The Talayotic culture altered the entire structure of the islands, giving life to the prehistoric fortified villages characterized by tower-like constructions of megaliths, as well as introducing new beliefs and lifestyles adopted from the ancient Greek world. The best example, also a point of interest in Manacor, is the prehistoric villages of s’Hospitalet Vell, des Boc and Bellver. As for singular talayotic constructions, it is worth highlighting those of Bendrís, Son Sureda and Sa Gruta.
The Roman and Byzantine empire
In 123 BC, Roman general, Quint Cecili “Baleàric” Metel, conquered Mallorca and incorporated it under the Roman empire by creating the cities of Palma and Pollen-tia, as well as several unnamed villages scattered on the island. The Romans captured the indigenous warriors to make them part of their army.
However, in the area of Porto Cristo, the many underwater findings suggests Roman activity from the Baix Impiri (Lower Empire), which was that of the Byzantine. In 533, Emperor Justinian I launched a series of military campaigns in an attempt to recover some of the lost parts of the Roman empire. The eastern parts of Mallorca and Menorca was then recaptured, which included the current areas of Manacor and Porto Cristo. As such, Mallorca and Menorca had not been lost in battle, but abandoned. In the 5th century, Vandals was on the island, but left again.
From this period, however, there are also two remarkable remains in Manacor; Basilica de Son Pereto and Basilica de sa Carrotja, two paleo-Christian, or early-Christian, constructions evidencing the presence of Christian communities. With the recapture of Mallorca by Justinian I, in 533, Christianity was suddenly introduced according to the laws of Theodosius I. In the following 200 years or so, there was an intense ecclesiastic activity here by the Christian community that was producing foundry and glass. The excavation site of Basilica de Son Pereto very well shows the baptism area and the funereal area. It is still uncertain whether this area was an independent community, or if it was part of a bigger settlement.
In the historical museum of Manacor, which should be visited, you can find exhibitions of Roman artifacts and mosaics found in the paleo-Christian basilicas, along with many other interesting finds from the local area.
The Islamic period (902 – 1229)
In 902, Mallorca, along with much of rest of the Hispanic world, came under Islamic dominance. Mallorca was annexed to the Emirate of Cordoba, after Issam al-Khawlaní had discovered the archipelago during a pilgrimage to Mecca, and conquered it the following years. The Arabs, mainly Berbers, lived in families or tribal communities in farms (alquerias) and huts (rahals/rafals), that is, those who lived outside Madina Mayurqua (Palma).
The Arabs divided the island in twelve different jurisdictions, or divisions, where Manacor was the biggest called “Juz d’ Manaqur”. A group of houses formed a small nucleus, as one of just a few outside the capital.
The amount of artifacts from the Islamic period in Manaqur is scarce, however, names of farmsteads, pottery etc. testifies the presence of the Muslims where the town is located.
The Reconquista
In September 1229, King Jaume I of Aragón landed in the bay of Santa Ponca with 150 ships and 27,000 soldiers with a clear goal; conquer Mallorca and annex it to the Crown of Aragón. On December 31, the capital was conquered and the wali defeated, the official day of the conquest. However, thousands of Muslims were still living on the island, and many of those who weren’t killed during the siege of the capital had fled to the mountains of Llevant and Tramuntana. In 1231/32, all Muslim resistance had been fought down and defeated by the Catalan Almogavars.
Soon after the conquest, the king divided the lands of Mallorca among those who had supported and participated in the campaign, including Templars, Bishops and counts. Most of the lands of Manaqur went to the count Nunó Sanç, who died just a few years later, hence the lands returned to the king.
In 1234 the parish of Manacor depended on that of Santa Maria de Bellver (Sant Llorenç des Cardassar), but it was constituted an independent parish in 1248.
The foundation of the new town
Documents stored in the municipal archive indicates the presence of a parish church dedicated to Santa Maria from 1236, which was the In the early 14th century, King Jaume II of Mallorca promulgated a set or ordinances which led to the creation of several towns on the island, including Manacor. The “Lleuda” as the law was called, granted every village of 100 houses or more a set of privileges such as rights to trade, lower and fixed taxes on imported merchandise and several other economical privileges. Moreover, the actual buildings were constructed following the contemporary “bastide” style of France, a fortified village with a rectangular urban plan, a market square in the center surrounded by houses with arcades. From this period, constructions such as the Torre de ses Puntes, Torre dels Enagistes and the Torre del Palau (former royal palace) are the best preserved in Manacor and very well gives us an idea of the medieval town.
The town extended from the urban nucleus on a hill unfolding towards the plain areas as the case of most towns. The first neighborhood was the ses Dames in the center, then the neighborhoods of es Baix de Cós and es Barracar arose to the east, followed by the Es Tren and Sa Torre to the west. To the south, the windmill district of Fartàritx was created. The northern part of the town was extended by the Plaça Sant Jaume, that prolonged the trading center.
Jaume II of Mallorca also granted the new town the Monday market and the right to hold an annual spring fair the last Sunday of May.
The revolt of the foreigners
Back during medieval times and up until the 16th or 17th century, Mallorca was mainly divided in two regions; Ciutat de Mallorca and Forana. Ciutat de Mallorca was the name of Palma, while Forana was a term used of the areas outside the city, and people from these areas was called the “Forans” roughly translated to “foreigners“. Manacor was part of the Forana.
From the late 14th century and well into the 15th century, tensions between the nobility and the peasants created a stratification that would end in a violent conflict. The Black Death of 1348 along with several droughts on the island had led to a state of famine and poverty for most of the peasants on the island, since products had to be imported at higher rates while at the same time fewer hands were available. This resulted in a higher fiscal pressure which was to balance the public debt.
In the meantime, corruption among the noble classes was a recurring issue that kept most peasants and day-laborers out of influence in the towns causing a series of disputes. The corruption also meant that it was more difficult for small farmers to make money on the market, as the landowners charged more money in rent of land.
In 1450, King Alfonso ordered a so-called “capbreu” to be created, a declaration of all real estate of the island. Landowners were obligated to document their ownership of their possessions and real estate, to prove their rights to administrate it. However, what sparkled the first real societal conflict on the island was that many of the small farmers seemed to have lost their documentation of their rights to own land. Moreover, it was people from the nobility that were in charge of writing this capbreu, which of course was interpreted by the peasants as another corruption scandal.
Soon after, an angry mob led by local peasant Simo “Tort” Ballester raged against the people who had written the capbreu, who were stoned and had to flee to the Ciutat de Mallorca (Palma). On July 26, 5,000 farmers from many villages gathered outside Inca to march towards the capital. The following day, they reached the city walls from where they cut of the water supply from the Font de la Vila (source of the town), which supplied the entire city with water, and besieged the city. The siege lasted until August when the bishop of Urgell intervened and the governor agreed to talk to the farmers. The farmers handed over a script of 31 chapters stating their demands, most of these about erasing the public debt and put an end to the corruption.
The demands of the farmers was not met by governor, which led to a violent approach from the farmers who started damaging towns all over the island and plunder merchants. In 1453, the king intervened by sending Italian mercenaries to the island to put an end to the revolt once and for all. After the defeat of the farmers, all of the cities and families that had had anything to do with the revolt was sentenced to pay severe fines to cover for the damages.
After a period of exile in France for 3 years, Simo “Tort” Ballester first returned to Menorca before coming to Mallorca where he was captured and imprisoned in the Bellver castle. He was executed in 1457, his dead body drawn and quartered.
The 16th to the 18th century
The 16th century begins with yet another conflict in Mallorca, the rise of les Germanies (the Brotherhood) in 1520. Essentially, it was a continuation of the Revolta Forana, only this time it was the artisan guilds of Mallorca demanding public debt erased. This conflict was much more organized than the prior and more violent as well, historians talk about this conflict as a regular civil war. However, the outcome was the same, King Carles V sent a delegation of his soldiers to fight the amateur army of les Germanies, which ended in a bloody battle in the marshes of Sa Pobla. In 1523, the last resistance of les Germanies was fought down and the leader imprisoned and executed in the Bellver castle. As a consequence, Manacor, along with other towns that had participated, was sentenced to pay severe fines causing even more debt.
During the 1500’s, the works of the original parish church of Santa Maria from the 13th century was also finished. In 1576, King Felipe II granted the Dominican friars permission to establish the second house in Mallorca. The construction of a primitive chapel dedicated to Sant Vicenç Ferrer began in 1597 and was finished in 1617, while the friars lived in small houses outside the urban center. The new Dominican convent expanded during the 17th century when the construction of the stunning cloister was begun. This was finished in 1744, and in 1919, it was declared a national monument.
The 16th century was particularly rough on towns close to the waterfront, as the empire of Ottoman started to campaign in the Mediterranean district. The Ottomans allied themselves with privateers from the North Africa enabling them to strike from several sides of the island. The constant threat of the Turks and pirates in the sea had economic and demographic consequences for the population in Manacor, and so in 1577 the watchtower of Falcons was set up in Porto Cristo to help guard the coast. The tower was operated by two guards, who, when they saw a hostile vessel in the sea, was to alert the town using smoke signals and flags. The most malicious raid on the coast of Manacor happened in 1611 when pirates landed at the peninsula of Punta de n’Amer, which currently belongs to the municipality of Sant Llorenç des Cardassar. Following this attack, the town council of Manacor agreed that the defense on the coastline had to be enhanced with a fortress, however, due to low socioeconomic state of the area the construction had to be postponed to 1693. The fortress was finished in 1696 and named Castell de sa Punta de n’Amer. It was operated by armed soldiers and canons on the platform.
Following the War of Spanish Succession, King Felipe V promulgated a decreed called “Nova Planta”, which more or less dissolved all town councils.
Sa Llorençada and the 19th century
The first third of the 19th century in Manacor was characterized by a historical sad event; sa Llorençada. Following the death of Ferdinand VII, supporters of Carlos de Borbón (Carlistes) and supporters of Isabel II (Liberals) clashed in a big conflict leading to the First Spanish Carlist War. In Mallorca, there were just a few clashes in some villages, however, it was in Manacor the biggest of them took place. Local historian, Josep Fuster, explains to a newspaper, that Manacor at that time was still an explicitly religious and confessional community with concerns to whether a woman could hold the reign of Spain.
It was the on the day after the celebrations of the feast of Santa Christina (Christina of Tyre), on June 24, that 24 liberal supporters woke up finding their houses marked with crosses made of human excrement. Four carlist leaders were imprisoned for the crime, despite no proof was exhibited. The carlists were furious, and in a series of secret meetings they came up with a plan to free their fellow colleagues, and, to raise awareness of the government being in the hands and in favor of the liberals. The carlists started a revolt, and with violence they occupied the jail, freed their members and replaced them with liberals they meet on their way. But this was not the only thing that happened. The carlists occupied the town hall, organized free dinners to gain more supporters and set up a guardian system t5o prevent anyone from exiting the town to alert others, Manacor was basically under siege. However, the word somehow got out and reached Palma. In the very early hours of the day after Sant Llorenç (Saint Lawrence), on August 11, 80 soldiers on horseback from Palma entered Manacor to stifle the revolt. One of the carlist leaders, Bartomeu Riera Tafal, was sentenced to death as a consequence.
In a non-contextual way, the carlist war had other consequences for parts of Manacor, namely the convent of Sant Vicenç Ferrer. in 1835, the prime minister of Spain, Juan Álvarez Mendizábal, executed a national confiscation all monastic properties that weren’t making full use of their properties, to raise money for the state. There were several incentives to why he did this. Firstly, the war against the carlists was expensive. Secondly, he wished to foster a more entrepreneurial society by auctioning the monastic properties to private investors allowing them to become land owners, or allow current landowner to increase their holdings. This would create more jobs, increase production, hence more tax income. Another aspect of the confiscation, was the signal value that Mendizábal could send to the carlist supporters, that times were changing and that the clergy sovereignty was dissolving.
Manacor also saw a great upswing in agricultural activities during the 19th century, livestock such as chickens, sheep and veal, carobs, olives, almonds, figs and grapes gave rise to a rich agricultural life. But also the exploitation of quarries and production of clay came to grow significantly during this century creating more jobs. One of the greatest evidences of this, is the imposing bell-tower of the parish church initiated in 1890 by Rector D. Rafel Ignasi Rubí Pocov that rises 79 meter in the air and is the highest in Mallorca.
Another evidence of the upswing of the 19th century, was the increase in population. In 1889, Manacor had 19,635 inhabitants compared to 6,620 inhabitants in 1799.
However, the century ended with a massive collapse of the economy. During the last half of the 19th century, the feared phylloxera louse had infected most grapevines in France, Spain and Italy causing destruction of nearly all grapevines. Mallorca had been fortunate enough to avoid the phylloxera so far at this time, which opened the Mallorcan wine production to the European market making the wine highly sought for in the other Mediterranean countries. In the last decade of the 1800’s, even Mallorca could not hold stand against the phylloxera causing a combustion of the entire wine industry. As a direct consequence of this, many landowners emigrated to Latin America to seek new fortunes and adventures and in 1900, the population was suddenly reduced to 12,408 inhabitants.
The identity shaping 20th century
During the Spanish Civil War, Manacor was a stronghold of the nationalists, and was one of the only places in Mallorca where republican troops managed to disembark during wartime. Captain Alberto Bayo managed to land on the coastline of Manacor with his 8,000 soldiers and take control of Porto Cristo. However, due to the well-established and organized frontier of the nationalist guards supported by the Italian airforce, they failed in moving farther inland and had to withdraw. Mallorca was a key target for the republicans, as Catalonia, Valencia and Menorca was already republican territory.
Just as the 19th century ended with a collapse, the 20th century opened to new industrial activities and opportunities in Manacor, which would later become the identity of the area. In 1900, a company from Barcelona took advantage of the unstable economy in Manacor and established a factory producing artificial pearls in the town. The company was operating based on a German patent giving it competitive advantages until the expiration of the patent in 1948, however, at that time it had already established itself as the leading producer of artificial pears. Already in 1930, the factory was occupying about 1,000 employees, a good sign that Majorica was on a trace of something profitable.
Another industry that really took off in the 20th century in Manacor, was the carpentry industry, which evolved and became the most sought for producer of furniture. In 1955, the carpentry industry occupied more than 1,000 employees spread in 300 carpentry workshops and in 1977, about 1,700 employees worked in 550 workshops. Furniture is the second largest industry of Manacor after artificial pearls.
With the tourism boom in the 1960’s, new markets evolved in Manacor and Porto Cristo, not to forget the production of souvenirs from olive tree. Wrought iron, glass and construction are other important industries of Manacor.
Today, Manacor is still renown for its artificial pearls and beautiful furniture, thus making it an important industrial institution in the Mallorcan economy.
