In the footsteps of James I
The earliest references to the existence of the “camino de los pilones” are related to one of the most prominent monarchs of the Crown of Aragon in the Middle Ages. In the first half of the 13th century, King James I traveled along this route – at that time without the existence of the pylons – on several of his journeys.
A sovereign who gave prosperity to the territory
Born in 1208 in Montpellier, James I was the son of King Peter II, from whom, after his untimely death, he inherited the kingdom of Aragon when he was only five years old.
Throughout his life and his extensive reign (1213-1276) he traveled constantly between territories driven by the initiative to obtain new tributary lands in the context of the weakening of the power of the Almohad Muslims, for which he is known by the nickname of “the Conqueror”. After his conquests of Mallorca and Valencia and with his legislative work, he initiated the period of maximum splendor of the Crown of Aragon.
In the territories of the Gúdar – Maestrazgo mountain ranges, he established a repopulating policy articulated through concessions and privileges. Here greater freedoms were recognized to the new inhabitants and a special role was given to transhumant livestock, freeing the shepherds from taxes, impositions and charges due to passes and the use of pastures in the Kingdom of Valencia or lower charges in herbajes or montazgos, among others.
This was the seed of an economic system that gave great prosperity to the territory, favoring the development of the wool industry and its demographic, architectural and artistic flourishing.
Jaime I and the path of the pylons
Although the pylons did not yet exist in the Middle Ages, it seems that this itinerary was already used in the times of the monarch. In fact, it was the king himself who walked it on at least five occasions, according to the descriptions that appear in the “llibre dels Feits”.
The first of his journeys along this road was on the occasion of the conquests of Ares and Morella, the first Muslim border towns whose domination marked the beginning of the conquest of the Kingdom of Valencia. The sovereign, accompanied by a few knights, entered the territory of the Bailías – the name by which a good part of the territory of the current Maestrazgo was known at the time – and headed for Morella, passing through Fortanete, La Iglesuela del Cid and the port of Las Cabrillas. It seems that this journey was made between the second half of November and the first three weeks of December 1231, since, according to the king himself, it was snowy weather and it was getting dark early due to the proximity of the winter solstice.
Two years later he made the same route again. It was in 1233, when in Teruel he received a letter of surrender from the Muslims of Peñíscola, which motivated his departure at a trot towards there with a reduced escort of seven knights, in addition to the squires and servants, “without any guide, since, as he sometimes hunted wild boars in that mountain, he was enough to find the way”.
From certain references in his memoirs, it seems that he passed this way again in 1249 and 1259.
Llibre dels Feyts. Image Wikipedia commons.
The "Llibre dels feits" (Book of Facts)
El llibre dels Feits is considered the first of the four great medieval royal chronicles written in Catalan. Dictated by the monarch himself, it narrates autobiographically the most important events of the king’s personal and military life.
In the work, James I is presented as a character of flesh and blood, of great nobility and deep religiosity and, with his decisions and actions, is projected as a great statesman. The themes exposed are basically facts of arms, but there are some moments of his life that appear wrapped in a miraculous aura, which contributed to create an idealized image of the monarch as a saintly, just and providential king.
Llibre dels feits de Jaume I. Image Wikipedia commons.
Monarchs and roads
In the Middle Ages, kings were regular users of the roads and their movements were motivated not only by military reasons, but also by marriages, attendance to Courts or to administer justice in different places of their kingdom.
Together with the sovereign, on occasions a large number of people traveled with him, which meant a considerable expense that had to be assumed by the towns through which the procession passed, which were also responsible for the maintenance of these roads. However, in other circumstances, the king moved urgently along these roads without his court, accompanied only by a few knights in the direction of important places for his military strategy. This was the case of Jaime I’s journey along the Camino de los Pilones.
Years later, in the Modern Age, the royal courts became more established and the travels of the kings along these roads were sporadic, but involved more paraphernalia and expense than in previous times.
The “royal roads” were roads built at the expense of the State, or else protected by the State but promoted and maintained by the councils of the towns through which they passed. Some monarchs dictated certain rules and pragmatics referring to the construction, conservation and safety of the roads, as was the case of Philip II, who established a pragmatic of 1586-1590 in which he ordered the construction of pylons in the ports to mark the roads, after having been lost in one of his trips due to a heavy snowfall.
In general, Spain did not have good roads properly maintained or adequate until well into the nineteenth century and, in areas such as the one in question, roads did not exist until the first decades of the twentieth century. In fact, it was not until the middle of the previous century that the State began to take charge of some roads.
Bibliography
BARREDA, Pere-Enric. “El camino de Jaime I por la Iglesuela y las Bailías”, Centro de estudios de la Iglesuela del Cid (CEIG).
CASAS NAGORE, “Carlos. Roadmen, from the path to the highway. Roads of Teruel”. Instituto de Estudios Turolenses, 2021.
FERRER NAVARRO, Ramón. “Una aproximació a la Crònica de Jaume I”. Valencian Library. Generalitat Valenciana, 2008.
FORCADA MARTÍ, Vicente. “El itinerario real en la conquista de Peñíscola” in Boletín de la Sociedad Castellonense de Cultura, volume LXVIII, January-June, notebooks I-II, Castellón, 1992.
SANCHÍS ALFONSO, José Ramón. “El Camino de los Pilones: Una antigua vía de comunicación con carácter propio por tierras turolenses.” Baylías, Miscelánea del CEMAT, nº 5, Year 2008, ed. CEMAT, Teruel, 2009. Link to the article: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://cematmaestrazgo.com/wp-content/uploads/Baylias-5.pdf
SANCHÍS ALFONSO, José Ramón. “In the footsteps of Jaime I in the lands of Teruel. El Camino de los Pilones between Allepuz and Villarroya de los Pinares” published by the Diario de Teruel on Sunday, July 20, 2008.