpe". There the auctions, purchases and sales will be carried out, the problems of rent will be solved, etc... It could be thought that the logical evolution of the situation would be that the "termino del Castillo" would become the "termino de Benissa", but Teulada-Moraira and Calpe also grew up and at the moment it seems that they are not very interested in the administrative world, as they accept by good disposition the Justice of the term. Their sights are set on another matter. Both monarchs and lords, in most cases, when it came to collecting taxes and rents, opted for the quickest system, although this always meant a loss of capital; this consisted of renting out the taxes to be collected. One person, the lessor, advanced the calculated amount and took charge of it after collection. Thus, the rights of the third tithe, the salt mines, etc., are rented by the residents of Calpe and Teulada-Moraira in the majority of cases. During these years the mill and market in Calpe also underwent improvements.
Despite this, friction between the three peoples was continuous, as was the lack of agreement on common obligations, as in the case of the surveillance of the coast, which the division and subsequent lordly regulations failed to resolve.
The problems seem to have reached their peak in the year 1377 between Benissa and Teulada-Moraira. A definitive solution was needed and this was taken somewhat indirectly. On the 7th of April Arnau Ivars and Bernat Feliu appeared before the Count as representatives of the Benissa community on the one hand, and Ferrer Banyuls and Jaume Ivas on the other hand, from the University of Teulada-Moraira, asking the Count to decide on the issue facing them.
The people of Teulada-Moraira wish to build a church and for this they have the permission of the Bishop of Valencia. As they had collaborated in wages and money to the construction of San Pere de Benissa, they consider that it is an obligation of their neighbours to collaborate in the same way, something with which the people of Benissa seem to disagree. Dono Alfonso, after listening to both parties, is inclined to favour the Benissa residents, as he considers that they are not obliged to collaborate in the construction of the church of Teulada-Moraira.
Together with the aforementioned matter, Teulada put a much more important one on the table by requesting to have justice, juries and other municipal officials of their own, so that they can exercise their own jurisdiction, avoiding the interference of Benissa's officials, arguing that this would be the best way to avoid the numerous expenses caused by the lawsuits held between the two places. For their part the representatives of Benissa seem to agree with the request.
If the answer of the Count was negative in the matter of the church, he answers in the affirmative to this request.
Adding that if the gentleman or his solicitor considers it necessary to call a council for the whole term, they are all obliged to go to this parliament which will be held in Benissa.
The aforementioned document informs us that in the year 1377, Benissa, apart from being the official seat of government for the whole term, has its own Council, that is to say, a municipal government of its own, whose functioning must be followed by the new authorities of Teulada-Moraira.
A similar process took place in Calp. We cannot give the exact date when they got their own Council or municipality from the lordly power, but it is perfectly logical, that either before, after, or at the same time as Teulada-Moraira, and by the same route they will achieve it.
A few years later, specifically from 1382, the existence of the juries of the place of Calp is documented, which implies the presence of an autonomous municipal government. In the same year, Pere March, the local procurator, had to go to Benissa to try to solve the perpetual problem of the guaitas marítimas for the umpteenth time. There it is stated that the inhabitants of the "termino" must take care of the surveillance of the coast between the port of Altea and Moraira. Before taking any decision, the representative of the town gathers information from the justices, juries, etc. of the whole "term", i.e. Calpe, Benissa and Teulada-Moraira, as the decision to be taken will affect the whole "term". Finally, the decision will be made to maintain the obligations that were customary in the past, with each town taking charge of a specific area of the coast, which more or less coincides with the current coastal limits of each municipality.
We are facing a new situation. In the "Calpe Castle area" three municipalities have emerged, Benissa, Calpe and Teulada-Moraira, with an undivided municipal area and therefore common to all three. This situation was impossible to sustain for long. A division of the territory was necessary and this took place in the year 1.386, between the 7th and 16th of February.
The partition of the towns has come to us through copies. The originals, as each village kept a document, have disappeared along with the historical archives of each village. Thanks to the fact that this division was registered in the Civil Court of Justice in Valencia, we have been able to learn about the facts.
In the year 1.563 and due to the poor state of the parchment in Benissa's possession, the local university asked for a copy of the document to be made. The notary in charge of making it doubts, since the original is found with abundant holes, which prevent the reading of some pieces. The Civil Justice is approached and this orders that the copy is made, leaving blank the areas where the deterioration prevents its reading and that the notary, when he proceeds to validate the new document, points them out, ordering that the copy be registered in the books of his court.
We have one of the copies in front of us, in which we see that this last episode starts before the dates indicated by the document. On 7th February 1386, before Don Alfonso, Count of Denia, the representatives of Calpinos and Teuladinos, Nicolás Cabrera and Pascual Banyuls respectively, handed over a letter referring to a previous request, made by the inhabitants of the three villages together, in which they asked that these places belonging to the "district of the castle of Calpe" be separated from each other.
Nicolás Cabrera and Pascual Banyuls asked the gentleman to appoint a representative, either in the person of Pere March, his attorney general, known to all and father of the poet Ausias March, or any other person, to proceed on his behalf and point out the landmarks of the new territories.
Don Alfonso, considering the request reasonable, since everyone thinks that the division will solve many of the problems that have arisen between the three communities, orders Pere March, his general procurator in all his Valencian domains, as soon as he is able to appear in the area and in full freedom and before the leaders of the three communities, to give each of them a territory.
Once the preliminaries had been resolved, on 15th February, Pere March, in the company of the notary Francesc Fiscal, the representative of Benissa Arnau Ivars and that of Teulada Bernat Cortés, and on the ground, proceeded to separate the territories of both, acting as a witness to the act Domingo Jorro and Domingo Cabrera.
Later, on 16th February of the same month and year, Pere March and Guillem Buigues, from Benissa, with the approval of the Calpinos, proceeded to divide Calpe and Benissa, in the presence of the aforementioned notary and the same witnesses.
Once the separation had been carried out on the ground, the document was drafted, witness to the event, in the presence of the Council of Benissa and the representatives of the Calpe Castle district, all of them gathered in the Church of Benissa.
The "Termino del Castillo de Calpe", of Muslim origin and depending on the needs of a particular historical moment, had lost its raison d'être.
From before the definitive division, the defence of the coast and other administrative and military obligations were organised by the three most important centres of population, which extended their protection over the closest farmhouses, which from 1,386 onwards would form part of one of the three municipal districts. At the beginning of the 15th century, the "district" included the towns of Calp, Benissa and Teulada-Moraira, together with the alquerias of Benimaraig, Lleus, Albinyent, Senija, Canor, Benimanyull, all of which had a Muslim population, while the towns were totally dominated by the Christians. In fact, before the end of the 14th century, Benissa and Teulada no longer had an Islamic population within their walls, while Calpe had a raval or morería (this was a neighbourhood where the Moorish population lived in a Christian town in the Middle Ages).
The stately administration had been founded in the Muslim organisation of the "municipal district of Calpe", that is, a single municipality that had various population centres of the same category. The new situation created from 1,386 onwards could cause numerous problems for the county officials with regard to jurisdiction and the collection of duties and taxes.
To avoid problems, the county administration kept the figure of the "baile" (this was the main seigniorial official, in charge of the care and government of the county's assets, and was therefore the permanent representative in the "district" of Don Alfonso or his procurator; as such, he was responsible for delivering the taxes collected jointly.) of the "district of castle".
Pere March did not forget the possible problems that could arise from the new situation, and in the same partition document he dictated some rules to be followed.
"The peita" was the main tax, at least the most abundant. It was levied on real estate, and therefore its distribution should not cause major problems. The municipality paid the sum of 1,500 salaries together. From 1,386 onwards, each municipality paid according to the value of its territories.
The territorial division did not alter the cadastral value, but a new situation arose for the inhabitants of these places. It could happen that a neighbour of one of them had his land in the municipality other than his own, and the doubt arose as to where he should pay "the peita". The solicitor established that "la peita" would be paid in the municipality where the property was held, whether or not the person lived there.
The same problem arose with the 1,000 annual salaries they paid from a census (a debt security, guaranteed by a mortgage with a retro agreement, which gives the creditor the right to a fixed income until the capital is repaid). The amounts will be distributed in the same way as "la peita", obliging equally the foreigners, neighbours and property owners of each place. The jurors will be responsible for collecting the money, and on the dates set for payment.
Any holder of property in one of the municipalities, even if he does not reside there, will have to contribute to the common expenses caused by the payment of the salaries of justice, juries, etc. Likewise, unforeseen and unspecified expenses will be regulated by the Council of each place before determining the amounts to be paid.
The partition of the territory was the solution to a series of problems and the facilitation of others, since it involved a decentralisation of the communal government. But some issues that caused previous friction continued. Cattle and the use of communal pastures were the cause of numerous disputes between the new communities over the centuries. Likewise, the so many times mentioned defence of the coast, which had been highly regulated since ancient times, was the cause of continuous stately interventions due to the lack of agreement regarding the burdens of each town.
The administrative division created a new problem, perhaps the most spectacular, due to the amount of ink spilled and its uselessness. The dispute between Calpe and Benissa over which of the two was the capital arose.
Despite all this, the division carried out by Pere March was never called into question, nor did it ever cause any kind of problem or dispute, as occurred in other places, where territorial boundaries were the cause of lengthy disputes and even armed confrontations.
What we cannot hide is that the three communities, linked to each other by lordships and by various final clauses of the partition, had to share the same historical path. Real life moved by interests led to disputes and lawsuits which we hope to be able to bring to light soon. However, despite the domestic disagreements between the three municipalities, we must recognise that the substance of the document of 1386, i.e. the limits of each term, never caused any confrontation. Therefore we conclude, in the words of the Councillor for Culture, that the division of Pere March was a well done and therefore lasting work. Time has demonstrated this.