L'Encobert

Last updated
L'Encobert
BornUnknown
Died1552
Burjassot, Spain
Cause of death murder

The Hidden (Catalan : L'Encobert, Spanish : El Encubierto, "The Hidden/Shrouded [One]") (d. 1522) was a mysterious and charismatic leader of the remnants of the rebels in the last stages of the Revolt of the Brotherhoods in the Kingdom of Valencia, then under the rule of the Crown of Aragon. Also called "The Hidden King" (Catalan : El Rei Encobert, Spanish : El Rey Encubierto), he claimed to be a prince hidden for his own safety now showing himself by divine command to save Spain from ruin. The Hidden unified the rebels for a short period, inspiring messianic fervor among his followers. He led them on hit-and-run raids against the royal government, uncooperative nobles, and Muslim peasants (mudéjars). The Hidden was killed in Burjassot on May 18, 1522, and the rebellion soon collapsed afterward. His true name and lineage are unknown.

Contents

Problems of historiography

Little is known conclusively about The Hidden. Even the exact nature of claims about him are disputed, as it is nearly impossible to tell how much truth is to the government-approved unfavorable stories of him that predominated after the fact. Some influential versions of the tale were written by authors likely more interested in a gripping story rather than historical accuracy. Many of the claims are wholly contradictory. As such, it is difficult to tell whether particular elements in The Hidden's legend come from fact, claims The Hidden made directly himself, rumors spread by The Hidden's supporters, or stories spread by the government.

Some of the most reliable testimony about the actual beliefs of the Hidden and his followers comes from the Spanish Inquisition. The Inquisition arrested and questioned various members of the revolt for heresy, and recorded their answers. These answers give an idea of what actual supporters of The Hidden thought, as opposed to claims the government made later about the motives of The Hidden and the rebels. [1]

Origin stories

According to one account, The Hidden was raised in Gibraltar by a shepherd, hidden by Archbishop Cisneros for the country's own good and unaware of his true nature as a great noble of some kind. In a divine vision, his true nature was revealed to him by the prophets Elijah and Enoch, and he was directed to restore Spain from its current fallen state. [2]

The exact nature of his royal claim also has several tellings. In one version, he was Prince Juan, the son of Ferdinand of Aragon and his second wife Germaine of Foix who died at birth; this would make him the true ruler of the Crown of Aragon (if not Castile). For this to be correct, however, The Hidden would have been 12 years old when he joined the revolt, as Prince Juan was born and died in 1509. Slightly more plausible was the claim that he was the (officially) stillborn child of John of Castile and Margaret of Austria. John was another child of Ferdinand and Isabella's, and furthermore older than his sister Joanna and male, which would have made The Hidden Charles I's cousin and the true successor to the throne, as Charles descended from Joanna's claim. In an alternate version from Martín Viciana, it was the disliked Cardinal Mendoza (the Viceroy's father) who had hidden the prince away for evil reasons, rather than the popular Archbishop Cisneros performing the deed for noble ones. [3]

According to a story circulated by Miquel Garcia, who bore little love for The Hidden, he was actually a Jewish trickster born in Castile. [4] The Hidden, along with the other Jews of Spain, were exiled, and he came to live in Oran in North Africa. There he served a rich and possibly also Jewish merchant named Juan Bilbao, who had accompanied him to Oran. The Hidden then seduced both his master's wife and daughter. [2] He may have also converted to Christianity as well, but treacherously and only for the purpose of getting closer to Bilbao's wife. [4] [5] Bilbao proceeded to serve the governor of Oran for a time, where The Hidden astonished him with his villainy. The Hidden was arrested, and whipped publicly. He left Oran for Valencia then, taking on a new identity and living as a hermit for a time before seeing his chance to raise more trouble by unifying the rebellion and pushing it onward. [2] Very few of the contemporary accounts have any reference to him being a Jew or converso , however. [4] This account also has some temporal issues, as most sources agree that The Hidden was youngish (from 20–25 years old). The Jews were exiled in 1492, 30 years prior to The Hidden's entry to Valencia, so for this account to be true either The Hidden wore his years very well, or he stayed in Castile for longer than he legally was allowed.

Name

In general, The Hidden was known simply as L'Encobert in Catalan, translated as El Encubierto in Castilian Spanish due to him being "hidden" after his birth. However, the variant "The Hidden King" also existed as his title. Historian Sara Nalle claims that "The Hidden King" was only used by later governmental chroniclers who in her view fundamentally misunderstood him. Since the first phases of the Revolt of the Brotherhoods had been an attempt to replace the government with a new one, the later chronicles assumed The Hidden had meant the same thing, hence the emphasis on the royal descent part of his legend and "The Hidden King." According to Nalle, the Valencian supporters of The Hidden saw him more as a messianic religious prophet, and not so much a governmental leader, and hence called him solely "The Hidden." [6]

The Hidden, in his first major speech in Xàtiva, also offered two other names for himself. He said he could be called "Brother" (a term with Messianic connotations at the time) or "the man with the sailor's cape," as he was wearing such a cape at the time. [7]

Physical description

The main physical description of The Hidden is from Martín Viciana, a biographer admittedly unfavorable to The Hidden. According to him, The Hidden was of moderate stature, had a reddish beard, chestnut-colored hair, aquiline nose, blue eyes, short and thick hands, large feet, had a small mouth, and was bow-legged. He spoke excellent Castilian in a courtly style. [2] [3] Viciana does not mention the story that The Hidden was as a secret Jew in his account, as his description contrasts with the normal stereotype of a Sephardic Jew. Nalle believes that this description was an intentionally unflattering one, in contrast with a prophesied savior that The Hidden had successfully presented himself as. [3]

At first The Hidden dressed moderately, but as he gained prestige among the rebels he dressed in a red velvet tunic, red silk stockings, a velvet cap, and bore a gilded sword. [2] He always traveled on his personal horse, a small colt. [2]

Activity in the Revolt of the Brotherhoods

Background

From 1519–1521, the Revolt of the Brotherhoods raged. However, at the close of 1521, it seemed as if the revolt was in its last throes. The city of Valencia had fallen to the royal government, and most of the organized armies of the rebellion had disbanded. Vicent Peris maintained Xàtiva and its castle for the rebels, but in February Peris was captured trying to instigate a new revolt in Valencia. Rebel support still simmered through Valencia, but it now lacked a leader.

Taking command of the agermanats

The Hidden came to prominence with an explosive sermon he gave on March 22, 1522, in the town of Xàtiva. He explained his story about meeting the prophets Enoch and Elijah and how he had been directed to save Valencia, restore the Holy Land, and care for the poor. He also said that he needed to discuss matters with King Charles. Shortly afterward, he gave another sermon to a gigantic crowd in Alzira. [8] These two towns would be the base of his support. Xàtiva had fallen to royal troops in early March, but now was contested once again by The Hidden's renewed rebellion in the city.

Under The Hidden, the revolt emphasized Valencian sovereignty rather than the widespread revolution that Vicent Peris had aimed for. He attracted support and recruits from local country elites, leaders, and rich farmers. Under his direction, money and property were impounded from clerics and nobles who opposed him. [9] He also began rebuilding the armies of the agermanats (members of the Germanies (guilds), though now a term for any rebel), though they still remained small compared to their former sizes. Farms were looted, noble holdings assaulted, and any Muslims in their domain were forced to convert. The mountainous terrain of southern Valencia was well-suited for guerrilla warfare, and the raiding bands of rebels were difficult to locate by the royal armies. In an ambush set in Xàtiva itself, the rebels wounded the Duke of Gandia and the Count of Oliva, though The Hidden was hurt himself in the battle. According to royalist sympathetic sources, The Hidden was not valorous in the skirmishes he led nor was overly effective in battle. [10]

Death

The Germanies powerbase was now in the countryside, but The Hidden sought to eventually retake the city of Valencia. As such, he ventured to the outskirts of the city of Valencia on some recruiting missions to raise support for the rebellion. On May 18, he visited the town of Burjassot with some fifteen supporters, distinguished by their white shirts. [11] The previous night, the royal government had raised the alert and closed the gates to Valencia. According to some accounts, The Hidden sought to arrange the assassination of the Marquis of Zenete, the brother of Viceroy Mendoza. [12] However, the royal government had set a considerable bounty on his head. While The Hidden was talking with a former captain of the Germanies army, some seven men rode in and, without dismounting, chopped off The Hidden's head. [11] His remains were taken to Valencia, and his head hosted upon the city gates with those of other traitors. The rest of his body was handed over to the Inquisition, where he was posthumously tried for heresy. He was convicted and his body was burned. [12]

Supernatural events, prophecies, and theology

One fact that most accounts agree on is that The Hidden claimed that Elijah and Enoch had given him his divine mandate to lead the rebellion. After that, stories are less consistent; based on this, Nalle believes that only the story of the two prophets was claimed by The Hidden himself. It seems likely that The Hidden was familiar with the book De La Venguda Del Antichrist ("Of the Coming of the Antichrist"), a book by John Alamany republished in Valencia in 1520. According to Venguda Del Antichrist, a Messiah would soon come who would lead a new Crusade to the Holy Land, annihilate the Muslims, and do battle with the Antichrist as predicted in the Book of Revelation. While not referencing the book directly, The Hidden tapped into the beliefs contained in it which had wide acceptance in Valencia at the time and presented himself as the prophesied savior. There had already existed a belief that Enoch and Elijah lived in a paradise on earth and would fight the Antichrist in Rome, which also tied into his story of meeting them. From his supporters, a variety of holy visions and powers were granted to him. He was said to be the new Messiah, or an angel in human form. He was said to be invulnerable unless he was in Jerusalem, which he was fated to reconquer. Another account said that he levitated into the air while praying. [13]

The Hidden also propounded a four-sided Trinity, with Four Religions and Four Judgments. This was similar to Joachism, whose teachings had spread throughout Valencia. According to older sources, his view of the four-element "Trinity" was Father, Son, Holy Ghost, and Holy Sacrament. [14] According to royalist sources, he claimed that the Devil was the fourth element. The Devil was the first son of God, and Jesus only the second. In these sources, his theology was largely inspired by translations of Greek philosophers and Gnostics that the Moors had made while they controlled Iberia. [10]

Later influence

The revolt continued at a low-level after The Hidden's death, with several new claimants taking up The Hidden's name. None of them proved as charismatic as the original, and warfare in Valencia had largely stopped by the end of 1522. [11] [12]

The Hidden was referenced in various histories and light tales afterward, often romanticized heavily. These stories became some of the main records of The Hidden's life despite their unreliability due to the paucity of official records kept and the government's desire to suppress the memory of the revolt. Much later, in the 19th century, the story received a burst of popularity again as it was used by Valencian writers and intellectuals to support their desire for autonomy from Spain. The treatment was again more romantic than historical. [15] Examples include Vicente Boix's El encubierto de Valencia.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slave rebellion</span> Armed uprising by slaves

A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by slaves, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of slaves have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freedom and the dream of successful rebellion is often the greatest object of song, art, and culture amongst the enslaved population. These events, however, are often violently opposed and suppressed by slaveholders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Túpac Katari</span> Indigenous Aymara leader of a major insurrection in colonial-era Upper Peru

Túpac Katari or Catari, born Julián Apasa Nina, was the indigenous Aymara leader of a major insurrection in colonial-era Upper Peru, laying siege to La Paz for six months. His wife Bartolina Sisa and his sister Gregoria Apaza participated in the rebellion by his side. The rebellion was ultimately put down by Spanish loyalists and Katari was executed by quartering.

<i>Grito de Lares</i> 1868 revolt against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico

Grito de Lares, also referred to as the Lares revolt, the Lares rebellion, the Lares uprising, or the Lares revolution, was the first of two short-lived revolts against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico, staged by the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico on September 23, 1868. Having been planned, organized, and launched in the mountainous western municipality of Lares, the revolt is known as the Grito de Lares . Three decades after rebelling in Lares, the revolutionary committee carried out a second unsuccessful revolt in the neighboring southwestern municipality of Yauco, known as the Intentona de Yauco. The Grito de Lares flag is recognized as the first flag of Puerto Rico.

The Maulets was a partisan group of Valencian supporters of Archduke Charles, who claimed the Spanish throne as Charles III during the War of the Spanish Succession. They were antagonists to the Botiflers camp, the supporters of competing claimant and eventual winner of the war, Philip, Duke of Anjou.

This is a timeline of notable events during the period of Muslim presence in Iberia, starting with the Umayyad conquest in the 8th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Valencia</span> Monarchal state on the coast of the Iberian Peninsula (1238–1707)

The Kingdom of Valencia, located in the eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revolt of the Comuneros</span> 1520 rebellion in Castile, Spain

The Revolt of the Comuneros was an uprising by citizens of Castile against the rule of Charles I and his administration between 1520 and 1521. At its height, the rebels controlled the heart of Castile, ruling the cities of Valladolid, Tordesillas, and Toledo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bulavin Rebellion</span> 1707-1708 Cassock revolt against Russian rule

The Bulavin Rebellion or Astrakhan Revolt was a war which took place in the years 1707 and 1708 between the Don Cossacks and the Tsardom of Russia. Kondraty Bulavin, a democratically elected Ataman of the Don Cossacks, led the Cossack rebels. The conflict was triggered by a number of underlying tensions between the Moscow government under Peter I of Russia, the Cossacks, and Russian peasants fleeing from serfdom in Russia to gain freedom in the autonomous Don area. It started with the 1707 assassination of Prince Yury Vladimirovich Dolgorukov, the leader of Imperial army's punitive expedition to the Don area, by Don Cossacks under Bulavin's command. The end of the rebellion came with Bulavin's death in 1708.

<i>La Matanza</i> 1932 peasant revolt in El Salvador

La Matanza refers to a communist-indigenous rebellion that took place in El Salvador between 22 and 25 January 1932. After the revolt was suppressed, it was followed by large-scale government killings in western El Salvador, which resulted in the deaths of 10,000 to 40,000 people. Another 100 soldiers were killed during the suppression of the revolt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vicente Boix</span> Spanish playwright, poet, and historian

Vicente Boix y Ricarte was a Spanish playwright, poet, and historian from Xàtiva, Valencia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tacky's Revolt</span> 1760 slave rebellion in British Jamaica

Tacky's Revolt was a slave rebellion in the British colony of Jamaica which lasted from 7 April 1760 to 1761. Spearheaded by self-emancipated Coromantee people, the rebels were led by a Fante royal named Tacky. It was the most significant slave rebellion in the West Indies between the 1733 slave insurrection on St. John and the 1791 Haitian Revolution. The rebels were eventually defeated after British colonial forces, assisted by Jamaican Maroons, waged a gruelling counterinsurgency campaign. According to historian Trevor Burnard, "[in] terms of its shock to the imperial system, only the American Revolution surpassed Tacky's War in the eighteenth century." It was also the largest slave rebellion in the British West Indies until the Baptist War of 1831, which also occurred in Jamaica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canals, Spain</span> Municipality in Valencian Community, Spain

Canals is a municipality in the comarca of Costera in the Valencian Community, Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revolt of the Brotherhoods</span> 16th century uprising

The Revolt of the Brotherhoods was a revolt by artisan guilds (Germanies) against the government of King Charles V in the Kingdom of Valencia, part of the Crown of Aragon. It took place from 1519–1523, with most of the fighting occurring during 1521. The Valencian revolt inspired a related revolt in the island of Majorca, also part of Aragon, which lasted from 1521–1523.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plan of Agua Prieta</span> 1920 declaration of rebellion against Mexican president Venustiano Carranza

In the history of Mexico, the Plan of Agua Prieta was a manifesto, or plan, that articulated the reasons for rebellion against the government of Venustiano Carranza. Three revolutionary generals from Sonora, Álvaro Obregón, Plutarco Elías Calles, and Adolfo de la Huerta, often called the Sonoran Triumvirate, or the Sonoran Dynasty, rose in revolt against the civilian government of Carranza. It was proclaimed by Obregón on 22 April 1920, in English and 23 April in Spanish in the northern border city of Agua Prieta, Sonora.

The Second Brotherhood was an uprising in the central regions of the Kingdom of Valencia of Habsburg Spain in 1693. The protesters named themselves agermanats after the germanies ("brotherhoods") or guilds of Valencia who had revolted in 1519 in the Revolt of the Brotherhoods, but the two revolts are quite different in their supporters and the social context in which they occurred. Rather than a revolt by middle-class guildsmen, the Second Brotherhood was a peasant revolt against high rents on farmland and crops. Additionally, the Second Brotherhood was resolved far faster and far more peaceably than the violence of the 1519 revolt in both the rebels' actions and the government's subsequent repression.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, 1st Count of Melito</span> Castilian general

Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (1469–1536) was a Castilian general and administrator. He served in the Italian Wars, and was later appointed Viceroy of Valencia where he fought the rebel Germanies in the Revolt of the Brotherhoods.

Vicent Peris (1478–1522) was a weaver and leader of the weavers' guild in Valencia. He came to prominence as the most influential leader of the Council of Thirteen after the death of Joan Llorenç in the Revolt of the Brotherhoods. Peris saw the revolution as a wider social revolution against the nobility, and aggressively attacked them. He also legitimized the anti-Muslim stance of many rebels into the Germanies government, and intensified their repression.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forced conversions of Muslims in Spain</span> 1502–1526 edicts outlawing Islam

The forced conversions of Muslims in Spain were enacted through a series of edicts outlawing Islam in the lands of the Spanish Monarchy. This persecution was pursued by three Spanish kingdoms during the early 16th century: the Crown of Castile in 1500–1502, followed by Navarre in 1515–1516, and lastly the Crown of Aragon in 1523–1526.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conquest of Murcia (1265–1266)</span> Aragonese military campaign in Iberia

The conquest of Murcia took place in 1265–1266 when James I of Aragon conquered the Muslim-held Taifa of Murcia on behalf of his ally Alfonso X of Castile.

References

  1. ↑ Nalle, p. 78.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bonilla, p. 207.
  3. 1 2 3 Nalle, p. 90.
  4. 1 2 3 Nalle, p. 88.
  5. ↑ Note that Bonilla's relation of Garcia's account makes no mention of this.
  6. ↑ Nalle, p. 89.
  7. ↑ Nalle, p. 81.
  8. ↑ Nalle, p. 85.
  9. ↑ Nalle, p. 82.
  10. 1 2 Bonilla, p. 208.
  11. 1 2 3 Bonilla, p. 210.
  12. 1 2 3 Nalle, p. 91.
  13. ↑ Nalle, p. 85–87.
  14. ↑ Nalle, p. 83.
  15. ↑ Nalle, p. 77.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.