Minorca

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Flag of Minorca
Flag of Minorca
This is a taula from the site of Talatì de Dalt about 4km west of Maó
This is a taula from the site of Talatì de Dalt about 4km west of Maó

Minorca (Menorca both in Catalan and Spanish and increasingly in British usage; from Latin Balearis Minor, later Minorica "minor island") is one of the Balearic Islands (Illes Balears Catalan official name, Islas Baleares in Spanish) located in the Mediterranean Sea and belongs to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than nearby island of Majorca. Minorca has a population of approximately 82,000. It is located around 39°47' to 40°00'N, 3°52' to 4°24'E. Its highest point, called Monte Toro, is 358 m/1174 ft above sea level.

Contents

[edit] History

Cales Coves of Minorca. Note the hand hewn entrances to the caves
Cales Coves of Minorca. Note the hand hewn entrances to the caves

The island is known for it large collection of megalithic stone monuments: navetes, taules, and talaiots, which speak of a very early prehistoric human activity.

The end of the Punic wars saw an increase in piracy in the western Mediterranean. The Roman occupation of Hispania had meant a growth of maritime trade between the Iberian and Italian peninsulas. Pirates took advantage of the strategic location of the Balearic Islands to raid Roman commerce, using both Minorca and Majorca as bases. In reaction to this, the Romans sent an army to the islands in order to put an end to such activities. By 121 BC both islands were fully under Roman control, later being incorporated into the province of Hispania Citerior. In 13 BC Caesar Augustus reorganized the provincial system and the Balearic Islands became part of the Tarraconensis imperial province.

The Letter on the Conversion of the Jews by a fifth century bishop named Severus tells of the conversion of the island's Jewish community in 418 AD. Vandals conquered it on the 5th century. Following the Moorish conquest of peninsular Spain, Minorca was annexed to the Caliphate of Córdoba in 903, being given the Arabicized name of Manûrqa. In 1231, after Christian forces reconquered Majorca, Minorca became an independent Islamic state, albeit one tributary to King James I of Aragon. The island was ruled first by Abû 'Uthmân Sa'îd Hakam al Qurashi (1234-1282), and following his death by his son, Abû 'Umar ibn Sa'îd (1282-1287). An Aragonese invasion, led by Alfonso III came on January 17, 1287, now celebrated as Minorca's national day. Most of the Muslim inhabitants of the island were enslaved and sold in the slave markets of Ibiza, Valencia and Barcelona. Until 1344 the island was part of the Kingdom of Majorca, also an Aragonese vassal state, which was itself annexed to Aragon, and subsequently to the unified kingdom of Spain. During the 16th century, Turkish naval attacks destroyed Mahon, and the then capital, Ciutadella.

Captured by the British navy in 1708 during the War of the Spanish Succession, Minorca became a British possession. This period saw the island's capital moved to Mahón, and a naval base established in that town's harbor. During the Seven Years' War, however, the failure of a British naval squadron to lift a French siege of Minorca on May 20, 1756 later led to the court-martial and execution of Admiral John Byng. This naval engagement, the Battle of Minorca, represented the outbreak of the Seven Years' War in the European theatre. Despite this defeat, British resistance persisted at Mahón, but the garrison was forced to capitulate under honourable terms, including free passage back to Britain, on June 29 of that same year. The Treaty of Paris (1763), however, saw British rule restored, since Britain and its allies largely prevailed in the war. During the American Revolutionary War, the British were defeated for a second time, in this instance by a combination of French and Spanish forces, which captured the island on February 5, 1782. Minorca was recovered by the British once again in 1798, during the French Revolutionary Wars, but it was finally and permanently ceded to Spain by the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. The British influence can still be seen in local architecture with elements such as sash windows.

Minorcan countryside
Minorcan countryside
Cala Galdana
Cala Galdana

During the Spanish Civil War, Minorca stayed loyal to the Republican Spanish government, while the rest of the Balearic Islands supported the Nationalists. It did not see combat, except for aerial bombing by the Italians of Corpo Truppe Volontarie air force. Many Minorcans were also killed when taking part in a failed invasion of Mallorca. After the Nationalist victory in 1939, the British navy assisted in a peaceful transfer of power in Minorca and the evacuation of some political refugees.

In October 1993, Minorca was designated by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve.

In July 2005, the island's application to become the twenty-fifth member of the International Island Games Association was approved.

[edit] Language

Most locals are bilingual in Spanish and the dialect of Catalan called Menorquí. Between Menorquí and Catalan proper, as with most Balearic dialects, the most distinctive difference is the different word used for the article "the", where Menorquí uses "es" for masculine and "sa" for feminine, Catalan uses "el" and "la", a form which was historically used in part of the present-day province of Girona, in Catalonia, from where the islands were repopulated after being conquered from the Moors. Menorquí also has a few English loan words dating back to the British occupation such as "grevi", "xumaquer", "boinder" or "xoc" taken from "gravy", "shoemaker", "bow window" and "chalk", respectively.

[edit] Food and drink

Lingering British influence is seen in the Minorcans' taste for gin, which during the local fiestas (holidays dedicated to a town's patron saint), the islanders mix with bitter lemon to make the popular Pomada. Also famous is Formatge de Mao, a cheese typical of the island.

[edit] Municipalities

The major towns are Maó and Ciutadella. The island is administratively divided into these municipalities:

[edit] Popular references

  • In the 1995 made-for-television film Persuasion (set in the historical period of the War of the Spanish Succession), Captain Frederick Wentworth asks his friend Captain Benwick "do you remember what we ate in Minorca?"

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Burns, Robert I. (1990) Muslims in the Thirteenth Century Realms of Aragon: Interaction and Reaction, p.67, In: Powell, J.M. (ed.) "Muslims under Latin Rule, 1100-1300", p. 57-102, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-6910-5586-6

[edit] External links

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Coordinates: 39°58′N 4°05′E

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