lunes, 1 de agosto de 2016
Who was the Ricote of Don Quixote?
Ricote is a fictional character who is referred to in Miguel de Cervantes novel Don Quixote (1615). He was a wealthy (rico meaning "rich" in Spanish) Morisco shopkeeper
and old friend of Sancho Panza, who was banned from Spain in 1609 like
all Moriscos. The expulsion of the Moriscos was a highly topical
issue at the time when "Don Quixote" was written - occurring in between
the publication of the first part (1609) and the second one (1615).
In 2006 Govert Westerveld asserted
that the Morisco Ricote came from the Ricote Valley, which hipothesis
was confirmed by the expert of Moriscos, Prof. Francisco Márquez
Villanueva of the Harvard University.
When Sancho leaves Barataria, he meets Ricote,
returning in a group of German pilgrims After meeting Sancho again,
Ricote tells him that after the expulsion, he went north while his
family went to Algiers. Ricote and the pilgrims share food with Sancho,
including "the black dainty called, they say, caviar". He tells him that he came back to recover some gold which he had buried near his house. Ricote recognizes to be a bad
Christian and then asks Sancho to help him carry the money away. But
Sancho refuses as it would be a treason to his king.
Later
Sancho and Don Quixote meet Ricote and his daughter Ana Félix in
Barcelona. She is a fervent Christian and has been rescued from Berbery
by a young noble neighbour from Sancho and Ricote's village. Her beauty
and sincere faith convinces the authorities to arrange the re-admission
of the Ricotes in Spain.