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Cantavieja

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Cantavieja

Capital of Carlism

Capital of Carlism

The Maestrazgo was configured as a war zone from the moment the Carlists decided to establish their center of operations in Cantavieja. It was the year 1836 and, since then, that small town of medieval airs located in the heart of Maestrazgo Teruel became a symbol of the legitimist challenge to the authority of the liberal government. In practice, it will operate as its institutional heart over time. Cantavieja will become the capital of Carlism in Maestrazgo in the two great Carlist wars, with forty years of difference in time, which gave it a great centrality in everything that happened in these lands throughout the nineteenth century.

© José Luis Cano

Ramón Cabrera (1806-1876)

The Cantavieja Newsletter

The sieges of Cantavieja

Heart of the military administration

Cabrera was a young seminarian from Tortosa who joined the ranks of the pretender Don Carlos in the first moments of the insurrection.

Cantavieja housed the first Carlist printing house in Maestrazgo. Cabrera’s first manifestos and orders were printed on it.

In spite of the imposing stamp that Cantavieja shows, in fact, its main defense is the difficulty to transport the troops there and to raise up to the surrounding heights the artillery pieces.

After making Cantavieja his capital, Cabrera organized everything necessary to control the territory of Maestrazgo.

He lacked previous military experience, but soon stood out among the leaders of Carlist parties. It was he who, in the spring of 1836, took the decision to seize Cantavieja and install his headquarters there. The insurrection ceased to be itinerant to establish its own territory. Since then Cantavieja was a symbol of Carlism and also a military target for its enemies.

Also, in August 1836, issue No. 1 of the Bulletin of the Royal Army of the Kingdom of Aragon, better known as “the Cantavieja bulletin”, which was the newspaper used by the Carlists of Maestrazgo to disseminate official news, military events and different types of texts in prose and verse aimed at shaping public opinion in the territory.

The town, taken by the Carlists in 1836, was temporarily reconquered for the liberals by General San Miguel. It did not take Cabañero long to recover it in April 1837. In 1840, the defenders did not expose themselves to bombardment and abandoned the square at night by climbing down the walls. The Carlists retook Cantavieja in 1874 and suffered the greatest siege in July 1875. The bombardment on the population lasted 5 days in which more than 3000 grenades fell before it surrendered to the troops of General Jovellar.

Inside its walls he established the command post and there the Carlist recruits gathered and received their first instruction. In addition to its barracks, Cantavieja served as a hospital for the wounded and a depot for supplies and provisions. It also manufactured and stored ammunition and operated an artillery workshop whose mission was to repair the armament. Later, as the Carlist administration settled, Cantavieja would be the seat of the first political and military bodies.

Ramón Cabrera was the main Carlist leader in Maestrazgo during the First Carlist War.
Ramón Cabrera was the main Carlist leader in Maestrazgo during the First Carlist War.
The Boletín, which began to be published in Cantavieja, would continue to appear until 1840, shortly before the Carlists left the country.
The Boletín, which began to be published in Cantavieja, would continue to appear until 1840, shortly before the Carlists left the country.
General San Miguel temporarily regained Liberal control of Cantavieja in the autumn of 1836.
General San Miguel temporarily regained Liberal control of Cantavieja in the autumn of 1836.
Cantavieja's position in the centre of the Maestrazo made it a suitable place to establish the Carlist capital of Cabrera.
Cantavieja's position in the centre of the Maestrazo made it a suitable place to establish the Carlist capital of Cabrera.

Ramón Cabrera (1806-1876)

Cabrera was a young seminarian from Tortosa who joined the ranks of the pretender Don Carlos in the first moments of the insurrection.

He lacked previous military experience, but soon stood out among the leaders of Carlist parties. It was he who, in the spring of 1836, took the decision to seize Cantavieja and install his headquarters there. The insurrection ceased to be itinerant to establish its own territory. Since then Cantavieja was a symbol of Carlism and also a military target for its enemies.

Ramón Cabrera was the main Carlist leader in Maestrazgo during the First Carlist War.
Ramón Cabrera was the main Carlist leader in Maestrazgo during the First Carlist War.

The Cantavieja Newsletter

Cantavieja housed the first Carlist printing house in Maestrazgo. Cabrera’s first manifestos and orders were printed on it.

Also, in August 1836, issue No. 1 of the Bulletin of the Royal Army of the Kingdom of Aragon, better known as “the Cantavieja bulletin”, which was the newspaper used by the Carlists of Maestrazgo to disseminate official news, military events and different types of texts in prose and verse aimed at shaping public opinion in the territory.

The Boletín, which began to be published in Cantavieja, would continue to appear until 1840, shortly before the Carlists left the country.
The Boletín, which began to be published in Cantavieja, would continue to appear until 1840, shortly before the Carlists left the country.

The sieges of Cantavieja

In spite of the imposing stamp that Cantavieja shows, in fact, its main defense is the difficulty to transport the troops there and to raise up to the surrounding heights the artillery pieces.

The town, taken by the Carlists in 1836, was temporarily reconquered for the liberals by General San Miguel. It did not take Cabañero long to recover it in April 1837. In 1840, the defenders did not expose themselves to bombardment and abandoned the square at night by climbing down the walls. The Carlists retook Cantavieja in 1874 and suffered the greatest siege in July 1875. The bombardment on the population lasted 5 days in which more than 3000 grenades fell before it surrendered to the troops of General Jovellar.

General San Miguel temporarily regained Liberal control of Cantavieja in the autumn of 1836.
General San Miguel temporarily regained Liberal control of Cantavieja in the autumn of 1836.

Heart of the military administration

After making Cantavieja his capital, Cabrera organized everything necessary to control the territory of Maestrazgo.

Inside its walls he established the command post and there the Carlist recruits gathered and received their first instruction. In addition to its barracks, Cantavieja served as a hospital for the wounded and a depot for supplies and provisions. It also manufactured and stored ammunition and operated an artillery workshop whose mission was to repair the armament. Later, as the Carlist administration settled, Cantavieja would be the seat of the first political and military bodies.

Cantavieja's position in the centre of the Maestrazo made it a suitable place to establish the Carlist capital of Cabrera.
Cantavieja's position in the centre of the Maestrazo made it a suitable place to establish the Carlist capital of Cabrera.
TURISMO MAESTRAZGO logotipo

Comarca del Maestrazgo • C/ Las Tres Baylias • 44140 Cantavieja (Teruel)
Phone: 964 185 242 • [email protected]

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