By Andrés Gea Arias
Why this name?
I have always had a great desire to know the origin and why the names of our towns and cities are so named, as is natural, and additionally I wanted to investigate and find out how Castril became called Castril. It is a shame that the documentation that we have available to us nowadays is not exactly abundant, because otherwise we could fully satisfy this desire; so we have to recognize that we have found very little or nearly nothing when investigating the history and the origin of this, our Castril de la Peña.
Certainly, it was in 1490, with Hernando de Zafra, the First Lord of these lands and ancient and noble of the town, when Castril started to become "Castril" and to hold the title of "Villa". Before there was only an important castle on a mount and some protected shacks below the rock, which nowadays we call "Villa Alta".
But it is not my proposition to write a paper on its history, but simply to set out the data that I have collected regarding the different names that this town has had over the centuries. Due to my curiosity, I have read and copied everything that I have found regarding the said name, and, even though it is very little, it is sufficient to see how the word 'Castril' is the result of linguistic evolution over the centuries. And, as I say, in searching for and investigating, I have found these quotes which I will now set out.
D. Luis Magaña Visbal, in his work 'Baza Histórica' makes the following reference, which I copy literally, and which says this:-
"For five years Amílcar was governing Bastetania, and while luck was on his side, turned his back. Having gone to besiege Illice, according to some, or Helia or Valia according to others, his attempt was totally destroyed thanks to a clever stratagem by the Spanish military leader Orison, who sent a great number of brave bulls with burning wooden rods tied to their heads at the Carthaginians.
The Carthaginians were in chaos, with horrible deaths, but Amílcar managed to escape Bastetania thanks to the speed of his horse. But by wanting to cross a river by the place that Titus Livius called 'CASTRUM ALTUM', which some have translated as 'Castril', he perished by drowning (230BC)".
And following on, we cite sources which tell us about the origin of the name.
The 'Enciclopedia de Andalucía' says:-
It seems that the Romans were the first to occupy the rock of "La Peña" to construct a fortified camp. It was called "Campamentillo". Later, the arabs made a home in Castril".
The 'Diccionario Madoz', on the subject of Castril says:-
"above this (the church), the ruins of an arabic fortification called "CASTULLÁN, nowadays Castril".
"After a long period under the Moors, before the definitive War of Granada, diverse documents that have been preserved from the royal archives of the nasrids give the name of the 'Lord of CAXTEL'".
In the "Historia del Obispado de Guadix-Baza" it says:-
"D. Fray Diego de Deza, Arzobispo de Sevilla, due to a bull dispatched by Cardinal Mendoza in Segovia on 26th of May 1505, declared in Santiago de Baza two beneficiaries,...and another in Castril, whose town we understand is what the elderly call "CASTAÓN", even though others call it "CAZORLA".
In the book 'Pueblos de la Diócesis de Guadix-Baza':-
"Regarding this rock there is a castle called "VALGRUADO", later "CASTIEL", and later still "CASTRIL".
The previously mentioned Gonzá Barberán says with respect to this:-
"How well the christians knew that small and inaccessible castle "Peña de Castril", rocky and challenging, placed in a situation for adventures between Cazorla and Segura. Then it was called "VALGRUADO, only to be renamed by the Seguran Knights of St. James, on a day that they were undone, trusted in the fortification. Following a custom that then usually failed when they tried to deal with the populations, "VALGRUADO" passed to "CASTIEL", in the manner of "MONTIEL", under D. Alfonso de Sabio (1252 - 1284), and continued later as "CASTEL".
This confirms the following statement:
"In 1285 Castril became a bastion of the Order of St. James and had the name CASTEL. 'One Tuesday, 20th November 1285 The Order of St. James received also CASTEL between Quesada and Huésca(r)'".
And Antonio Guillén, in his works "Orto y ocaso de una zona fortificada (The rise and fall of a fortress)" says:-
"Constituted by the nasarene emirate, the valley of Baza was classified, from the start, in the Ferreira, suffragan of the Cora de Elvira. According to the arabic geographer Al Idrisi the limits of this area were Medina Bastha (Baza), Tíscar, and Quesada. The region was completed by a group of nearby castles or "hins: Galira, Orx, CASTEL, Oxcar, Bacur, Benamaurel, Cúllar, Zúzar, etc.".
Ginés Pérez de Hita, in his book "Guerras Civiles de Granada" (Civil Wars of Granada), when speaking of the sites of Baza, says:-
"There is Baza, Bezalema, Castilleja, Galera, Vélez Blanco, Tirieza, Zújar, CRASTIL, Huéscar, Cuéllar, Vélez Rubio, Freila, Benamaurel, Orce, Cavillas and Xiquena".
And, finally, in the stalls below the choir in Toledo Cathedral, created by the master sculptor Rodrigo Alemán, is a representation of the reconquest of various towns of the province of Granada, amongst which is to be found Castril, and in chair 10 on the Evangelio side appears the name CASTUL (1489AD). These chronological facts are known and the verification of the names were taken from a study by Juan de Mata Carriazo.
Castrum Altum, Campamentillo, Castullán, Caxtel, Castaó, Valgruado, Castiel, Crastil, Castul, these are the names that across the centuries have identified this beautiful corner, until it was left with the name Castril, and who knows, over the next few centuries, will be given another name that we can never imagine. After such, we will continue calling her CASTRIL DE LA PEÑA.
It is a shame that we can't talk about the history of the thousands of years old Peña de Castril, witness to many centuries because one day she saw in her shelter some tiny hovels that, as they were recently built, were small but with great strength and vitality.
Because, naturally, the first-born is thousands of years old, and later her daughter, Castril town, was, before being a town a fortress with names such as Castrum Altum, Caxtel, Castul, Castulán, Castaón, Valgruado, and finally Castril; and with her mother's surname "de la Peña" is called Castril de la Peña, and Castril delights in calling her such, and that she is called such.
But the mother, Peña, was born mute, and has no desire to talk to us, nor could she tell us anything, and will stay mute forever.
But, without doubt, La Peña with her impregnable shape and singular height and visibility was always a stimulus to occupation after man, sadly, learnt the art of war as well as the art of defending himself from his enemies. Man converted her to a fortification and crowned her with a castle.
Primitive man, the Romans, the Goths etc. were guests of this ancient rock.
The historian Enriquez de Jorquera in his Annals of Granada, talking about the fortification says:-
"...its foundations are ancient, according to the castle obtained by D. Fernando Quinto and his consort, which they gave to her as part of the inheritance of Fernando de Zafra, her secretary of state who put her into governance".
"It seems that the Romans used the shelter of La Peña to build a camp which they later called "Campamentillo". (Enciclopedia de Andalucía)
And the moorish king, Alhamar, in 1232 placed a line of fortifications and castles in the northwest to protect himself from King Fernando the saint: Tíscar, Castril, Benamaurel, Castilléjar, Orce etc. Some of these fortifications were on rocks such as those of Castril, Freila, Galera, of those, according to D. Vicente González Barberán, were situated at the entrance to mountain valleys where they effected their own raids or penetrated the enemy. Other castles were plain or nearly plain, such as those at Huéscar, Orce, Benamaurel etc.
Castril, as part of this defensive line occupied a place that would have put her continuously at the hands of the Christians and alternatively the moors.
Castril in those times was solely a fortification with a few dwellings grouped around the slopes of La Peña (Villa Alta today).
Miguel Ruiz Calvente, in his study 'Memoria Histórico-artística de la parroquial de Castril' says:-
"In reality, when la Peña de Castril acquired real importance was in medieval times before the irresistible advance of the Christian troops; it is this moment that I believe that the fortification of Castril was founded, initially a lookout tower, as a strategic place from which can be seen a huge area to the North and South; the foundations being laid about the end of the eleventh century and the start of the twelfth".
In 1282 the Plaza de Castril was dedicated to the Orden of Santiago (St. James of the Sword). Infante D. Sancho, later Sancho IV, promised to donate her to Librilla de Murcia in exchange for the castle Santiaguista. Said dedication was signed in Seville in 1285:-
"The twentieth day of November in the year 1285, The Order of St. James of the Sword will receive Caxtel, between Quesada and Huesca(r)". (Archivo Orden de Santiago (Uclés) box 311, No 15)
Castril fort, by its situation in the defensive line continually changed owners, now Christians, now moors, as we have said previously that these poor people were continuously living in a state of constant worry by living on the frontier between two kingdoms.
In this borough is the site of a battle that has passed into history, a sad event that occured on 28th July 1438 on the plains called "Los Tubos" where there were the deaths of two illustrious chiefs of the moors and the Christians, irreconcilable enemies; El Adelantado de Cazorla, Rodrigo de Perea who captained the Spanish, and Yusef Aben-Cerraje, son of the moorish king, "young and handsome who had enraptured the hearts of many moorish women with his gallantry and his rare skills in handling arms".
Many fell in this sad affair called 'Llano de Tubos'. Aben-Cerraje fell as a result of a stab wound and an arrow, exsanguinating in the field of battle, was carried to his tent in the arms of his soldiers and shortly expired. Between the Christians there was much sadness as a result of the death of military governor Rodrigo de Perea, who fell, dead, at the hands of a Marinid soldier who thrust his sharpened pikestaff into his intestines.
(Centuries later, in 1838, 'Llano de Tubos' was again the scene of another bloody battle: in this place the Carlist expeditionary forces were totally destroyed, having come from the mountains hungry and shattered and trying to enter Castril. They were surprised by General Pardiñas, and the blood ran again in "Llanos de Tubos").
And having made this little addition, we come to this short historical glance at the last days of 1489, in which Castril fell definitively into the hands of the Christians. It was on the 4th December (St. Barbara's Day), after a long and difficult siege the Catholic Kings triumphantly entered Baza, and Baza, along with the towns of the district, came under the power of said kings. At that time the moorish governor of Castril was Abdallah Al-Cortob, who donated the important Plaza de Castril withought a fight, and for being a good and peaceful man was named The Grand Sherriff of Castril for all time.
And so it came to pass on the 16th February 1490, the main date in Christian history; after so many centuries of insecurity, of fighting, of passing from one hand to another, Castril definitively passed to Christian hands. The Catholic Kings, due to the honour signed in Écija on 16th February 1490, conceded to their trusted secretary Hernando de Zafra, as a reward for his enormous services and works, perpetually by inheritance for him and his successors the fortification of Castril and all her boroughs and lands, mountains, rivers etc. All came within the bounds of this honour as well as Hernando de Zafra being promoted to be The First Lord and Noble. Absolute owner in totality of this corner of nature made beautiful and rich by The Creator. All was owned by Hernando de Zafra, all pertained to him.
But to create a town D. Hernando needed inhabitants, and he didn't delay in realising that Castril needed to become a town because on 13th September 1490, which was only seven months after he received the lordship of Castril, by using the system called 'Cartas Puebla', which he wrote toi attract people to the town to (re)populate it and to work the fields.
And, the 'Carta Puebla' resulted in new inhabitants who came to live and that "now two hundred inhabitants and more if possible". Those, as a result of the rich woodlands, the waters, the lands, mountains and pastures, complying with the conditions imposed by the Lord of Castril, which were that of one fifth tax, which later was reduced to one tenth, of all products, reserving absolute control of the mountains and pastures; with these conditions there was the growth of construction of houses "from the rock to below The Colmenar (beehives), from the Puerta de Afuera (boundaries) to the river, and will be theirs and their inheritors who are living there".
And, in this way, Castril became Castril. The first Christian governor was called Fernando de Aguirre, and the previous governor, the moor Abdallah Al-Cotrob "great lord and landowner", was named sheriff in perpetuity, in recompense and recognition of his ceding of the fortification to the Catholic Kings.
Don Hernando de Zafra, first lord of the lands and ancient and noble of the town and its lands, in exercising his rights, conceded the Carta Puebla to its inhabitants on 13th September 1490, in the terms that resulted in the schedule declaring:-
"Conditions of the population of Castril in 1490. That I, Fernando de Zafra ('Fernando' and 'Hernando' seem to have been interchangeable), Secretary and accountant to the King and Queen, our lords, Lord of the town of Castril, with the approval of the sheriff Andalla el Controb, regarding the inhabitants of said town:-
Firstly to attract approximately 200 new inhabitants, or more if possible; it will be necessary to divide the estate and lands given to bread making and the vineyards as was suggested by said sheriff Andalla el Cotrob and Fernando de Aguirre, my sheriff of said town, to take hold of the lands so as to sow, from the area below the fortification, the river, leaving me the market garden that is mine .....SORRY - STILL IN TRANSLATION.
And how well we can apply Fiducci's description of Castril's popular Spanish architecture:-
"The houses are generally grouped together and attached to the hillsides, with narrow, sinuous, twisting streets below the remains of a moorish or Christian castle, the ground floor windows being protected by bars, small, usually with only two floors and no patio, and whitewashed."
The community now founded by new inhabitants, Castril was born again in Christianity and as a parish.
The Catholic Kings gave Castril to Hernando de Zafra (a heroic man) by means of a Royal Decree in Écija on 16th February 1490, his natural son Hernán Sánchez de Zafra being written as his inheritor, signed in Granada on 28th May 1507.
HIS ORIGIN: Born in Zafra, Badajoz, the son of commoners (their names are unknown). He left on foot from his town on the court road in search of work and a new life. It is not possible to find more details of his young life except that he had to be a 'tenacious and successful' man, that he ended up as the Secretary to King Fernando and that he negotiated the seizure of Granada.
His inheritor was his son, Hernando de Zafra, by the signing of a deed on 30th October 1534 in Granada, and by Royal deed of primogeniture, the Lord of Castril. In addition, he owned the farmstead of Cortes de Baza.
Another decree of 8th May 1540 confirms this primogenture, and on 22nd July 1540, in front of a notary and witnesses, signed a document of priviledge to his eldest son D. Hernando de Zafra, saying that, being of 14 years of age, he was "accepting the primogeniture", and in the way of signing the acceptance "kissed the hands of his father".
On 15th October 1564 he signed a will in Granada, which became effective on 25th November of the same year, stating that Da Catalina de los Cobos, his wife, named his son Hernando de Zafra the universal heir along with the rest of his children.
On 10th July 1574 (there was litigation and a re-calculation of the properties, but the children came to an agreement) he signed a will in favour of Hernando Sánchez de Zafra, in agreement with his brother Cristóbal de Torres, legal heir of Hernando de Zafra and Da Catalina de los Cobos.
On 8th August 1579, through another will of Hernando de Zafra whereby he requested to be interned beside his great grandfather in the monastery of Granada, which was executed by his brother Cristóbal de Torres, to whom he had assigned 200 ducados.
The child Fernando Luis de Zafra was the inheritor on 25th August 1579, under the care of his mother Da Úrsula de Guzmán; there were errors in some of the clauses in the deed, which were corrected on 25th May 1580.
On 15th November 1586, another document was created to satisfy the wishes of some complainants regarding the documents of 9th December 1574 and of 1580. As a result of these dubious clauses, a Royal Decree was signed in El Escorial and endorsed on 1st April 1589.
In 1601, another inheritor Andrés de Torres - claimed in front of the mayor of Granada the primogeniture.
According to the Royal Decree of 22nd December 1608, D. Fernando Luis de Zafra sold the cortijo in Cortes de Baza and land in Granada.
On 18th February 1802, in Aranjuez D. Mariano Ortiz de Guinea and Teráne, lord of Castril and husband of Da María Teresa de Zafra y Guzmán, inhabitants of Madrid, promoted new candidates to be lords of Castril, and this was passed through the courts as a package.
On 14th December 1812 Da María de Zafra, widow, ratified the previous wishes of D. Eugenio Vázquez which were in favour of her son D. Lucas Vázquez.
When the Cádiz Royal Courts (1812 and anon) eliminated most lordships, the Lord of Castril escaped the laws. This law was confirmed in 1834, but the Lordship of Castril wasn't abolished.
On 23rd August the Law of Lords is published, with the proxy of D. Lucas de Zafra Vázquez, to initiate the lawsuit in the Huéscar courts and present the Royal Decree of the 16th November 1816, and to resolve this he presented the letter of priviledge of 16th Febrero 1490.
Due to the Royal Schedule of 13thth January 1833 they shewed mercy to D. Juan de Zafra, Marquis of Los Arenales, being the eighth grandchild of Hernando de Zafra. and of Da Catalina de los Cobos, founders of the primogeniture of Castril.
On 14th June 1845 D. Juan de Zafra died and with him died the estate. Years later, in 1879, they re-introduced Vicente de Zafra y Megías and his wife Da María Carrasco. It continued through 1882 without resolution.
(It is not known the exact road along which this progeniture followed, and whose links there were with the town 'Hernando de Zafra, courtesan and businessman', as written by D. Manuel Garzón Pareja. One can read this book in the Royal Chancellery of Granada).
NOTE: These notes are taken from 'Cuadernos de estudios medievales', University of Granada.
During the Summer of 1488 and the first months of 1489 the Catholic Kings took over the towns of Huéscar from the governor Suleimán al-Calib and Castril (an important place) from the governor Al-Cotrob without a fight, as well as Cúllar, Benamaurel, Casilléjar, Galera, Orce etc.
On 4th December 1489, after a long and arduous fight, the Catholic Kings triumphally entered Baza liberating the town from muslim control, and with all of the towns previously mentioned, the whole district came under Catholic control. This only left Granada to fall, which it did on 2nd January 1492.
Once the campaigns to free Baza and Guadix were successful, and then Granada, the Catholic Kings were in a position to inform the Vatican that the Papal bull of Innocence VIII had been complied with on 4th August 1486.
For this bull, the pope coceded to the Cathilic Kings Fernando and Isabel "...the power to erect and consecrate churches, offices of dignitaries, benefices, in these cities, towns and places of the eviction of infidels (moors), and for the new believers.
The bull says: "Considering the trust shown and the singular devotion of our beloved children Fernando and Isabella, undoubted King and Queen of Castilla y León, have for us and for the Roman Catholic Church, and judging with paternal love the fact that they, such intrepid fighters for Christ and as athletes with powerful hands and strong arms destroyed without rest the muslim infidels under the King of Granada with potent effect, without pardoning nor any cost, considering it fair, even more, obligated, to come to, with benevolence to their wishes, specially to those who are concerned about the propagation of the ecclesiastical benefice and the divine cult of those places, above all after knowing that our beloved son Íñigo López de Mendoza, Count od Tendilla, our ambassador sent on behalf of said kings, like those, such Catholic princes and carriers of the orthodox trust, having been penniless by their hand, tied to their many imperial cities, towns and places of said king and were awaiting captivation of the same kingdom, and with great devotion desire for the exultation of the name of God, and that the divine cult should flourish and prosper in those places, that again to build and institute dignitaries, Canonries, Sinecures and any other eclesiastical benefices in the churches, cathedrals, and colleges of those places, in which places the said cult were totally abandoned as a result of the occupation of the same by the infidels".
To satisfy the bull, Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, D. Pedro Gonzálo and the Archbishop of Seville were authorized.
"With our apostolic authority" - the bull continued - "and for the tenor of these we decree and order that our beloved son Pedro, presbyterian cardinal with the title of sainted Cross of Jerusalem which is also to dignify the governer of the Church of Toledo for concession and dispensation of the apostolic throne and our venerable brother Archbishop of Seville and whoever are successors the latter to found and constitute a sufficient number of offices, canonries, prebends and other ecclesiastical buildings in each one of the cathedrals and other churches in the cities, towns and villages of the said King of Granada, already conquered or that in the future with the additional divinity are to conquer; and by dowries from them apply the parcels of land, fruit farms, taxes and whichever properties in said areas, or for the mentioned kings we concede and assign to them, and they can have free rein of all of it and each one that we concede to the said cardinal and Sevillian archbishop and their successors....given in St. Peter's Basilica of Rome, on 4th August of the year of the Lord's encarnation, 1486, according to our pontiff."
In virtue of this bull, and with the agreement of the Catholic Kings said cardinal proclaimed in the Alhambra a bull on 21st May 1492, in which they founded the cathedral in Guadix, collegiate church of Baza, Santa María de Huéscar and all of the parishes of the Guadix Diocese which is mentioned in the same document; being the first bishop of Guadix Diocese since the reconquest, D. Friar Garcí de Quixada of the Order of Saint Francis.
In the stated bull they say "In the Collegiate Church of Santa María in the city of Baza we will not create anything as it has already been done by the Apostolic Chair of the title-holder of Santa Cruz of Jerusalem, Pedro Mendoza, by memory. In the parish church of Santiago, Baza in the diocese of Guadix there are two serving benefices and a sacristy. In the parish church of San Juan, Baza, two other benefices and a sacristy....".
The bull carried on by citing the foundation of the other parishes - of Huéscar, Caniles, Benamaurel, Zújar, Freila, Galera etc. ... as well as the serving benefices and sacristies. Regarding the foundation of that in Castril it says: "In the Diocese of Guadix, a simple serving benefice and a sacristy".
As a curious note, the latin text that corresponds to the paragraph relating to Castril says: "In ecclesia parroquiali Sanctae Mariae Loci Castril dictae guadixensis Diocesis, unum simplex servitorum Benefitium et unam sacristiam".
In the "History of the Archbishop of Guadix-Baza" written by Doctor Pedro Suárez in 1696 he says:-
"At the time when the Catholic Kings restored the Hoya de Baza, there was founded the parish churches by a great cardinal, building them in the mosques that were purified. Later, in 1492, due to the bull expedited in Alhambra, there was the institution of rents from the mosques that pertained to his eminence, as well as in the district of Guadix following the same bull. After some years D. Fray Diego de Deza, archbishop of Seville, following the bull that was despatched in Segovia on 26th May 1505, and using the expeditions of Innocence VIII for the grand cardinal created the benefices and sacristies in the churches and places of Guadix, Baza and Huéscar, according to the bull that was dispatched in Seville on 26th May 1505 using for this the dispatches and for some time left Seville. He created two benefices and a sacristy in the parish church of Santiago de Baza and another in that of Castril, in which town the elderly call Castaáon, even though others call it Cazorla."
And considering that they were following the instructions from these bulls and decrees, they gave the foundations for the birth of the parishes and beneficios which became official, and we know from historical documents in the Diocesan Archive of Guadix the names and surnames of some of those living in the parish of Castril. In this way, between 1557 and 1587, we know that the parish vicar was D. Cristobál Sedeño, and in 1588 it was D. Sebastián Romero and in 1602 it was D. Juan Fernández Malpartida, etc...
However, even though the parish of Castril was founded according to the Papal bulls as previously mentioned, not everything ended happily. Baza and the towns in its region as well as Huéscar became involved in a huge lawsuit between the archbishop of Toledo and that of Guadix; both wanted control of these newly conquered towns. The archbishop of Toledo, D. Pedro González de Mendoza made noises about annexing the bishopric of Baza and her towns but he didn't get approval from the Catholic Kings, especially Isabel.
D. Carlos Asenjo Sedano, in his book "Escipology of the bishopric of the Accitana church", with reference to this lawsuit says: "The problems of the government and the economics which followed in this bishopric of Baza, as we have previously said, that he founded an abbotcy in virtue of the same canonic faculties by which they authorized the building of the accitana church. But, how he wanted that the jurisdictional appointment of said Abadía, he didn't comment on this construction, nor what he would do to the diocese, the more rights he would have over Guadix, Toledo, Granada; such inscription stayed in the air. Firstly, in favour of Toledo, by the influence of the grand cardinal, to the current archbishop of Toledo; later favouring Guadix, by the indication of Queen Isabel; later, at the death of her, and by the influence of Cisneros again for Toledo, which instituted a huge lawsuit, and which they were unable to resolve certain decisions, for the continuous appeals and resistences, until at last they resolved them by means of a concord between the bishops of Guadix and Toledo."
A huge lawsuit which was ended and resolved by a concord signed in Valladolid on 15th March 1544, being confirmed by Pope Paul III on 12th April 1544.
This concord was made in the place where the Archbishop of Toledo, D. Juan Tavera and Bishop of Guadix D. Antonio del Águila. By this means the lawsuit was resolved: Baza and the hamlets in the area would pass to the Mitre of Guadix, but appeals would be reserved for the Toledo metropolitan, via an appeal judge residing in Quesada. The tithes of Baza would remain in Guadix, although a part would pass to Toledo.
Regarding Huéscar and her curates, they were to be passed to Toledo, but a third part of her tithes would go to the Bishop of Guadix.
But not all was resolved by this concord, and appeals and feuds accompanied by moans continued. They had to come to a concord in 1953 to put it all to bed! During this time they tried to readjust the boundaries of the dioceses to the provincial limits, by which means Hué was removed from the Diocese of Toledo and placed under Guadix.
Now that the community of Castril had been founded they didn't hesitate in planning for the construction of the parish church, so that the citizens could practice their religious cults.
Knowing that many Christian constructions were built on the sites of Moorish mosques but this was not the case in Castril, as Castril probably didn't have a mosque as at that time there wasn't a a village or conurbation below the fortress, and the small group of moors who lived in the fort practiced their religion in a private house.
No document exists, not in the parish archives nor in the diocese that describes to us the construction - all papers have disappeared over time, which is why we can't know when construction started, nor the architect who designed it, nor the master mason who built it.
If we can assume that Castril was selivered by the last muslim governor, Abdallah Al-Cotrob and named Hernando de Zafra as the first Lord of Castril, that there then was the time to plan the construction of the church, he also being the founder of some convents such as Sta. Catalina de Granada, where his remains rest.
Nonetheless, like Ruiz Calvente said: "...we have some indications to a way of placing the date of instigation of the church. Its foundation by the Catholic Kings, once they had founded the Bishopric of Granada, in that it was later to pass to Toledo, under whose mandate was the construction of the church. The works could have started at the end of the 15th century under Hernando de Zafra, in that he was interested in attracting settlers and converting muslims to Catholicism."
But, some of the stoneworks that we see in the church, namely on the 'Puerto de Sol' is the same as can be seen in the sacristia of the Cathedral of Santiago de la Compostela designed by Covarrubias as well as in Jaén, Hornos de Segura and Las Torres in Úbeda. These are nearly identical to the architectural style called Spanish 'plateresco floreciente' and were built in the last days of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the sixteenth. All show the same style of decoration, such as a triangular pediment.
The undoubtedly finest sign of the combined use od design, according to Prof. Hernández Cuéllar, paraphrasing González Barber$aacute;n, says that in Castril there is a symbiosis between the style of Covarrubias, as the architect of all Toledo and Siloé., Granadan master, who was the builder of all constructions in Baza and Huéscar. This doorway was built in the first years of the Archbishopric of Cardinal Tavera. This cardinal died in 1545 and the architect Covarrubias in 1570.
A beautiful coat of arms decorates the tympanum of the triangularpediment and another identical crown on the buttress of the walls of the church, each are the arms of D. Juan Tavera, Archbishop Cardinal of Toledo between 1534 and 1545, the era when Castril and the Abbey of Baza pertained to the jurisdiction of Toledo, and the sign of this jurisdiction over Castril was stamped, in the way one would stamp a document with the shield of the said cardinal, to certify that he looked carefully at the construction works which were taking place in the church of Castril. We know for sure that this doorway was built between the years 1534 and 1545, the year that Cardinal Tavera died, as previously stated.
Two medallions decorated with laurels appear in said doorway, in these are represented the marqueses of Zafra as patrons and instigators of the construction of the church.
(The last restoration of this doorway took place between 11thand 27th January 1984 as a result of a meeting signed in Granada on 6th March 1982 between Provincial Diputation of Granada and the culture minister, Soledad Becerril and the President of the Diputation, JoséSánchez Faba for the restoration and consolidation of historic and artistic monuments situated in the capital and different boroughs of the province, amongst which one finds the 'Puerta del Sol' of Castril Church. The restoration project was performed by architect D. Eduardo Ortiz Moreno. The contractor was D. José Montijano, The stonemasons and woodcarrvers were D. José Villegas Torralba and the brothers Antonio and Valeriano Ramírez Ramírez, residents of Albolote, Granada. The stone for the restoration, called "Batey" was brought from Monóvar, Alicante. Those responsible were the Bishop of Guadix, D. Ignacio Noguer Carmona, parish priest D. Andrés Gea Arias (author of this book) and the mayor Da Encarnación García Peregrín. The cost was 696,269ptas. (equivalent to 4,194€).
And having made this parenthesis, we will continue with the study of the doorway called 'la Lonja'. According to the enscription in it, it seems that the building works on the church weren't completed until 1612. The enscription says: "Being donated Vo Fernández Malpartida, administrator, 1612".
We can infer from this that the vicar and the administrator of the parish were responsible for the construction of this doorway. But, who was the architect?, which stonemason?, who was the sculptor who created the Virgin and child which crowns the said doorway? We don't know, in the same way that we don't know from which quarry the stone was extracted, but in reality, thanks to stone cancer, the stone is slowly turning to sand.
The style of this doorway was described by the previously mentioned Ruiz Calvente saying "...the North doorway, for its part is immersed, due to its foundation in 1612 during the final renaissance which was clearly influenced by the Escorial aesthetics, devoid of all decoration, which left showing the structure of the doorway with its sense of line, arch, column, entablature and niche crowned by the triangular pediment".
And, finally, we focus on the roof. What was the original roof of Castril Church like?To reply to this question we give a hand to licencee Manuel Ruiz in his "Historico-artistic memorial of the PArish Church of Castril", which says "...difficult to guess about the probable roof, but the notes that I have seem to be corresponding to a Gothic Mudejar church that characterizes this gothic spread through Andalusia, that put in order to the early years of the 16th century with the plateresque aesthetic magnificently represented in the 'Puerta del Sol' of the Parish Church of Castril".
There are cvarious authors - Barberán, and in 'The Artistic Inventory of The Province of Granada", D. José Manuel Pita Andrade - who estimate that the central nave was covered with stucco. This link with the Mudejar, completed with the gothic cycle that leaves a coffered ceiling in the access door to the belltower, and the rest of the gothic arches and the gothic ribs in the right lateral nave covered by the Victorian dome, one must think that the construction of the church covered both periods. Lastly there is a link between this type of church that Leopoldo Torres Balbás defines as having the characteristics of last gothic, in which gothic and Mudejar elements combine.
But this possible restauration, that gave special enchantment to the church was completely reduced to ashes during the disastrous destruction by the French soldiers during the burning of Castril in 1810. As we can see, with the fire the church suffered a total change, which we can distinguish perfectly nowadays what remains from 16th century and the rebuilt part from the 19th.
Set next to the great 'Peña', is the 16th century church and the 19th century additions, to the choir and lateral chapel. Of a quite sober renaissance, and equally in the exterior and the interior there is a great simplicity in the decoration, save the said 'Puerta del Sol' and the 'Lonja'. Noting the difference in the quality of the stone used in the construction, that the north facing part is made with tuff, abundant in Castril, the part to the south is softer rock (sandstone, which is in worse condition in certain parts of the walls.
It has a basilical form, its construction is of stone, apart from the part that was rebuilt in the 19th century, as was said previously, easily seen at first sight.
It is configured with three naves on cruciform pillars, separated by formixes cuneoras, which are covered from floor to the top.
The central nave, slightly longer than the laterals, are covered by a dome of a barrel vault with windows and fajon arches that give to some decorated pilasters with mouldings of plaster entablature. The lateral naves are constructed with vaida arches on arches 'de medio punto'. The triumphal arch is semicircular and a slightly pronounced transept.
The transept presents a cupula on divided scallops on eight segments, presented in their centre a octogonal lantern which gives illumination to the this space. The six pillars have a level of the greek cross and the semi-pillars, eight in total, in the form of a half greek cross.
The main chapel, semi-vaulted the same as the choir, situated at the highest at the feet of this nave.
The lateral naves with eight domed vaults, four in each one, all at the same height, and they are divided in four chapels, or more accurately half-chapels, in the lateral walls, accomodating in the middle parts that receive the vaults, being linked in their neoclassical distinct high point edges, an altar table, ionic columns and a triangular pediment, all plastered.
On the left side, in the second section, one can see the patron's altar, 'Nuestra Señora del Rosario', clothed and with the Child in her arms. The image corresponds with 18th century.
In the interior of the temple there is a reserved structure of the 16th century - excepting the sacristy - with the construction of 19th century; on the outside one can see a perfect and clear difference in the fabric between one and another epoch.
Of the stonemason's work are the adjacent walls with some doorways north and south, which we can appreciate as much as the wall adjacent to the southern doorway, and like the said doorway, is adorned with a triangular buttress and the other rectangular. One has to note that the church posesses a vsiible asymmetry regarding its buttresses, and that they don't coincide with each other in a lateral sense.
Its construction is by master masons, and its configuration of three naves on cruciform pillars, are made in the renaissance mode of the time which was very common in the north of our province, la Manch, and theeast, with some developments that vary in the formal decoration, but with a clear unity within the space. It belongs to, it seems, the group, although in a smaller scale, of the churches of Santa María of Huéscar, Puebla de Don Fadrique, Colegiata de Baza etc. in that the greatest variety and richness can be found in the pillars and arches.
Of carved wood, painted and gold in parts.
The high part of the centre is similar to an ancient altarpiece, of the rococo style. It was made in the 18th century but we don't know by whom.
According to Da Dolores Jiménez Muñoz, according to her grandmother, it is part of the altarpiece from the hermitage of 'El Ángel", and that this hermitage was transferred to the parish church, it is in the place that it now occupies.
The sides and the parts under the altarpiece are of recent construction, which is easy to see. The constructor of these parts was D. Luis Fajardo Velázquez, granadan sculptor, who executed the work in 1953 as requested by Sres. Jiménez Muñoz, who financed the reform.
Two boxes adorn the high lateral walls. In obne of these is represented Christ on the cross known as "Christ of Solace", patron of the parish, and in the other, the assumption of the virgen, or Our Lady of the Angels, patron of the parish.
Before the parts of the altarpiece were attached, there were two plaster frames and some paintings with the same themes as these. These paintings were destroyed during the Civil War of 1936.
This altarpiece is adorned with images, in small size, of St. Ramon, in the high part, and the archangels of St. Michael and St. Rafaeil. In the lower part, there is a niche of gilt wood in which there is a tabernacle. On both sides are some carved images of The Immaculate and St. Joseph. All of these carved images were created by the stated sculptor D. Luis Fajardo Velázquez.
The image of the Heart of Jesus that occupies the central niche is a work that was saved by a Castril family during the war of 1936.
The restauration of the altarpiece was done during the time of the parish vicars D. José Antonio Fernández Morales and the manager vicar D. Juan Antonio Pérez Molina.
The altar table is also of wood and gold, with worked legs, and conrinthian style capitals which were created by a disciple of the same artist D. Luis Fajardo Velázquez: who was the carver in 1969, the parish vicar was D. José Gómez Casas, and was financed by the Jiménez Muñoz family.
This parish church as experienced many vicissitudes during the centuries of its existence. That we know with certainty, in 1810 the War of Independence left its destructive mark on on it; still, one can appreciate in its cornices and exterior walls the black colour from the fires which were caused by the French soldiers who totally destroyed and burnt the magnificent artesonado later replaced with the existing vaults for ever losing the art that gave the church a special enchantment.
In the "Artistic Inventory of the Province of Granada", written by D. José Manuel Pita Andrade and D. Vicente González Barberán, it is confirmed that the central nave was artesonado.
It was the acts of capitulation in 1811 and the following years, recorded in the Archives of the Town Hall of Castril to which we refer to know about the sorrowful act of the burning down of the church. The document of 26th October 1811 says:-
"The morning of 26th June 1810, when the Imperial troops entered this town, burnt and stole a large number of papers which were stored in the strong room; the same people ran off with the archives from the town, from chapter houses and the grand houses. which were burnt down, without excluding the parish church, which today is in ruins."
And González Barberán says:-
"After the unexpected assault of this morning, four columns came from four points of the compass, and thoroughly sacking, the abuse and deaths, and the burning down of so many valuable buildings, including the church, whose walls of the choir were the only ones that, due to their strength, resisted the volcano that was the burning vaulted ceiling."
In the sixth book of betrothals of the Parish Archives of Castril there is reflected indirectly the burning and destruction of the church on this sad day 26th June 1810. It is written that on the 18th March 1810, it is said, three months before Castril was invaded by the French soldiers, there was recoded a marriage in the Parish Church. The following marriage, on 6th December 1810, seems to have been celebrated in the Hermitage of the Virgen de la Peña. And in this hermitage were celebrated other marriages up until April of 1811, in which, it seems, that they were practicing their religion as the church wasn't totally restored. In the Diocesan Archivo of Guadix, exists with the date of 5th April 1814, a request from the vicar and the beneficiaries of Castril sent to Ilmo. Señor Dean and Cathedral Chapter to request assistance preventing the entrance of rain through the church roof. Their text is as follows:-
"Ilmo. Sr. Dean and Chapter:
The vicar and the beneficios of the town of Castril, with all respect to yourself, wish to explain that the church roof that has been reduced to ashes by the ferociousnes and barbarity of the French troops and these occupants, without a sacred place to meet to pray and give thanks to the all powerful God and yes, only a reduced private chapel, we see the necessity to appeal to the mercy of the participants of the tithes, not for us to execute great projects, no, solely to protect this temple from rain. .....SORRY - STILL IN TRANSLATION.
The war called 'of Independence' or 'The Peninsular War' (1808 - 1814) marks a waypoint in the history of Spain, the same time that we entered the modern epoch.
This war started with the invasion of the peninsula by the forces of Napoleon, who wanted to put a block on the continent, and to dominate all of the European coasts to prevent the English buying or selling anything in it and to capitulate in poverty.
As Vidal said in "Summary of the History of Spain":-
Portugal, always aligned with England, refused to close her doors to the English, so Napoleon decided to invade this country, so that it would have to do all of its trade with Spain. The French emperor followed the ambitions of Godoy promising him that he would make him the King of the South of Portugal, and in this way obtained permission for his troops to cross Spain, whereby he sent them to Portugal (done through the Treaty of Fontainebleau in 1807). meanwhile, in the Spanish court there exploded serious arguments between Godoy and the inheritor Prince Fernando that had been stirred up by Napoleon.
Spain, alarmed by the presence of French troops in the country, promoted a rebellion in Aranjuez (where there were the courts) and obliged the weak King Carlos IV to remove Godoy, who was about to be assassinated by the crowd and to abdicate, leaving the crown to his son Fernando VII, in March 1808. Napoleon had planned the destruction of the Spanish Kings and to make Spain a vassal state of France, for this he fomented rivalry between King Carlos I and Fernando II promising to each one support against the other.In this way, he deceived them to go to France where, after a trrible argument between father and son, he obliged each of the to renounce the throne and to live in France. Spain was left without a king and Napoleon gave the throne to his brother Giuseppe Buonaparte (Joseph Bonaparte).
Madrid, on finding out, rose up against the French soldiers on 2nd May 1808 and in this way started the War of Independence in which the Spanish, copying the MAdrileños, started the fight against the invaders, which was to last for eight years until they were ejected from Spanish soil.
The period of the French invasion left a mark of destruction and barbarism. The soldiers, directed by unscrupulous generals had entered undefended villages and sacked and robbed them.
For two years and nine months the French forces of more than 50,000 lived in Andalusia. The requistions, thefts and the depredations comprise a chapter unedited in the regional history, even though in all of the municipal archives there is recorded the destruction that the occupation caused, apart from the pecuniary depredations and the pillaging of fine arts which the region suffered, as is known, were incommensurable. The World calculations, and the regional commission of Joseph Bonaparte, estimate the Royal taxation of Andalusia was 600 million reals, a figure not including other charges such as Jaen, when occupied, had to donate 1 million reals and were assigned a monthly tax of 1,800,000 reals, and on the theme of contributions to the war and the support, in February 181 paid up until December 70 million reals. In Malaga, in retribution for resistence, an extraordinary contribution of 12 million reals. Apart from the taxes from public institutions and organizations are the seizures from individuals, there were businessmen who were ruined, the Catholic Church was taxed to destruction, apart from the arts that were stolen, all of which produced a collapse in the commerce of the area, being at its worst in 1812 causing the failure of crops and the inability to feed the people.
And this is what occurred in Castril during those years, sadly recorded, because Castril, naturally, suffered the consequences of this war. It had, after this, a population of 439 homes, equivalent to 1975 souls. This punch to the people of Castril caused suffering in their bodies and their souls - the atrocities, and the French forces who passed through the town, which saw humiliation and their goods were robbed and the town sacked, because the town, having patriotic sentiments wanted to defend its liberty and to not give in to the invading forces. The municipal archive of Castril informs us, amongst its documents and records are some that were written some months and years later, although all that is left are some proofs, details of remains to be judged and reflect the consequences of this disastrous war which left the municipal safes inpoverished and private houses in ruins, and our antecedents lives were destroyed during the tragedy of this war. These documents were written by the most eloquent to give us the story of a great disaster that the French forces sowed from their first visit, leaving in ruin and misery during various years to the town of Castril, as we can deduce from reading such documents.
The death and destruction, the theft of property, the animal stock, stables, fruit and goods, drinks - especially the schnapps which was being produced in abundance thanks to the huge number of vines (no disappeared) and that there was a great input of funds into municipal and private safes; the burning of archives, appraisal and other important documents, the fires produced in the Capital Houses and municipal buildings, not excluding the parish church, the huge contributions and taxes stolen by the French troops in their raids in the town to make themselves effective. The passage of the Fench troops through the town to the East or The Kingdom of Murcia, numbering 10 to 12 thousand men on foot and on horseback, until they could repeat the robbery and sacking. All of these occurrences left the village of Castril in misery which lasted some years, leaving only the "places and roots", they couldn't make money, according to all of the documents, for the town hall had to pay dues to the official departments.
The public documents show how the town of Castril totally resisted the enemy, to the extent of heroism due to the love for their sovereign. In this manner they enraged the French forces who united their forces so that they entered Castril from four sides with blood and fire, killing many inhabitants, many others taking refuge in the mountainous countryside. Against the avalanche of forces, they did not hesitate to resist. Let us bear in mind that, as stated above, the population of Castril at that time was some 1975 souls.We copy the paragraphs from the stated documents which confirm what we said previously:-
"Since when the enemy troops took the capital of Granada, this town decided to resist forcefully. Yes, our population is small, however, their heroism due to their love of the sovereign resulted in resistance that lasted longer than on can imagine. The time came at last to let the Fernch know this, and theydid a huge amount of damage to the French forces, who entered the town with blood and fire. Everything was burned and anyone who wasn't hiding in the mountains were victims of more barbaric vandalism. The itinerant families living in the hard countryside couldn't leave their shelters, being the only way of staying alive...there they had to provide for themselves their neccessities and there they were forced to cultivate lands which were recovered from the enemy's rapacity...
The document from 30th June 1815 refers to the enthusiasm of the town of Castril in defending its freedom, taking up arms against the enemy, but, in numbers infinitely smaller that the French soldiers, and couldn't contain the avalanche of same, and succumbed with the disastrous outcomes which are described in the following document:-
"This town, that decided to sacrifice life and home in the defence of the just cause, took up arms against the tyranny with such enthusiasm and heart that there was not one villager who was in good health who didn't do it, resisted the raids, advances and fire which was done by the enemy, in short numbers, on whom they fired on distinct occasions. The enraged enemy joined foprces, who decided to enter the town in four distinct places at the same time, attacked without leaving any reserves; because they were determined to enter the said town,to rout the townsfolk and defenders, many perishing in the process, to others unhapplily being beheaded, and those they found in their sick beds who couldn't accompany those who took up arms, to whom they burnt, put to the sword and looted, not pardoning the "irrationals", in such a way that in a few days they had depopulated the town of Castril.
The document of 28th August 1815 emphasises the opposition that the town of Castril gave to the enemy. In a request directed to the quartermaster general of the province asking for exemption from taxes:-
"Therefore, to you and of your known graciousness and sympathy towards this benighted town, that has suffered so much due to the infuriated and indignant enemy as a result of the opposition that they placed by obeying your orders, knowing the love that they had for our king...".
There are various documents (18/3/11; 12/10/11; 24/10/12; 30/6/15; 7/3/16) which relate to the burning and disappearance of the archives, documents of the Royal Granary, import duty books, the fire provoked in the Chapter Houses, private houses, and the main buildings including the Royal Granary and the parish church, of which was the vicar D. Mariano Morcillo Hurtado de Mendoza and his co-assistants D. Antonio de Soria and D. Andrés Ortiz.
We don't know with certainty where the chapter houses were - maybe in the same place as the town hall? Was The Royal Granary the building they called the "teatrillo"? In the church building one can see in the exterior cornices, even after more than two hundred years, the blackened stonework which in one day on 26th June 1810 the fires destroyed the artesanism and the enemy stole the items of value. The sad day and the irreperable losses from the church of Castril, theft and profane destruction of same, and as we have said previously, stolen objects of art and pieces of value that, traditionally, were rich in silver. Trustworthy elderly people have told me that they have heard told by their grandparents the great riches that the church possessed in silver; in fact there were only few items that escaped the sacking during the 1936 war.
In 1814, he who continued as the vicar of Castril, D. Mariano Morcillo, sent a request to the dean and chapter of Guadix, explaining that situation in which the parish church found itself, that even after four years it was without a roof, and for which was requestion help for the repairs. We transcribe the contents of this request below, which can be found in the archives of the Diocese of Guadix:-
"Illustrious Sr. Dean and Chapter.
The official vicar and the incumbents of the town of Castril to Your Grace; with all the respect that you deserve, explain that the reduction of this parish church to ashes due to the ferocity and barbarism of the French troops, and these residents without a sacred place of worship to meet and ask for help and give thanks to the all powerful God, and a reduced private chapel, we see the necessity to appeal to the mercy of the participants of the tithes, not for us to execute great projects, no, solely to protect this temple from rain. .....SORRY - STILL IN TRANSLATION.
Kiss the hand of Your Grace.
The chaplains
Mariano Morcillo.
Antonio Soria.
Andres Ortiz.
Castril 5th April 1814".
These events which occured on 26th June 1810 were described with accuracy in letters sent to the subdelegate of the public co-operative:-
"The Subdelegate of the Public Co-operative of Baza.
D. Casildo Sedeño, President of the Municipality of Castril, Antonio Ortiz, Gabriel Muñoz, Florencio Toral and Blas Gómez, spokesmen of the same group, responding to your order of 20th September regarding the Royal Agreement of the Chancery of this district, that we send to this subdelegation the accounts of the public co-opertaive with its respective contingents in the last years 1809 and 1810, that for these last two years there are no accounts in this town to present as during this time French troops entered in the early hours of 26th June 1810 and burned and destroyed the papers that were stored in said public co-operative, with those of the three key strongbox which they forced open, even though the lid was forged and fixed with nails, and without preserving old or new that could serve as documents that recorded the accounts, as well as stealing other archives which they burnt; even the church wasn't spared and is left in ruins.
May God preserve yourselves for many years.
Castril. 12th October.
In the following minutes they continued expressing the similar situation, saying that they couldn't pay taxes because "...the account books have been burnt..., because when the French entered in June of 1810, after the sacking, they burnt down the biggest buildings including official buildings and their archives, where the documents with accounts of this area, and all that were in it."
Three years later, the Castril borough continued to express the same situation to the tax inspector the impossibility of producing accounts:-
"Sr. Tax Inspector of all of the Royal taxes of this province:-
The councillor of the town hall of Castril, with all respect to your great veneration, we present to youthe facts that during the years 1810, 1811, 1812, 1813 and the first part of 1814 there were no accounts made by us, and that we strive for recognition that the dispatch of the accounts department in compliance with the decree prepared on 30th December of last year, insofar as consisting of only the taxeson the sale of schnapps which died out due to the outrages and predicaments caused by troops of the French enemy who in this time dominated this kingdom, and who entered this town by force, causing death and fires;... these enemies, amongst many houses that had been burnt down, were athe archives where rthe accounts were kept, and that were ready for presentation to the Tax Accounts Department, reduced to ashes along with the residents' listings, orders and papers of great importance that were together with them...
Months later they continued in the same vein:-
"..wishing this town hall be relieved of the aggravation to this town as a result of the entry of enemy forces, causing death and fire, theft and the sacking during June 1810, stealing and burning the records of accounts from the Public Co-operative."
The consequences that this war brought to Castril are reflected also in these documents that we are studying. The misery and poverty that the residents of Castril found themselves are patent.
The frequent thefts, sacking and taxes ruined the Castrileños to the extent that some years later they still hadn't been able to recover, and they returned to the neccessity of begging release from taxes because they couldn't as a result of this misery.
Again, we see the municipal archives continue by describing the sad situation, howeverin spite of this, the town had the pride to have fought tol maintain the independence of this nation and the liberty of their loved king. In reply to this request the Provincial Commissioner of Public Credit said:-
To: The Town Hall of Castril, with respect to the fact that it should be presented to you that through the Commissioner of this area, he asks you for an explanation of what has happened in your town regarding the taxes pertaining to the years 1809, 1810, 1812 and 1813, in this one can't express enough to the town hall that there was no public strong room, and as a result of the enemy invasion alo9ng with the sums agreed by the previous governor, there is no-one who has any idea of the amounts owed, neither can the town impose an ammount that is unsupportable. The fires, the repeated sacking and the excessive taxes tht were suffered under the French, and the spontaneous sacrifices that at the same time were executed by our valiant defenders, that have been placed in a state of indifference that is not easy to explain. .....SORRY - STILL IN TRANSLATION.
Castril in 1808 - 1811 was, as now, a mainly agricultural town, and the lands needed many labourers. The abundant vines which disappeared years later due to an epidemic and which were substitued later with olive trees, the area of land dedicated to growing cereals, was all abandoned due to the war. The young men, some dedicated to the defence of the same, others sent to the arsenals of Lorca and other places during these years, and others lost without doubt in the skirmishes with the enemy, became scarce for work in the countryside whose abandonment increased the misery experienced in the town.
The following letter was written to the Governor of the Province of Granada on 17th October 1812:-
"D. Ramón Guevara, D. Valentín Díaz, Mayors; D. Mariano Morcillo Hurtado de Mendoza, Parish Vicar of this town of Castril, persons who execute the jurisdiction as ordered by The Most Excellent Sr. General of the Kings of Andalusia, with greatest respect, this town being .....SORRY - STILL IN TRANSLATION.
The common factor between nearly all of the documents kept in the municipal archive referring to the War of Independence refer to the impossibility for the borough to pay taxes and supply the requested accounts. The reasons, they explained, are:-
In confirmation of this we can extract the following paragraphs from the official minutes:-
...regarding the order of yourselves...of 28th September next, relative to the other from R. Acuerdo of the Chancery of this district, concerning what was sent to this delegation, the accounts of the co-operative, with your respective contingencies in the recent years 1809 and 1810, we inform you that there are no accounts in this town for these years which we can supply due to the fact that when the Imperial troops entered this town in the morning of 26th June 1810, they extracted and burnt many papers from the archive of the said co-operative - a three keyed strong-box...., the same occured with other archives in this town.
On 24th October 1812, in a letter sentto the Governor General of this province, they said:-
"The Court of Castril, with great respect to yourselves...and because the province was occupied by the enemy, no taxes were collected (wine and schnapps) and above all because on the occasions that the enemy troops occupied the town, they consumed the schnapps and wine from stock, and for this reason none of the producers has sold any of their products and consequently were not asked to pay any taxes as it was no justifiable to charge taxes on what they had in these years, due to the fact that when the enemy forces entered the town,... they burnt down the archive where the tax registers were kept, and many other papers that were in it, without leaving anything new or old. The certainty is, Sir, that if we exact taxes, it will be necessary to distribute them between the residents of the town as a result of the grave lack of any wealth in the form of personal effects or money for their subsistence, as they have no means of production or commerce, they are left with their roots in this place, and as a fifth part of the sewing of seeds in the fallow landswhich were prepared for sewing due to the need for cereals, some small flocks of sheep and goats and a few winter fruits, most of which were destroyed by the French troops, when they passed through this town on their way East."
A letter sent to the chief magistrate of the sub-delegation of public granaries of this area:-
"...we ask for the extension of taxes because there are no funds, nor any way of earning them."
"The Justice of Castril, in the greatest respect, we present to you the same as last year 1810 for the month of June, the French troops having entered the town, sacking and burning the most important buildings, not excluding the co-operative where the funds and papers were kept, in which place nothing was to be found after the robbery, and it is now established that we have to face up to it that a Royal quartile (peck) taken in weight and a bushel of wheat from their respective funds, since 1808, we have to present the total impossibility of doing this as there are no funds whatsoever, nor debtors who can pay, because the documeents, obligations, settlements and accounts disappeared that most fateful day for this town and to not know who we ought to ask to pay, nor how much, to those people who had given grain and money, for them to pay in August of the same year."
To end up with such a predicament and not see their total ruin, they had no other recourse than to bring it to the notice of, and to beg of His Grace devotedly to beg his benign heart, expedite to the official services, at the end that they will have the sums in the form of money.....SORRY - STILL IN TRANSLATION.to allow the debt to lapse, at the end of which they would have
And as the end of this chapter, we look at the agile pen of González Barberán, and some lines from the book "Baza Histórica, we review the sequelae de this war that, as we have seen from studying the documents from the municipal archive, found in this picturesque town of Castril, the mark of the destruction, of the barbarism and misery.
In this respect, González Barberán writes:-
"... it was on 26th June 1810 when the French forces burnt down the town of Castril, that, isolated between mountains and far from any military routes, there was a boldness to resist for more than four months the 50th Squadron of the Dragoons whose base was in Baza under the command of General Milhaud."
" Castril was the strategic point for the Spanish guerillas to take refuge in the Segura mountains. The Spanish vanguard of Blake with his headquarters in Murcia, managed to keep Sebastiani the French general captain's base in Granada, and held his in Baza. Stuck in no-man's-land, the districts of Huéscar and Vélez Rubio suffered daily from one or other faction, always looking for food or money to buy it, always needy, always threatened, always accused of collaboration or threatened with being taken hostage, garrisons of one or another, preventing enemy attacks or preparing themselves, occasionally occupying empty or exhausted towns. But remote Castril stayed out of the way, and the French couldn't think of maintaining a stable detatchment without the risk of being slashed to pieces on one bad morning by the residents or by the troops from themountains. Later, it happened that they severely punished the resistence. And, in this way, after an unexpected assault one morning by four columns attacking on four sides and after a thorough sacking with many injuries and deaths, they set fire to a number of the buildings, including the church, whose walls of ashlar work were unique in their toughness which could support the volcano which was burning coffered ceiling."
"The 'Puerta del Sol' shows, between its blackened, delicate, plateresque works the coat of arms of Cardinal Tavera, Archbishop of Toledo that he had ordered to be made in the jurisdiction of Castril."
The book "Baza Histórica" tells us the following, with reference to the movement of various forces:-
"During so much, our troops after all carried out brilliant operations in the towns of the area to win many triumphs. Having gone to Isla de León which was in other times occupied by the Junta General, the brave D. Manuel Freyre stayed as the general leader of our Third Army Corps, which was able to sieze some points of strategic importance, from which he constantly attacked the French with frequent skirmishes, and forcing Sebastiani to yield those places to him. He organized a powerful plan of attack for February, whose consequences resulted in their possessions falling into his powers, although in a few days having been conquered by our soldiers, there followed the disbanding of all of the enemy troops in that region."
Here is a part of this movement, published in our official journal:-
"Murcia, 21st January. Notices from the frontier of the Kingdom of Granada. Yesterday, 300 enemy infantry and 80 horses entered Castril; they seized all of the grain that existed and impounded all of the stables, to take for themselves, as they did in Baza. The detatchments which occupied Huéscar, Orce and Puebla de Don Fadríque have returned to Baza, taking the mayors of the towns prisoner."
And with this telegraphic message which confirms what we said previously, we end this sad chapter of history.
To talk of the Fiesta de Los Toros is to touch on one of the most intimate fibres of the town of Castril. Large and small, old and young, all have the bulls in their blood. They are days when the town presents a special and unique ambiance, in which all in ones life is forgotten so as to intensively live the fiesta.
But, what is the origin of these fiestas? How did they start? Who initiated them? Why?
It is not easy to explain as there are no documents in existence, but we can listen to the oral traditions which usually exist in all towns, and which indubitably have a fund of truth, even though these facts have been somewhat embellished.
And, intending to answer these questions, elucidating from the living archives, that, as is natural, they are the respectable and venerable elderly, some of whom have a very good memory. The dialogue with these people shines much light on the subject as we shall see.
Some say that it is a fiesta of ancient tradition, without adding anything more. Others, who have a better memory and who are better informed, say that Castril was in past times a livestock town with abundant pastures in the mountains and which had a large number of bulls and cows apart from those that the farmers used to work the land. Certainly, the number of cattle was much greater than the other animals that were dedicated to farming.
The farmers and the owners of the farms at times got together, over all in the month of October, with the intention of evaluating the bulls for courage, thus castrating the the ones that were not suitable as toros for use in the countryside.
One has to take into account that is these festivals the farmers wouldnt allow mistreatment of their animals, much less kill them, as many of them were needed in the countryside to work. This is how I was able to gather from the vox populi or the verbal tradition regarding these festivals.
In one of my many visits to the Chancillería de Granada in search of documentation regarding Castril, I had great luck in stumbling across an important document and, even though it is from 1760, it shines light on this festival, as it says that it is from "times immemorial", and confirms in part the oral tradition.
The document is dated 16th December 1760. It is between the Governor and Justice Minister of the town of Castril, D. Antonio de Soria and the notary public resident in this town, D. Antonio de Amorós.
They had celebrated, as is customary in this town, these bullfighting festivals without permission from authority; the presence of the Receptor (a judicial official) who was sent by the the President of the Royal Chancery to investigate this offence without delay.
The Governor and Justice Minister, D. Antonio de Soria, in front ot the notary, D. Antonio Amoró, made a declaration that, as I studied their statement, we can précis as follows:-
"1°.- Since time immemorial in this area there has been the custom of celebrating our saint, Nuestra Señora del Rosario (Our Lady of The Rosary) and of Santo Cristo del Consuelo being two days of bullfighting festivities in which there were together young bulls and cows which ran without one beast being killed.
2°.- This custom was interrupted over the two years before this one, as a result of the illness and death of Their Majestys.
3°.- Also, they would have been interrupted if the the news of the death of Maria of Saxony had come before the festival, bet we received it in this town from Baza on 1st November, by which time the festival had been celbrated.
4°.- There have been festivals in previous years without the killing of any livestock.
5°.- If the purpose of the visit of Sr. Receptor is to prevent the festivals which have been celebrated without licence by said Sr. Ilustrísimo and that they were therefore established by Royal Decree of last year 1754, that such Royal Decree without other particulars regarding the said matter that would have been communicated nor through your Señoría Ilma (judge) nor through the capital, Baza, which is from where the towns and villages receive this type of information.
6°.- That if one knew that there were a requirement to obtain a licence from his Illustrious Honour to celebrate the festival one would have executed it at the earliest opportunity.
7°.- To explain that this livestock are cattle belonging to local workers, two or three young bulls were castrated as the workers needed them to prepare thae land for their farming activities and the circumstances were that the bull was not appropriate for fighting and was castrated so as to work on the farm.
8°.- The relevant papers were registered in 1754, let us suppose that there had been such an order that such festivities the same kind of person was to have to obtain a licence from your lordship, to whom should one consult between all of them for you to, in your visit to deliberate what is convenient, because if it is that way, and the Judge of Baza had not communicated the order, the damages are his responsibility and not to he who didn't know, as for his same ingnorance, he is free.
9°.- And - just like that, I give trust having reviewed the official papers of this town corresponding to 1754 and of the previos and later years regarding this, with the books from the chapter house and I haven't found any order with this subject,...in the power invested in me I give today whereby I sign in this town of Castril on 16th December 1760.
In testimony of the truth.
Pablo Antonio de Amorós, notary public."
We believe that with this declaration by the governor of the town and in front of a notary public was absolved and that the festivities continued and are continuing today.
Because, according to this document, the bulls of Castril are immemorial, that one can celebrate the gifts of the patron saints of the town, which is along with the running of the bulls and cows without killing any, whose owners were the same workers.
As one can see, the verbal tradition which is conserved in Castril coincides in large part with the document that we have seen, that they talk of old times and agree with what they continue to do, because this tradition is part of each and every Castrileño. Because when the month of October arrives there is already in place the preparations for the religious festival as well as the fiesta. Cerrtainly the first that are celebrated are the religious festivals of Nuestra Señora del Rosario and of Santo Cristo del Consuelo, patrons from time immemorial, novenas, floral offerings, Mass, processions, etc.
We finish the religious acts, the procession of patron saints ending the religious festival, and we hear the tolling of the bells, and then we see the preparing of the town square for the grea bull run festival.
The town square, in which within a few hours will be mounted the other plaza, we see great mountains of wood as the specialsts get to work on the construction which is a true art. With these preparations, the atmosphere builds and the spirit of the bullfighter awakes in the breast of every Casrileño.
But we leave it to the same Castrileños to voice this love, as only they can do it, and some of them have given to us in prose or verse the emotions:-
And another describes:-
"We all know that our national festival is the bulls, but Castril, feeling Spanish and at the same time Castrillian, has adopted the fiesta to its personal style, typical to Castril and unmistakeable, being the traditional "Bulls of Castril", the festival that enjoyes just fame in all of the region and between all of those who have the joie de vivre, and to live it even if the ordinary spectator can't do anything except to sit and immerse himself in the festival which exceeds his expecattions being immersed in it as all those with him. And in this is where the brave Castrileño unprotected challenges the wild beast and harrasses it in the knowledge that his companions know how to help him out of danger."
"But for him to survive and it seems that he establishes himself more every time that they are his "toros" and this hassling of the bulls in that the Castrileños, all valiance and grace, defy the animals and to evade it after a thousand pirouettes, which are the origin of these festivals. Well, these famous "Castril Bulls" are those that in these days attract a huge number of absent Castrileños."
The traditions of the bullrun festival continue and are reflected by this Castrileño:-
Many years have passed but still the there is the unalterable scene. It is a persistent and popular tradition. The square is transformed, its sole atmosphere is of happiness and activity. Everyone is there awaiting impatiently. Then come the awaited bulls! And the activity gradually overcomes one.
The young men already in the square do what they know and they can escape from one that would gore them, in which way they entertain themselves and us. The scariness increases their courage. And not lacking any sponaneity or nerve, they always appear from any incident amusingly. All of this, accompanied by songs and sangria, makes it an animated sceneof happiness of our land."
The people leave their daily chores to take in "the festival".
And against any grave legal obstacle which may arise to celebrate the festival, and that it could ruin the plans, another wrote:-
"So many people say 'It is as sure as the bulls of Castril' it is that the reference is as certain an assertion as can be."
.....SORRY - THIS BOOK IS STILL IN TRANSLATION. IT IS BEING ADDED TO CONSTANTLY.