His name is unknown, but it is known that he read French, that he knew about weapons, that he was preparing an attack, that he was scared and that he lived or took refuge in the Madrid town of Nuevo Baztán, a town projected in the 18th century on the border with la Alcarria and an example of urban rationalism of the time. In the last flight of stairs that led to the attic of one of the stately homes that surround the Goyeneche palace, he hid a burlap bag, inside which he kept four large black powder cartridges tied with a paper where the names of the judges, prosecutors and alternates appointed by the French Convention during the so-called Terror period (between September 1793 and the spring of 1794). Now, the enigmatic material is exhibited in the interpretation center of this historical complex of Madrid,although experts do not agree on the reasons why it was hidden. "It is our little mystery still unsolved," says Olga Vallespín, the archaeologist who was in charge of the investigation.
Juan de Goyeneche (1656-1735) was a Navarrese financier, journalist and politician who tried to put into practice in Spain the economic theories of the French minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who advocated the promotion of national wealth to meet state spending . For this reason, Goyeneche, who was born in the Baztán valley, decided to promote, not far from Madrid, an agro-industrial complex (specialized in glass, cloth and wine) that would form an urban unit with the houses of the workers who completed it. A great palace and a church would crown it. To do this, the financier hired one of the most renowned architects of the time, José Benito de Churriguera, who drew up the road network with pencils: wide, straight streets and a huge central square. The whole set would be called Nuevo Baztán,in memory of the origins of the patron. But at the end of the 18th century, the rationalist town fell into decline due to competition from other industries protected by the Crown, and during the War of Independence (1808-1812), Napoleon's troops took it over.
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Pigs eat history
In the winter of 2017, during the consolidation work of three historic buildings and an industrial warehouse in the urban area ―the Community of Madrid has been restoring the complex for more than two decades, which is declared an Asset of Cultural Interest―, some workers found the bag and opened it.
Inside they discovered a package wrapped in cloth and paper that contained cartridges and a black powder that they could not recognize.
In fact, they threw the powder into the fire they had lit to warm themselves.
To his surprise, there was a small explosion.
Francisco Benito Martín, the constructor of the works, recalls that they notified the municipal authorities and the archaeologist Vallespín, responsible for the official monitoring of the architectural consolidation. “The package was at the entrance to the stairs. Hidden behind some woods. When we threw the black powder on the fire, the scare was great ”, he admits. The archaeologist and resident of Nueva Baztán Enrique Navarro was also notified and was in charge of taking the photographs of the find before its transfer to the Regional Archaeological Museum, in Alcalá de Henares. The General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Community of Madrid sent a sample to the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA) for analysis. The technicians determined that it was, without a doubt, black powder.
List of judges and prosecutors appointed by the French Convention in Nuevo Baztán, Community of Madrid
The paper with which the cartridges had been manufactured bore, in turn, an ink stamp with the Bourbon shield (a rampant lion and a castle) and the letters eme, ene and pe.
The specialists have determined that the cartridges were manufactured in Navarra, in a factory owned by Joseph Campillo.
The Tedax of the Valdemoro Explosives Deactivation Service of the Civil Guard also proceeded to neutralize the cartridges, without damaging the casings, with the advice of an expert in restoration. During the deactivation process, the role of the Convention decree that wrapped everything was also withdrawn. This document is dated to the time of the French Revolution known as Terror. It is a decree of the Convention of September 26, 1793 with a list of judges and prosecutors and their destination.
Villaspín's hypothesis is that the package could have been hidden during the French Revolution by a Spaniard who was preparing an attack against some monarchical national authority (the French revolutionaries had already guillotined Louis XVI on January 21, 1793), an action that he could never carry out. carried out for unknown reasons. On the other hand, for the archaeologist Enrique Navarro, the cartridges are a couple of decades later than the time of the Terror and would be the property of someone who was preparing to attack the French troops stationed in Nuevo Baztán during the War of Independence. Navarro believes that this person wrapped the cartridges with a piece of paper that he found in the house, while Vallespín considers that this document "is not just any paper, but someone who is concerned and interested in the Terror period." Fortunately,The package also appeared surrounded by straw, which allowed it to be protected from moisture and to remain in "perfect condition" for more than 200 years, according to specialists.
In the attic there were also some ceramic elements, such as a white earthenware pot with cobalt blue stripes and baroque polychrome tiles with floral motifs.
Now, the ensemble is exhibited in the Nuevo Baztán interpretation center, which includes an olfactory recreation of black powder, as well as special effects with a warlike setting.
The Minister of Culture of the Community of Madrid, Marta Rivera, maintains that “this type of stories show the importance of the work of archaeologists and historians in the defense and knowledge of our cultural heritage.
Interpretation centers such as the one in Nuevo Baztán are essential for ordering, disseminating and valuing the common history of our country ”.