The Bell of Huesca is a

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

describing how

Ramiro II of Aragon Ramiro II (24 April 1086 – 16 August 1157), called the Monk, was King of Aragon from 1134 until withdrawing from public life in 1137. Although a monk, he was elected king by the Aragonese nobility upon the death of his childless brother, Alfonso ...

, the Monk, cut off the heads of twelve nobles who did not obey him. The legend is told in the 13th-century anonymous Aragonese work the ''Cantar de la campana de Huesca''. After

Alfonso I of Aragon Alfonso I (''c''. 1073/10747 September 1134), called the Battler or the Warrior ( es, el Batallador), was King of Aragon and Navarre from 1104 until his death in 1134. He was the second son of King Sancho Ramírez and successor of his brother Pet ...

died in 1134 leaving no descendants, his brother Ramiro, bishop of

Roda de Isábena Roda de Isábena is a village in the municipality of Isábena, in the region of Ribagorza, in the province of Huesca, Spain. It was the capital of the county of Ribagorza and site of a diocese, the reason why the Romanesque Cathedral of Roda ...

, inherited the

Kingdom of Aragón The Kingdom of Aragon ( an, Reino d'Aragón, ca, Regne d'Aragó, la, Regnum Aragoniae, es, Reino de Aragón) was a medieval and early modern kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, ...

, one of the states of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

. At that time the kingdom had serious domestic and foreign problems. The ''

Chronicle of San Juan de la Peña The ''Chronicle of San Juan de la Peña'' (or ''Crónica pinatense'') is an Aragonese chronicle written in Latin around before 1359 in the monastery of San Juan de la Peña at the behest of Peter IV of Aragon. It was the first general history ...

'' from the 14th century tells how Ramiro II became so concerned about his nobles abusing his patience that he sent a herald to the Abbey of Saint-Pons-de-Thomières to ask for advice from his former master. The herald was shown the abbey garden where the old monk removed the heads from roses that stood out from the rest (in other versions of the story, the roses are replaced by cabbages). The herald is then told to tell the king what he has seen. After the heralds return, Ramiro II sent a message to the chief noble, saying that he wanted help in order to build a bell that could be heard all over Aragón. As the nobles arrived, the king cut off their heads, building a circle with the heads, with the chief noble's head suspended as the bell clapper. The result was then shown as an example to others.

References

*Alvar, Carlos y Manuel ALVAR, ''Épica medieval española'', Madrid, Cátedra, 1997. *Laliena Corbera, Carlos, ''La campana de Huesca'', Zaragoza, CAI (CAI 100, nº 69), 2000. *Soria Andreu, Francisca, «Preliminary Study» to: Lope de Vega, ''La campana de Aragón'', Zaragoza, Institución «Fernando el Católico», 2001, págs. 5-70.

External links

{{wikisource, :es:Cantar de la campana de Huesca, Cantar de la campana de Huesca
Ingrid Vindel Pérez, «Análisis y estudio del material cronístico en una comedia de senectud: ''La campana de Aragón»'', ''Espéculo. Revista de estudios literarios.'' Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 2004.Links to Huesca Museum of Province
Spanish legends Huesca