|  Given its diminutive size – the last census three years ago revealed that there were just 1,288 inhabitants – it comes as a surprise to learn that Beniarjó was the birthplace of one of the Comunidad Valenciana’s most venerated writers and had strong links to the renowned King Alfonso the Great. Fiercely proud of their local history and their region’s values and culture, eighty per cent of beniarjoleros speak valenciano as their first language.
Originally a Moorish settlement, it was first recorded under the name of Benizerjó and came under the jurisdiction of Gandia until it became emancipated from the town’s rule, along with Almoines, in the mid-sixteenth century. Nowadays, Beniarjó’s economy is largely based on agriculture, particularly citrus farming, given the abundant orange groves along the banks of the river Serpis. This said, more and more new companies are setting up in the village, a factor that has lead to its steady population growth over the last few years.
Poetic injustice
Beniarjó’s greatest claim to fame is arguably that of being the birthplace of Ausiŕs March, in 1397. One of the most renowned poets of Mediaeval Spain, March was born into a noble family of distinguished writers, including his father, Pedro; his uncle, Jaime, and his cousin Arnau. Lord of Beniarjó and neighbouring Pardines and Verniga, Ausiŕs had already been knighted at the age of 22 by Alfonso V who he served for many years, taking part in expeditions to Corsica and Cerdeńa and working for the King’s company in Sicily and North Africa, chasing pirates away from the Spanish coast. As well as being a loyal servant of Alfonso the Great, Ausiŕs was a great personal friend of his and fellow lover of literature.
Ausiŕs married Isabel Martorell in 1437, the sister of Joan Martorell, author of Valencian classic Tirant lo Blanc – a novel that is indisputably the region’s answer to Don Quijote insofar as it is the epitome of the Comunidad’s literary history. Their domestic bliss was short-lived as Isabel died two years later – in fact, Ausiŕs had very little luck in marriage, since his second wife, Joana Escorna, also passed away in 1443. Although neither of the two women left him an heir, the poet is recorded as having four illegitimate children, presumably thanks to the number of concubines he kept.
Ausiŕs left us 128 poems in total, all in valenciano in the original and breaking with the contemporary tradition of pastoral literature. His works are, ironically, an analysis of morals and read as a tragic and anguished fight between good and bad. Difficult to interpret, Ausiŕs’ verse centres on sin and virtue, pain and death, being heavily influenced by Aristotle, Dante and Petrarch.
His poems did not become widespread until long after his death in 1459 – in fact, they were not translated into castellano until a century later. However, to the people of La Safor, he was and will continue to be an icon, with streets and buildings and even a high school in Gandia named after him.
In his town of birth, Beniarjó, the family palace is little more than a ruin now. It passed into the hands of the Medinacelis, who also had a palace in El Verger next to the Cremallera tower, in the 17th century. The new owners systematically dismantled the building in order to sell the construction materials. Oddly enough, the best-preserved part is the cistern that used to supply water to the palace - this has recently been restored and is now a popular attraction in the village.
Even the Sant Marc chapel, annexed to the palace, was demolished when the church of Sant Joan Baptista was built in the mid-twentieth century. This new place of worship also doubles up as an art gallery, where a permanent exhibition of local works is on display.
Street sounds swirling through the town
It is hardly a revelation that Ausiŕs March’s native town would somehow honour him in its annual fiestas. Every April, at the same time as the festival of traditional music and dance, the Senyoriu d’Ausiŕs March poetry competition is held and awards given in their unofficial patron saint’s name. Another music and dance festival takes place in the second half of August and, like the first, involves participants from Africa, the Americas, Europe and Asia performing their indigenous arts in the street – an event not to be missed for anyone who is fascinated by popular culture on a global level.
Also in April is the fiesta of Sant Marc, the ‘official’ patron saint, where the Ball de la Bandera (dance of the flag) and les Caixes de sant Marc, both dances that originate from 15th-century Florence, are performed in the open air.
First verse of Ausiŕs March’s poem, 'Quien no está triste deje mi lectura', in castellano and in English:
Quien no está triste deje mi lectura
o en algún tiempo no haya triste estado,
y el que es de males mal apasionado,
obscuridad no busque a su tristura.
Lea mis versos, mi razón turbada,
sin algún arte muestra de hombre loco,
y la razón que en tal dolor me apoco
sábela amor, por quien la causa es dada.
Whoever is not sad, stop reading my words
Or who has never sad been,
And who is sick with passion
Look not for darkness in your sadness.
Read my verses, my perturbed reason,
If it reveals any of a mad man’s art
And the reason that, in so much pain, daunts me
Call it love, for whom the cause is given.
The works of Ausiŕs March have been translated into English for the first time in their 500-year history and a tri-lingual edition (in Spanish, English and valenciano) will shortly hit the shelves.
Translator of the English text, Manuel Ángel Conejero Dionís-Bayer, a playwright, drama teacher and university dean, won an OBE for his Spanish translation of the works of Shakespeare in 1992.
Look out for Ausiŕs in a bookshop near you. |
