THE BAKER WHO FOUGHT INVADERS

The chronicles and historians do not agree on whether her name was Magdalena or Manuela, but what is certain is that more than 200 years ago, a woman from Jávea faced Napoleon's occupation with the courage of a soldier.

In 1812, Napoleon's troops invaded Spain. As they invaded Jávea, there were a lot of robberies and murders. Few people were left in the town and the only woman was Magdalena. A not so well known character in the history of Jávea, Magdalena refused to leave the town and her bakery in Carrer Estret. Magdalena continued baking bread for the neighbors who just like her, resisted the French army until Bonaparte's military knocked on her door to confiscate their savings.

Faced with the bayonets and sabers of the Gallic soldiers, Magdalena grabbed a long wooden stick with an iron hook - that she used to placed the bread in the oven - and assaulted the troops to defend her earnings to the point of giving her life. This act of courage and grit, probably caused a casualty on the French side, we do not know, but what we do know is that even at that time the women of Jávea, like Magdalena, were a symbol of the strong character of the people of Xàbia.

Credits:

Bibliography: “Els guerrillers de la Marina, el Campaner i el saqueig de Xàbia de 1812”, Manel Arcos y Antoni Espinós. “El Campaner” de Rodríguez-Solís y “El Llobarro” de Palau

Image 1 Photo by Franzi Meyer on Unsplash

Imagen 2, Carrer Estret, Jávea

Image 3, the baker woman. Margaret Crawford