Zaragoza - Facts

 

This book is about Zaragoza during the Napoleonic Wars. The 1808 siege of Zaragoza was a bloody struggle in the Peninsular War.

The Spanish side was led by General José de Palafox who was the second son in an aristocratic Spanish family. He was appointed Captain-General of Aragon in late May. José Rebolledo de Palafox y Melzi,  (28 October 1775 – 15 February 1847) was a Spanish Army officer and nobleman who served in the Peninsular War.

Moncey Suchet led the French army. Louis-Gabriel Suchet (2 March 1770 – 3 January 1826), was a French Marshal of the Empire and one of the most successful commanders of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is regarded as one of the greatest generals of the Napoleonic Wars.

Another French general was Moncey. Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey (31 July 1754 – 20 April 1842) was a French military officer and a prominent commander in the French Revolutionary Wars and later a Marshal of the Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. 

There are many names that the novel mentions. 

Felipe Augusto de Saint Marcq y D'Ostrel (1762–1831) was an Austrian Netherlands-born military officer in the service of the Spanish Crown. He served in the Peninsular War, commanding the Spanish forces during the Battle of Valencia.

Francisco Mariano Renovales Rebollar Santelices y Mollinedo (Arcentales, Vizcaya, July 30, 1774 – Havana, May 21, 1820) was a Spanish nobleman and military officer who, after fighting against the British Invasions of the Río de la Plata, played a prominent role in the Spanish War of Independence against the Napoleonic Empire.

There were also brave women during the siege. 

Agustina Raimunda María Saragossa i Domènech (March 4, 1786 – May 29, 1857), better known as Agustina of Aragón, was a Spanish woman who defended Spain during the Peninsular War, first as a civilian and later as a professional officer in the Spanish Army. 

Casta Álvarez Barceló was an Aragonese insurgent, who fought in the First siege of Zaragoza. This took place during the 1808 to 1814 Spanish War of Independence, or Guerra de la Independencia Española, part of the Peninsular War.

Manuela Sancho is another heroine, who appears in the novel as a character. Manuela Sancho y Bonafonte (1784–1863) was an Aragonese revolutionary who participated in the defense of Zaragoza during the Peninsula War.

There was a newspaper in Zaragoza, La Gaceta, edited by Ignacio Asso. Ignacio Jordán Claudio de Asso y del Río (June 4, 1742 – May 21, 1814) was a Spanish diplomat, naturalist, lawyer and historian. During the first and second sieges of Zaragoza, he served as legal advisor to José Rebolledo de Palafox, 1st Duke of Saragossa, and assisted the Spanish resistance against Napoleon by contributing journalistic pieces to the Gazeta extraordinaria de Zaragoza.

Galdos narrates the fall of different parts. One is the Convent of Monicas. 

Zaragoza surrendered after hard fighting. By 19 February 1809 the Spanish defence was failing and Palafox himself was seriously ill. He sent his aide to Lannes to discuss terms of surrender. He then resigned his military command in favour of General St. March, and his civil command of the city to a 33-member council of local citizens.

Two important men were found dead in the river. One was Santiago Sas and Father Basilio Boggiero. 

Santiago Sas y Casayau, born in Zaragoza in 1774 and died in Zaragoza in 1809, was an Aragonese clergyman who distinguished himself in the defense of Zaragoza during the sieges in the Spanish War of Independence.

Basilio Boggiero Spotorno (Celle, Republic of Genoa, now province of Savona, Italy, April 5, 1752 - Zaragoza, February 22, 1809) was a religious figure of Italian origin who participated in the two Sieges of Zaragoza during the Spanish War of Independence, defending the city.

Santiago Sas and Father Basilio Boggiero were bayoneted to death on the Puente de Piedra (Stone Bridge) on the night of February 22nd, and their bodies were thrown into the Ebro river.

Agustin finally decides to go to the Monastery of Veruela. Veruela Abbey is a Cistercian abbey dating from the 12th century. It is situated near Vera de Moncayo, in Zaragoza province. It was founded in 1146 by Pedro de Atarés.