The Historical Framework

The fortified tower

The Viñuelas Forest is located in the extensive territory formed by the valleys of the upper Manzanares to the south of the Guadarrama mountain range.

In the centre of the fortified tower that formed part of the chain of fortresses established for defensive purposes around the region of the Moorish Mageril, these constituted the security system that the Arabs possessed in the area: ‘... behind the Guadarrama which already served as a frontier to the enemy, standing out like a sturdy bulwark of the wavering kingdom of Toledo’.

As described by the historian José María Cuadrado. It was here that some of the interminable battles that were then taking place between the infidels and the Christians took place. It was the peak period when Ramiro II, King of Leon (931-951) in his raids against the Saracens managed to reach the centre of the Caliph's dominions: it was when Ferdinand I the Great (1010-1065) ran victoriously from the Guadarrama mountains to the Tagus, sweeping away everything that came his way: or when his son Alfonso VI the Brave (1040-1109) managed to add the vast territories of Magerit and Toledo to the Crown.

 
ORIGINS

The New Times

Don José Campos

He was a somewhat bizarre character and one of the most charismatic landowners that Viñuelas has ever had. He was born on 22 May 1817, in Valencia, where his parents had moved from a village in Teruel to set up a small business. The young José helped his father with the business accounts. He later took up a post in the Valencia Town Hall. His activity and dynamism were felt and he was appointed mayor at the age of twenty-eight.

From 1846, when he founded the Sociedad Valenciana de Fomento (Valencian Development Society) to facilitate the reforms of the city and to promote his own businesses, his business projection was unstoppable, building a gas factory to introduce public and private lighting, he undertook the paving of the streets, provided the city with a drinking water supply, undertook the works of the port of Grao and many other actions that led him to be senator for the city of Valencia.

It was the time of the development of the railway in Spain and he decided to embark on the great railway adventure. In 1854 he obtained the concession of the Gra line from Valencia to San Felipe de Játiva, which led him to build and operate the railway lines in the eastern part of Spain, which allowed him to have an extensive network of five hundred and twenty kilometres.

He moved his residence to a luxurious palace on the Paseo de Recoletos in Madrid, close to the one owned by the wealthy Marquis of Salamanca.

He created the ‘Sociedad General Española de Crédito’, which facilitated his business activities and the contracts he had with the State and a fleet of twenty-four ships that directly linked the peninsula with the most important ports in Central America and the Philippine archipelago.

It was then that he acquired the beautiful estate of Viñuelas, to which he devoted special attention. He soon undertook the necessary works to repair the state of abandonment in which it was found. The castle was filled with workmen and craftsmen. The four towers were rebuilt and topped with battlements. The interior was also restored and lavishly decorated with luxurious furnishings.

The luxury and pomp with which the castle was rebuilt turned it into a majestic mansion for a potentate. A spectacular attraction, which its owner, a man of the world and a connoisseur of human frailties, knew how to take advantage of to win the hearts and minds of prominent figures, whom he entertained with lavish hunts that were reported in the press.

ORIGINS

The Old Hunts

Forests and hunting grounds

In the Middle Ages, hunting was the favourite pastime of kings, princes and nobles. Laws of singular harshness forbade its practice to villains and commoners.

It was not until the end of the 18th century that its practice was extended to the rest of society.

The ancient forest of Viñuelas was already known in the Middle Ages as one of the most important hunting grounds.

With a leafiness comparable to that of El Pardo, Viñuelas has for centuries provided recreation and solace for hunters, who have found in its woods the satisfaction of practising hunting "montería".

Hunting activity in these forests was regularised in the Middle Ages, especially after Henry III ordered the construction of a hunting lodge in 1405, the predecessor of the present-day Pardo Palace.

For King Philip IV, hunting was one of the best forms of entertainment. He set fixed periods for organising great hunts, which he was usually accompanied by leading members of the nobility.

The hunts organised for this king usually extended as far as the Viñuelas mountain, for which he felt a great attraction, so much so that on 28th December 1642, he ordered that the Viñuelas mountain and meadow be kept as the Pardo mountain.

 

«Since the meadow of Viñuelas is contiguous to the limits of my Royal Forest of El Pardo, I have resolved that the said meadow and its boundaries be guarded in the same way as my forest of El Pardo, and so it is hereby my will that for this to take effect, the said Marquis of Malagón may name and appoint one or two guards or those he deems necessary to guard the said meadow and its boundaries in the way and according to the circumstances in which my said forests of El Pardo are guarded.»