Marian Vayreda i Vilanot to be confused with Maria Vayreda i Trullol, also a Catalan writer, granddaughter of his brother (1853–1903) was a Carlist soldier and activist, a painter and a Catalan writer. He is recognized as key representative of Catalan cultural renaissance of the late 19th century. He is particularly acknowledged for his 1904 novel, La Punyalada, declared one of the best Catalan literary works of all time. Politically Vayreda is considered a typical case of an identity located in-between Carlism and emerging Spain's peripheral nationalisms.
Family and youth
Marianthere is some confusion as to spelling of Vayreda's first name. His novels when published were attributed to "Marian", compare the original cover of La Punyalada, available here; this is probably how he preferred to refer to himself. Contemporary press (be it in Spanish or in Catalan) unanimously referred to him as "Mariano", compare La Ilustración española y americana 30.06.84, available here or La Veu del Montserrat 19.03.83, available here or La Ilustración Artistica 18.07.98, available here. Later Catalan publications repeated the "Marian" spelling, see El Dever 27.06.36, available here , retained also in Spanish-language publications of Francoism, compare ¡Arriba España! 12.12.53, available here . Present-day Catalan publications adhere mostly to the "Marià" spelling, though there are exceptions, compare Francesc Serés, L’Escola d’Olot, apunts per a una estética, [in:] Revista del Girona 7/8 (2006). According to current Catalan orthography rules, both "Marià" and "Marian" are correct, see Maria Dasca Batalla, L’efeméride efimera. L’any Mariá Vayreda (2003), [in:] Anuari Verdaguer 12 (2004), p. 232 Francesc Bartomeu Vayreda i VilaMariano Vayreda i Vila, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 04.11.67, available here was descendant to noble Catalan families. His paternal ancestors were related to the Alt Garrotxa town of Olot. During the legitimist siege in course of the First Carlist War the family house was set ablaze, which forced Marian's grandfather Francesc to move to Girona.Joaquim Vayreda i Vila, [in:] El punt avui 22.10.09, available here It is there that his son and Marian's father, Francesc Vayreda i Busquets (1814–1870),in 1835 he was 21, see Joaquim Vayreda i Vila, [in:] El punt avui 22.10.09; he died when Marian was 21, Joan Requesens i Pique, La muntanya, un concepte de partia en la Renaixença, [in:] Annuari Verdaguer 1988, p. 84 fell in love with Maria Rosa Vila i Galí (1817–?).Ignasi Terradas Saborit, El cavaller de Vidrà: de l'ordre i el desordre conservadors a la muntanya catalana, Montserrat 2000, . p. 88 She was descendant to a far more prestigious local Vila Cavaller family,Terradas Saborit 2000, p. 91 holding a number of estates and owning Cavaller de Vidrà, an iconic Catalan mansion.Terradas Saborit 2000, p. 12; the Vila and Cavaller families were noted in early medieval documents; the estate passed from Cavaller to Vila family in 1640, Terradas Saborit 2000, pp. 35–36
The couple married in 1840 and in 1844 they settled in the reconstructed family house in Olot.Joaquim Vayreda i Vila, [in:] El punt avui 22.10.09 Francesc's maternal uncle was municipal military commander and Francesc possibly took part in activities against the local trabucaires.the area was terrorised by bandits, named bandoleros or trabucaires, Joan Pagés i Pons, Les Preses en el període entre la primera i la darrera carlinada, 1840–1872, [in:] Annals del Patronat d'Estudis Històrics d'Olot i Comarca 1989, pp 135–146. The maternal uncle of Marian's father, Llorenç de Trinxerua, was comandant d’armes of Olot He inherited estates co-possessed with his relativesPagés i Pons 1989, p. 147 and is referred to as "propietario rentista".Edgar Illas, Mariá Veyreda: el carlismo reciclado y el inconsciente catalán, [in:] Res publica 12–13 (2004), p. 89 As the two families maintained good relations, Francesc temporarily administered Porqueres holdings of his junior Vila nephewsTerradas Saborit 2000, p. 88 and the Vila family periodically managed the Vayreda estates.Terradas Saborit 2000, pp. 173–4 Francesc and Maria Rosa had 6 children, three of them becoming recognized figures. Apart from Marian, Joaquím (1843–1894) made his name as a painter and Estanislau (1848–1901) as a botanic.D. Mariano Vayreda Vila – Bio-bibliografía esquemática, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 12.12.53
As a child Marían spent much of his time at the Cavaller de Vidrà estate,its rituals and surroundings hugely contributed to formation of the future artist, Terradas Saborit 2000, p. 388 later frequenting the Olot Padres Escolapios college;Mariano Vayreda i Vila, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 04.11.67, following bachillerato he intended to study law in Barcelona.L’auca d’en Vayreda [in:] La paret de les auques service, available here The advent of Glorious Revolution of 1868 changed these plans and Marían settled for studying art in l'Escola de Dibuix d'Olot.Marian Vayreda. Biografia [in:] Accociació d’escriptors en llengua catalana service, available here Around 1870some sources claim that he enlisted as early as 1868, Mariano Vayreda i Vila, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 4.11.67 he joined the Carlist conspiracy"the ideas were exalted and the faith was alive" – recollected he later, quoted after Requesens i Pique 1988, p. 233 and at the outbreak of the Third Carlist War he entered the legitimist troops.Marian Vayreda [in:] Llegir en catala service, available here His exact war record is not clear. Most sources agree he remained on the Catalan Front; some claim he formed part of General Staff of Francesc Savalls,Mariano Vayreda i Vila, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 04.11.67 not unlikely as his headquarters was in Cavaller de Vidrà.L’auca d’en Vayreda, [in:] La paret de les auques service Other sources note that Vayreda took part in combat, especially in the battles of d’Argelaguer and Prats de Lluçanés, and was wounded in action.L’Avenç 287–291 (2004), p. 151 Shortly before defeatexact date unclear, probably in the fall of 1875 and disguised as a peasant he made it to France.via Sant Quirze de Besora, Barcelona, Rosellón
After a brief period in Sétehis older brother and Josep Berga i Boix ran a workshop in Sete, Mariano Vayreda i Vila, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 04.11.67 Vayreda studied painting in Paris, for 2 years frequenting the classes of Jean-Léon Gérôme.Marian Vayreda. Biografia [in:] Accociació d’escriptors en llengua catalana service Following the amnesty he returned to Spain and went on with art studies in l'Escola de Belles Arts in Barcelona. In 1878 he settled back in Olot, co-foundingjointly with his brother and Josep Berga i Boix El Arte Cristiano, a commercially successful workshop producing religious imagery.Vayreda later grew to manager of the company. Comfortable in all the spheres, religious, business, labour and artistic, and was contributed to expansion of the company. It focused on sculptures; the first were unique, one-off pieces, most likely made out of clay. Later the workshop started to use cardboard wood, a material that would revolutionise production. Gradually El Arte Cristiano solidified its prestige all over the world, and for twenty years it was the ground-breaking and only religious imagery workshop in Olot, compare Museu del Sants d’Olot service, available here In 1883 Vayreda married a geronina,La Vanguardia 13.07.28, available here Pilar Aulet Soler (1871–1928).El Deber 14.07.28, available here The couple remained in the multi-family house in Olot;in the building hosting also the manufacture and currently serving as Museum of Saints in his mature years Vayreda was referred to as patricio, gran señor, a formal and serious man.D. Mariano Vayreda Vila – Bio-bibliografía esquemática [in:] ¡Arriba España! 12.12.53, Rafael Torrent, El pintor costumbrista, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 12.12.53, Eduardo Cuellas Bassols, "Records de la darrera carlinada", de Marian Vayreda, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 06.09.52, available here Marian and Pilar had 7 children.Marian Vayreda Vila (Olot, 1853 – 1903), [in:] Museu del Sants d’Olot service, Mariano Vayreda i Vila, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 04.11.67 The best known of them, Joaquím,born 1890, died 1969, see La Vanguardia 03.01.69, available here was a Traditionalist writer,see Vayreda i Aulet, Joaquim entry [in:] Biblioteca de Catalunya service, available here; his dramas were played in Catalan theatres in the 1920s, see La Vanguardia 26.06.21, available here journalisthe headed the Tradició Catalana periodical, La Tradició Catalana 01.02.19, available here and local councilorin the 1920s, La Vanguardia 1 April 1930, available here though he made his name mostly as an art critic;Enric Jardí, 1000 famílies catalanes: la cultura, Barcelona 1977, p. 74 also other children were active in Traditionalism.Luis Vayreda i Aulet was detained by the police in 1913, La Vanguardia 22.11.13, available here; Concepción Vayreda i Aulet (1897–1981, see La Vanguardia 14.06.81, available here) was active in Patronato de Obreros in 1932, La Vanguardia 09.06.32, available here. Maria de los Dolores Vayreda i Aulet died young in 1928, La Vanguardia 03.04.28, available here, which might have contributed to the death of her mother 3 monthts later. Nothing is known of Eugenio Vayreda i Aulet (1894–1964), ¡Arriba España! 15.02.64, available here His grandson tried his hand in painting.¡Arriba España! 25.11.67, available here Montserrat Vayreda was granddaughter of his brother.in her poem "Vayredas" the strophe dedicated to Marian reads: "I Marià, glossà la Carlinada / amb records vívids. En La Punyalada / la ploma manejà com un pinzell", quoted after Montserrat Vayreda, La nissaga dels Vayreda, [in:] Revista de Girona 166 (1994), p. 94
In and around Carlism
Political preferences of Vayreda's father remain unclear, but his maternal ancestors were firmly conservative and Carlist for already three generations.see Terradas Saborit 2004, especially the chapter Les generacions del carslime, pp. 91–94 Growing up in their Cavaller de Vidrà estate Marían was absorbing its Traditionalist rituals. Since 15 years of age he was already a regular subscriber of the Madrid-based La Esperanza, the neo-Catholic daily of an increasingly Carlist leaning; he also admitted juvenile fascination with earlier conservative political writings of Jaime Balmes.Dasca Batalla 2004, p. 235, Mariano Vayr'eda i Vila, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 04.11.67 Vayreda's enthusiastic teenage access to legitimist troops during the Third Carlist War came naturally, though some scholars claim that when reconstructing his motives 30 years later, instead of religious or conservative threads he rather pointed to Carlist defense of the furs and its doctrina regionalista.Jordi Canal, ¿En busca del precedente perdido? Tríptico sobre las complejas relaciones entre carlismo y catalanismo a fines del siglo XIX, [in:] Historia y Politica 14 (2005), p. 66 Almost all authors dealing with his literary works underline that Marian was enormously affected by the wartime experience, though none of the sources consulted clarifies what the nature of that impact was in terms of his political outlook. Chaos and conflict in Carlist ranks,upon enlisting Vayreda was given a rifle, but an old and unusable one, D. Mariano Vayreda Vila – Bio-bibliografía esquemática [in:] ¡Arriba España! 12.12.53 brutality of civil warfare and bitterness of defeat have certainly deprived Vayreda of his juvenile zeal.he admits that "fortunately, I have kept faith in God, but faith in the men and their things received very strong setbacks", quoted after Vicanç Pagés Jordá, "Records de la darrera carlinada" – Marià Vayreda, [in:] vicencpagesjorda service, available here