Relates the story, so far as it concerns Majorca, of the last Kings of Aragon
The extinction of their reigning dynasty was a great calamity to the people of Majorca, especially during the prolonged life of the Ceremonious one. At last he died in 1387. His sons were very different in all respects. Juan I., surnamed the Huntsman, succeeded as King of Aragon, and he was also the legitimate heir to the Balearic Islands. A pestilence in Catalonia led him to visit Majorca. He and his Queen were in different galleys, and were separated during bad weather. Juan landed at Soller on July 16, 1394, and proceeded to the castle of Valdemosa. The Queen, reached Palma safely. They were united at the castle of Belver, where they spent six pleasant months. Devoted to the chase, Juan went about over the island hawking the partridges introduced by King Sancho. He also imported deer. Returning to Aragon, he was unfortunately killed in the forest of Foxà, near his castle of Uriols, when hunting a she-wolf. He only had a daughter named Violante, who became Queen of Naples, mother of Louis, Duke of Calabria.
Juan I. was succeeded by his brother King Martin, an excellent prince, surnamed ‘the Humane.’ At this time San Vicente Ferrer of Valencia was flourishing and striving to create a religious revival, and his zeal made an impression on the minds of King Martin and many of his subjects. In 1413 San Vicente went to Majorca, where his preaching aroused the people to make great demonstrations of their religious fervour. It is even said that the saint wrought a miracle by bringing down abundant rain during a season of drought. The Catholic zeal of King Martin led him to grant Sancho’s castle of Valdemosa to the Carthusians for a monastery on June 15, 1399. Large donations for the building of the church were received from Majorcan nobles, and the courtly apartments of King Sancho were converted into cells, a refectory, and a cloister. The Cartuja of Valdemosa continued to flourish on this beautiful site for more than four centuries. The church is a fine edifice, containing the richly carved stalls of the Carthusians, a profile in relief of King Martin, and a remarkably good statue, carved in wood, of St. Bruno. After the suppression and the expulsion of the Carthusians in 1834 their cells were let to families from Palma and others for the summer. A large portion forms the summer residence of Don Juan Sureda, who has converted the refectory into a charming ballroom, with a stage and proscenium at one end for private theatricals. Georges Sand, with the composer Chopin, occupied two of the cells. Georges Sand afterwards wrote a book on her winter residence in Majorca in 1835, animadverting on the country and the people. But her strictures are unfair and, to a great extent, untrue, and have been ably refuted by a native author. To this day the Cartuja on its ridge, surrounded by orange-groves, is a beautiful object in the ascent from the garden of Palma to Valdemosa, still looking more like the castle of King Sancho than a Cartuja. Apartments are shown as having been the residence of King Martin, but he never visited the island personally.