Maulets
Encyclopedia
The Maulets was a partisan group of Valencia
n supporters of Archduke Charles
, who claimed the Spanish throne as Charles III during the War of the Spanish Succession
. They were antagonists to the Botifler
s camp, the supporters of competing claimant and eventual winner of the war, Philip, Duke of Anjou
(Philip V).
Maulets
is also the name of present-day Catalan independentist
youth political organization.
Towards the end of the 17th century, a part of these new peasant population profited from the prosperity arising from cultivating and exporting mainly wine and its derivatives, brandy and prunes, and in lesser extent, silk. Then, they started to question the high payments asked by the nobility, which considerably reduced their profits, and tried by all means, from legal suits to armed revolt, to end this system. But the judiciary path, being fully under the control of the Nobles, proved useless; and the armed revolt, called nowadays Segona Germania (Second Brotherhood), was crushed by the Vice-Chancellor and armies of the Nobles in the year 1693, at the "battle" of Setla de Nunyes.
The peasants in this Segona Germania revolt claimed more or less the same as the Maulets would a few years later. They refused the right of the Lords on the former Moorish lands, and called on the Medieval rights given by James I of Aragon
during the conquest of the Kingdom, to denounce an alleged lack of legality of the exploitation by the lords, “who treated them like Moors”, given the case that the Laws of the Kingdom banned these kind of taxes and tributes to the Christians. The Nobles, alleged that the King Philip III
, expelling the Moriscos
, had given them those lands in property, on which they then had every right to regulate.
After their military defeat, the peasants unrest loomed. New clashes were ready to start in 1700 when Charles II of Spain
died with no sons or clear heir, setting the conditions for the War of the Spanish Succession.
When Philip V of Spain
took possession of the Kingdom of Valencia
(one of the component kingdoms of the larger Spanish Kingdom) as a Felip IV of Valencia, there were already many supporters of the archduke Charles of Austria in this territory, as well as in the Principality of Catalonia
and Majorca. Their reasons were various, ranging from loyalty to the dynasty of the House of Austria, hate towards the French by a part of the merchants and the industrials, and distrust for the suspected centralist attitude of Philip V of Spain, as seen by the Bourbon rule in France.
Merchants and exporters of wine, brandy, silk, and other farming products, which was politically and economically very important, contacted a key person for their cause : General Joan Baptista Basset.
General Basset was a Valencian, probably born in Alboraia
in an artisan family, who spoke the people’s language and knew very well their claims and needs. He had served during the wars in Italy
and Hungary
under Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt
, a German Noble who had been before Viceroy
in Catalonia.
The War of the Spanish Succession had a double nature. On the one side, it was a Spanish internal issue, on the other side, it was a major European war for international hegemony. England and the Netherlands (the so-called "Maritime powers", traditional destinations of the Valencian merchants exports) sided against the Bourbon pretender, Philip V of Spain. As a part of a blockade, Valencian exports to these countries stopped, which meant a total downfall for merchants and the peasants that sold to them the products. The exports to France, a land that produced and exported the same products, did not compensate them in any way for the loses.
in August 1705, a new revolt commenced and spread out everywhere.
Basset rode to Valencia, via Dénia, Gandia and Alzira without meeting any real resistance. When the mostly Bourbonic supporting Nobles or the fortresses tried to resist, it were the armed villagers who forced them to flee. Together with the viceroy, Duke Gandia, a long list of Nobles and “botiflers” siding with Philip V of Spain fled, not to Valencia, but to Castile; they did not trust the resistance of the capital, and with reason.
The city of Valencia opened its doors to the Maulet army without resistance. On the contrary, it was received with popular enthusiasm. At the same time, news from the uprising in the Principality of Catalonia arrived, where a rebelling had expelled the “felipist” military and where Charles III himself had triumphantly disembarked in Barcelona
. This news was enough to spread the uprising through in the rest of the Kingdom of Valencia, especially in its North part, from Vinaròs
and Benicarló
to Vila-real
and Castelló
, where the Maulets where specially strong.
Once Basset was established in Valencia, practically exercising the function of Viceroy, and with most of the country under control of the Maulets (meaning, of the armed villagers), the first thing was to abolish all taxes to the Nobles.
Basset even went further and , with the doubtful legality of his high office, stopped paying any kind of tax to the tax collectors of the King. He also abolished the right of doors, a hated tax on products coming from the colonies into Valencia.
He also tolerated, and even stimulated, a real persecution, expulsion and arrest of French citizens, mainly merchants, who were seen by the population as enemies and by the native merchants as dangerous competitors.
Obviously the relationships with the Maritime powers, allied to Charles III were re-established , and the harbours were again opened to Dutch
and English ships, resuming trade as before. At the same time, Basset and the Maulets arrested and ousted the most notorious “botiflers”, and seized their possessions.
Basset asked Charles III for military help. The help came, in the form of Earl of Peterborough
and his English soldiers. Even though his arrival saved the delicate situation from enemies attacks, it also meant the creation of another political power led by count Cardona, with a military force independent from the Maulets and with no intention of allowing what they considered “plebeian excesses”.
It all points to the fact that count Cardona and the English general had instructions, probably from the King, to end the “excesses” of Basset and the Maulets, in this way trying to gain back the support of the Nobles, most of them siding with the Bourbons
.
Sure enough, Charles III, as an owner of royal lands and main lord of the Order of Montesa
, had experienced a reduction in his income, by the Maulets refusal to pay. This money was absolutely necessary to keep the very expensive army together with which he hoped to win the war. In consequence, it was necessary to stop the Maulets and their chief, general Basset, but it was needed to do it wisely and with indulgence.
Cardona and Peterborough then started an offensive centred at some of Bassets collaborators, pointing to the illegal confiscation
and loot for personal use of the goods from the French and the Botiflers, and imprisoned them awaiting trial. Meanwhile Basset was lured away from Valencia, first to Alzira and later on to Xàtiva
, encouraging him to take part in the fighting. They waited an opportunity to imprison him, but were fearful of his great popularity amongst the people and feared a rebellion of the Maulets if that ever happened.
The occasion came when Charles III had defeated the Borbons in Castile
and had managed to enter Madrid
on June 27, 1706. In between the popular celebrations, Peterborough secretly sent troops to Xàtiva, with the order to arrest Basset and imprison him in a fortress in English hands. When news came out, effectively the people revolted.
In Valencia the shouts of “Long live to Basset, before than Charles III” proved the real allegiances of the Valencian Maulets. In fact, Peterborough had to turn those cannons meant to defend Valencia from the Bourbons, around to aim at the revolting population, to drive them of. During days there were demonstrations of protest, letters sent to Charles in Barcelona and all kind of public declarations in Basset's favour and his reforms. But a renewed Maulet revolt, this time against whom they considered their legitimate King, all with a Borbon army at the doors of the Kingdom ready for war, would have been suicidal. A victory of the Bourbons would have meant the return of the Botiflers, and the previous state of affairs. Consequently, Maulets resigned and stopped their protests, believing that the pretender Charles, in coming to Valencia shortly would repair the injustice and would free Basset.
But time was running out. Charles had already been forced to abandon Madrid and suffered a crushing defeat in the hands of the Duke of Berwick
in the Battle of Almansa
.
Charles withdrew towards Barcelona, and with him the Viceroy, the whole administration and surviving troops.
The people and the Maulets were left at the mercy of the Bourbon advance. King Philip never hid his intentions to overrun the Furs
(the Valencian laws) “by the just right of conquest”. The Valencian kingdom disappeared as a legal structure, and was only left as a name, empty of meaning.
The Maulets resisted, especially in Xàtiva, a town which had to be taken by the Bourbonics after a fierce battle, and was afterwards razed and set on fire as a reprisal. In Valencia, the Maulets tried in vain to hinder the entrance of the Bourbonic army, but Berwick
and Asfeld
managed their way in.
When, in 1710, the war seemed to turn back in favor of Charles III, the city of Valencia raised again in anti-Bourbon revolt. The Maulets appeared on the streets again, awaiting in vain an Austriacista fleet that had to disembark troops at the harbour. A few remaining Valencian Maulets withdrew towards Catalonia
still in the hands of Charles III.
. The Maritime powers had accepted Philip V as king of Spain and had evacuated their troops from Barcelona over sea. The Catalans and the Valencian Maulets carried on fighting for their cause devoid of international allies.
When the Bourbonic armies, led by Berwick himself, laid siege on Barcelona
two regiments of Valencians were formed, the Mare de Déu dels Desamparats and the Sant Vicent Ferrer, to fight along their comrades in Catalonia.
On the September 11, 1714, when Barcelona fell in Bourbonic hands after a determined fight, many Maulets were counted among the fallen. Many others, amongst them General Basset, who had directed the artillery of the resistance, were arrested and imprisoned. Others, who managed to escape from the Bourbonic troops via Majorca, or who were later on freed, ended up exiled in Vienna, at the court of “their” Charles III, now emperor of Austria.
Original Spanish version on Foro Libre
Kingdom of Valencia
The Kingdom of Valencia , located in the eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon. When the Crown of Aragon merged by dynastic union with the Crown of Castile to form the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Valencia became a component realm of the...
n supporters of Archduke Charles
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...
, who claimed the Spanish throne as Charles III during the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
. They were antagonists to the Botifler
Botifler
Botiflers was a name given to Philip V of Spain supporters during the War of the Spanish Succession. They were usually Catalan aristocrats and noblemen who wanted to increase their power from the upcoming regime that would result after Bourbon victory...
s camp, the supporters of competing claimant and eventual winner of the war, Philip, Duke of Anjou
Philip V of Spain
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...
(Philip V).
Maulets
Maulets (politics)
Maulets is a youth political organisation that belongs to the Catalan fascist independentist movement. Its task is to mobilise the young fascists of Catalonia in order to achieve an independent and totalitarian nation....
is also the name of present-day Catalan independentist
Catalan independentism
Catalan independentism is a political movement, derived from Catalan nationalism, which supports the independence of Catalonia or the so-called Catalan countries from Spain and France...
youth political organization.
Historical context
As a compensation for having lost the Moor workforce which was expelled from Spain in 1492, the King gave the nobility all the right on the lands that these people had farmed before leaving. This allowed them to impose on the newly arrived Christian population taxes and partitions of lands which in some counties became a very high expense for the peasants. Probably, the hunger for land amongst those poor families led them to accept the conditions, and during 50 years there were no known protests.Towards the end of the 17th century, a part of these new peasant population profited from the prosperity arising from cultivating and exporting mainly wine and its derivatives, brandy and prunes, and in lesser extent, silk. Then, they started to question the high payments asked by the nobility, which considerably reduced their profits, and tried by all means, from legal suits to armed revolt, to end this system. But the judiciary path, being fully under the control of the Nobles, proved useless; and the armed revolt, called nowadays Segona Germania (Second Brotherhood), was crushed by the Vice-Chancellor and armies of the Nobles in the year 1693, at the "battle" of Setla de Nunyes.
The peasants in this Segona Germania revolt claimed more or less the same as the Maulets would a few years later. They refused the right of the Lords on the former Moorish lands, and called on the Medieval rights given by James I of Aragon
James I of Aragon
James I the Conqueror was the King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276...
during the conquest of the Kingdom, to denounce an alleged lack of legality of the exploitation by the lords, “who treated them like Moors”, given the case that the Laws of the Kingdom banned these kind of taxes and tributes to the Christians. The Nobles, alleged that the King Philip III
Philip III of Spain
Philip III , also known as Philip the Pious, was the King of Spain and King of Portugal and the Algarves, where he ruled as Philip II , from 1598 until his death...
, expelling the Moriscos
Expulsion of the Moriscos
On April 9, 1609, King Philip III of Spain decreed the Expulsion of the Moriscos . The Moriscos were the descendants of the Muslim population that converted to Christianity under threat of exile from Ferdinand and Isabella in 1502...
, had given them those lands in property, on which they then had every right to regulate.
After their military defeat, the peasants unrest loomed. New clashes were ready to start in 1700 when Charles II of Spain
Charles II of Spain
Charles II was the last Habsburg King of Spain and the ruler of large parts of Italy, the Spanish territories in the Southern Low Countries, and Spain's overseas Empire, stretching from the Americas to the Spanish East Indies...
died with no sons or clear heir, setting the conditions for the War of the Spanish Succession.
When Philip V of Spain
Philip V of Spain
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...
took possession of the Kingdom of Valencia
Kingdom of Valencia
The Kingdom of Valencia , located in the eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon. When the Crown of Aragon merged by dynastic union with the Crown of Castile to form the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Valencia became a component realm of the...
(one of the component kingdoms of the larger Spanish Kingdom) as a Felip IV of Valencia, there were already many supporters of the archduke Charles of Austria in this territory, as well as in the Principality of Catalonia
Principality of Catalonia
The Principality of Catalonia , is a historic territory in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula, mostly in Spain and with an adjoining portion in southern France....
and Majorca. Their reasons were various, ranging from loyalty to the dynasty of the House of Austria, hate towards the French by a part of the merchants and the industrials, and distrust for the suspected centralist attitude of Philip V of Spain, as seen by the Bourbon rule in France.
Merchants and exporters of wine, brandy, silk, and other farming products, which was politically and economically very important, contacted a key person for their cause : General Joan Baptista Basset.
General Basset was a Valencian, probably born in Alboraia
Alboraia
Alboraya or Alboraia is a town and municipality of the province of Valencia, Spain. It is situated very close to the city of Valencia....
in an artisan family, who spoke the people’s language and knew very well their claims and needs. He had served during the wars in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
under Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt
Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt
Prince George Louis of Hesse-Darmstadt was a Field Marshal in the Austrian army. He is known for his career in Habsburg Spain, as Viceroy of Catalonia , head of the Austrian army in the War of Spanish Succession and governor of Gibraltar in 1704...
, a German Noble who had been before Viceroy
Viceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
in Catalonia.
The War of the Spanish Succession had a double nature. On the one side, it was a Spanish internal issue, on the other side, it was a major European war for international hegemony. England and the Netherlands (the so-called "Maritime powers", traditional destinations of the Valencian merchants exports) sided against the Bourbon pretender, Philip V of Spain. As a part of a blockade, Valencian exports to these countries stopped, which meant a total downfall for merchants and the peasants that sold to them the products. The exports to France, a land that produced and exported the same products, did not compensate them in any way for the loses.
Successful Rebellion
Since the year 1704, Francesc Davila, who probably was a leader of the Segona Germania who had escaped persecution, toured all the southern counties of Valencia explaining to the peasants that the Austrian pretender was ready to abolish all the rights of the Nobles to higher taxes than the ones imposed by Jaume I. When Joan Baptista Basset disembarked in AlteaAltea
-External links:*, Portal de Altea*, Good Information-Guide of Altea - in German and English**, Photo gallery of Altea*, spherical Panorama of Altea...
in August 1705, a new revolt commenced and spread out everywhere.
Basset rode to Valencia, via Dénia, Gandia and Alzira without meeting any real resistance. When the mostly Bourbonic supporting Nobles or the fortresses tried to resist, it were the armed villagers who forced them to flee. Together with the viceroy, Duke Gandia, a long list of Nobles and “botiflers” siding with Philip V of Spain fled, not to Valencia, but to Castile; they did not trust the resistance of the capital, and with reason.
The city of Valencia opened its doors to the Maulet army without resistance. On the contrary, it was received with popular enthusiasm. At the same time, news from the uprising in the Principality of Catalonia arrived, where a rebelling had expelled the “felipist” military and where Charles III himself had triumphantly disembarked in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. This news was enough to spread the uprising through in the rest of the Kingdom of Valencia, especially in its North part, from Vinaròs
Vinaròs
Vinaròs is a town and municipality in eastern Spain, in the province of Castelló and part of the autonomous Valencian Community. The town is on the Gulf of Valencia coast of the western Mediterranean Sea, Vinaròs is a fishing harbour and tourist destination....
and Benicarló
Benicarló
Benicarló is a city and municipality in the north of the province of Castelló, part of the Valencian Community, in the Mediterranean Coast between the cities of Vinaròs and Peníscola, not too far south from the Ebre River....
to Vila-real
Vila-real
Vila-real is a city in the province of Castellón, in the Valencian Community, Spain. Located 7 km to the south of the province's capital , at 42 m above sea level, it has 51,367 inhabitants , most of them living in the urban area that covers about 10.72% of its county's 55.4 km2 surface...
and Castelló
Castelló
Castelló is the Catalan name corresponding to Spanish Castellón. As such, it may refer to either of:*Castellón *Castellón de la Plana...
, where the Maulets where specially strong.
Once Basset was established in Valencia, practically exercising the function of Viceroy, and with most of the country under control of the Maulets (meaning, of the armed villagers), the first thing was to abolish all taxes to the Nobles.
Basset even went further and , with the doubtful legality of his high office, stopped paying any kind of tax to the tax collectors of the King. He also abolished the right of doors, a hated tax on products coming from the colonies into Valencia.
He also tolerated, and even stimulated, a real persecution, expulsion and arrest of French citizens, mainly merchants, who were seen by the population as enemies and by the native merchants as dangerous competitors.
Obviously the relationships with the Maritime powers, allied to Charles III were re-established , and the harbours were again opened to Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and English ships, resuming trade as before. At the same time, Basset and the Maulets arrested and ousted the most notorious “botiflers”, and seized their possessions.
Clash amongst allies
Basset, now in control of the Valencian country, had to organize armed resistance against Bourbonic attacks. He realized quickly that his peasant army of Maulets was no match for the professional Bourbonic army, let alone their French allies.Basset asked Charles III for military help. The help came, in the form of Earl of Peterborough
Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough
Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough and 1st Earl of Monmouth, KG, PC was an English nobleman and military leader. He was the son of John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt, and his wife Elizabeth, the daughter and sole heiress of Thomas Carey, the second son of Robert Carey, 1st Earl of Monmouth...
and his English soldiers. Even though his arrival saved the delicate situation from enemies attacks, it also meant the creation of another political power led by count Cardona, with a military force independent from the Maulets and with no intention of allowing what they considered “plebeian excesses”.
It all points to the fact that count Cardona and the English general had instructions, probably from the King, to end the “excesses” of Basset and the Maulets, in this way trying to gain back the support of the Nobles, most of them siding with the Bourbons
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
.
Sure enough, Charles III, as an owner of royal lands and main lord of the Order of Montesa
Order of Montesa
The Order of Montesa is a Christian military order, territorially limited to the Kingdom of Aragon.-Templar background:The Templars had been received with enthusiasm in Aragon from their foundation in 1128...
, had experienced a reduction in his income, by the Maulets refusal to pay. This money was absolutely necessary to keep the very expensive army together with which he hoped to win the war. In consequence, it was necessary to stop the Maulets and their chief, general Basset, but it was needed to do it wisely and with indulgence.
Cardona and Peterborough then started an offensive centred at some of Bassets collaborators, pointing to the illegal confiscation
Confiscation
Confiscation, from the Latin confiscatio 'joining to the fiscus, i.e. transfer to the treasury' is a legal seizure without compensation by a government or other public authority...
and loot for personal use of the goods from the French and the Botiflers, and imprisoned them awaiting trial. Meanwhile Basset was lured away from Valencia, first to Alzira and later on to Xàtiva
Xàtiva
Xàtiva is a town in eastern Spain, in the province of Valencia, on the right bank of the river Albaida and at the junction of the Valencia–Murcia and Valencia Albacete railways....
, encouraging him to take part in the fighting. They waited an opportunity to imprison him, but were fearful of his great popularity amongst the people and feared a rebellion of the Maulets if that ever happened.
The occasion came when Charles III had defeated the Borbons in Castile
Castile (historical region)
A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...
and had managed to enter Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
on June 27, 1706. In between the popular celebrations, Peterborough secretly sent troops to Xàtiva, with the order to arrest Basset and imprison him in a fortress in English hands. When news came out, effectively the people revolted.
In Valencia the shouts of “Long live to Basset, before than Charles III” proved the real allegiances of the Valencian Maulets. In fact, Peterborough had to turn those cannons meant to defend Valencia from the Bourbons, around to aim at the revolting population, to drive them of. During days there were demonstrations of protest, letters sent to Charles in Barcelona and all kind of public declarations in Basset's favour and his reforms. But a renewed Maulet revolt, this time against whom they considered their legitimate King, all with a Borbon army at the doors of the Kingdom ready for war, would have been suicidal. A victory of the Bourbons would have meant the return of the Botiflers, and the previous state of affairs. Consequently, Maulets resigned and stopped their protests, believing that the pretender Charles, in coming to Valencia shortly would repair the injustice and would free Basset.
Defeat and Retreat
Meanwhile the Maulets continued refusing to pay the door rights, or any other taxes. Charles III demanded from the authorities from Valencia to call for its payment, without too much success.But time was running out. Charles had already been forced to abandon Madrid and suffered a crushing defeat in the hands of the Duke of Berwick
James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick
James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, 1st Duke of Fitz-James, 1st Duke of Liria and Jérica was an Anglo-French military leader, illegitimate son of King James II of England by Arabella Churchill, sister of the 1st Duke of Marlborough...
in the Battle of Almansa
Battle of Almansa
The Battle of Almansa, fought on 25 April 1707, was one of the most decisive engagements of the War of the Spanish Succession. At Almansa, the Franco–Spanish army under Berwick soundly defeated the allied forces of Portugal, England, and the United Provinces led by the Earl of Galway,...
.
Charles withdrew towards Barcelona, and with him the Viceroy, the whole administration and surviving troops.
The people and the Maulets were left at the mercy of the Bourbon advance. King Philip never hid his intentions to overrun the Furs
Furs of Valencia
Furs of Valencia were the laws of the Kingdom of Valencia during most of Middle Ages and Early modern Europe. They were a series of charters which, altogether, worked similarly as a modern Constitution does now. Thus, they defined the position, and the checks and balances between the Royal House,...
(the Valencian laws) “by the just right of conquest”. The Valencian kingdom disappeared as a legal structure, and was only left as a name, empty of meaning.
The Maulets resisted, especially in Xàtiva, a town which had to be taken by the Bourbonics after a fierce battle, and was afterwards razed and set on fire as a reprisal. In Valencia, the Maulets tried in vain to hinder the entrance of the Bourbonic army, but Berwick
James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick
James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, 1st Duke of Fitz-James, 1st Duke of Liria and Jérica was an Anglo-French military leader, illegitimate son of King James II of England by Arabella Churchill, sister of the 1st Duke of Marlborough...
and Asfeld
Claude François Bidal d'Asfeld
Claude François Bidal, marquis d'Asfeld , was a French Marshal of France.He was the son of Pierre Bidal , a French merchant and banker who did business with Christina of Sweden....
managed their way in.
When, in 1710, the war seemed to turn back in favor of Charles III, the city of Valencia raised again in anti-Bourbon revolt. The Maulets appeared on the streets again, awaiting in vain an Austriacista fleet that had to disembark troops at the harbour. A few remaining Valencian Maulets withdrew towards Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
still in the hands of Charles III.
Barcelona 1714 , the last stand
Thousands of Valencian refugees concentrated in Barcelona and other cities of the Principality of Catalonia. But the international events made clear the futility of carrying on the struggle. Charles III himself had signed a peace treaty with Philip V of Spain and went back to AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. The Maritime powers had accepted Philip V as king of Spain and had evacuated their troops from Barcelona over sea. The Catalans and the Valencian Maulets carried on fighting for their cause devoid of international allies.
When the Bourbonic armies, led by Berwick himself, laid siege on Barcelona
Siege of Barcelona
The Siege of Barcelona was a battle at the end of the War of Spanish Succession , which pitted Archduke Charles of Austria The Siege of Barcelona was a battle at the end of the War of Spanish Succession (1701–1714), which pitted Archduke Charles of Austria The Siege of Barcelona was a battle at...
two regiments of Valencians were formed, the Mare de Déu dels Desamparats and the Sant Vicent Ferrer, to fight along their comrades in Catalonia.
On the September 11, 1714, when Barcelona fell in Bourbonic hands after a determined fight, many Maulets were counted among the fallen. Many others, amongst them General Basset, who had directed the artillery of the resistance, were arrested and imprisoned. Others, who managed to escape from the Bourbonic troops via Majorca, or who were later on freed, ended up exiled in Vienna, at the court of “their” Charles III, now emperor of Austria.
Source
The War of Spanish Succession in Dénia (Valencia) (Spanish)Original Spanish version on Foro Libre