BRINGING THE HERITAGE CLOSER. ESTELLA, ART AND THE ROAD

28 August 2009

Images of a conflict. Estella and the last Carlist War
D. Ignacio J. Urricelqui Pacho. Chair of Navarrese Heritage and Art.

The lecture offered a vision of the development of the last Carlist war in Tierra Estella using photographs and images of the illustrated press published during the events in Spanish and foreign magazines, mainly French, American and English. In this way, it was possible to verify how the facts of arms and the social reality of the moment were disseminated and, in this way, known in different areas, allowing the public opinion to form an image of the facts, although sometimes it was manipulated by the sides and presented a clear propagandistic vocation.

The starting point was the consideration of Carlism as a counterrevolutionary movement developed throughout the 19th century and which, necessarily, must be related to the liberal revolution for its correct understanding. In this way, far from Manichean positions, the image offered of the conflict by both sides often suffered from the same excesses and defects in terms of offering a plausible image of what happened.

Although photography was used, the most important field employee in lecture was the graphic illustration that appeared in Spanish magazines such as La Ilustración Española y Americana, or foreign magazines such as The Graphic, Le Monde Illustré, Harper's Weekly or The Illustrated London News, among others. In addition, special attention was paid to the role of "war correspondents", in particular the Spanish José Luis Pellicer and the Navarrese Nemesio Lagarde.

The lecture presented the role of Estella as a Carlist Court and center of operations, particularly in its surroundings, with relevant events such as the battles of Montejurra (1873), Abárzuza (1874) or Lácar (1875). Likewise, special attention was paid to the role of the Hospital de la Caridad installed in the monastery of Irache, which played a role core topic in the sanitary actions of war.
 

"Defense of Estella," La Ilustración Española y Americana, August 8, 1873.

"Battle of Monte-Jurra," La Ilustración Española y Americana, November 24, 1873.
 

"View of the Charity Hospital installed in the monastery of Irache," The Graphic, December 12, 1874.