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MICHAEL COY has a story for us – a stirring tale of honour, abuse and true nobility.
Zalamea is a place you probably haven’t visited before.
The town, still dominated by its medieval castle, nestles in the remote countryside of Estremadura, sixty miles from Mérida, the nearest community of any size.
If you want to know what the English equivalent is, then you can go to Nether Wallop. It’s a village that has become a proverbial symbol of the pastoral heartland of the nation.
Country folk in the Middle Ages had many joys and worries, but today, one of each is enough.
Back then, the King dispensed the law – literally. They looked forward to him visiting every year, and deciding on legal disputes in their locality. They feared the army.
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If the army showed up, the soldiers were ‘quartered’ on the local people. Back in the 1500s there was little food available and people couldn’t afford to offer extra rooms.
Who wants an uncouth, unknown squaddie to stay in their cottage for two or three weeks?
Virginity is the next step.
Of course, any parent of a girl in adolescence wants to protect her. It’s the strongest emotion we can experience as humans.
There was a new element added in medieval times.
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The family that was forced to give a bed to the soldier knew their cottage and land would be at risk if their daughter became pregnant after he had abused her.
This is everything.
Let’s say she had a boy. The soldier could claim the family home for his son, the ‘heir’.
It is because men want to marry virgins and reject girls who are “soiled goods” in their view.
Although it seems barbaric, that is how things were.
Pedro Crespo, we all know him.
Pedro, a man in his 40s who was honest, hardworking, and a total gentleman, is a very popular figure in Zalamea.
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He built his farm from scratch. He was not a nobleman (people in those days were obsessed with aristocracy), but he did not owe anyone anything and he and wife raised their children well.
Pedro was admired by all. One day the bad news came.
It was necessary to find billets for 50 men as the army would pass through Zalamea en route to Badajoz.
Don Alvaro was quartered with the Crespos because Pedro was a well-known citizen and the cottage was kept in pristine condition.
You have probably already guessed the outcome.
During his stay Don Alvaro, being an ‘entitled’ nobleman, takes a fancy to Pedro’s teenage daughter, Isabel, and rapes her.
She is obviously devastated and tells her dad what happened.
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Pedro finds himself in a very difficult situation. There are no cops.
If he complains to the army’s top brass, they might ignore him – he’s a peasant, and Don Alvaro is an aristocrat.
The soldiers also have physical strength on their side. How could Pedro arrest Don Alvaro until the King arrived to hear his case?
In the end, if the person does nothing or fails to bring justice, they will lose their honour before the community.
He might even lose his farm.
Then, the news comes that the King will be arriving in Zalamea.
His Majesty is dispensing justice in Cáceres right now, but he’ll be here in two days.
This is a play called “The mayor of Zalamea”.
It was written five hundred years ago by Calderón de la Barca. (In the age of Shakespeare, Spain produced three playwrights of genius – Calderón, Tirso and Lope de Vega.)
You should see it if you have the opportunity.
The book is a powerful and insightful look at the topics discussed here. It makes it clear that nobility does not come from titles, but comes from within.
As the King arrives, the villagers gather in front of Pedro’s barn to hear him speak.
After hearing all the evidence, his Majesty orders that Don Alvaro be executed for raping this girl.
Pedro throws open his barn door – there dangles the body of Don Alvaro: Pedro has already killed him!
The villagers declared Pedro as mayor for life on the spot.
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