V MARQUIS OF MONSALUD

Don Mariano Carlos Solano y Gálvez (Madrid, May 20, 1858 – Madrid, February 6, 1910), the fifth Marquis of Monsalud, epigraphist, historian and academician of the Royal Academy of History. He was a Spanish aristocrat and archaeological collector, amassing one of the most important collections in Spain. Some objects from his so-called "Monsalud Collection'' ended up in the National Archaeological Museum, while others were looted, leaving only a part of his legacy in Almendralejo.

He was born in Madrid on May 20, 1858, the son of Don Carlos José Solano San Pelayo y Ortiz de Rozas, the fourth Marquis of Monsalud and gentleman of the chamber of His Majesty and Doña María Teresa Gálvez Villalpando, the Queen's lady-in-waiting.

Little is known about his early childhood in Madrid. Between the late sixties and mid-seventies, he studied in Brussels at the Jesuit school of Saint Michel, and later, he studied at the University of Leuven, also under the guidance of Jesuits.

Upon his father's death, Don Mariano Carlos inherited the title of Marquis of Monsalud on February 9, 1886. From then on, he lived in Almendralejo with his mother at the Monsalud Palace.

His life at the palace was quite tranquil in the company of his mother, and he didn't even decide to leave Almendralejo when he was appointed as a member of the Royal Academy of History.

In the Extremaduran lands, the Marquis developed his passion for collecting and studying history. What started as a handful of seemingly insignificant objects that came into his possession more or less accidentally, turned into, over time, a collection of archaeological pieces resulting from his fervent and passionate research, known since then as the Monsalud Collection of Almendralejo. However, what we have today is only a few scarce remains.

The correspondence he maintained with Father Fidel Fita, a Catalan Jesuit of great erudition, published in 1997 by Luis García Iglesias, is of vital importance to understand the personality and works of Monsalud.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the Marquis of Monsalud's figure was not his printed works but rather his act of saving from oblivion and destruction an infinite number of monuments, objects, and epigraphic documents, known as the Monsalud Collection.

The Marquis of Monsalud passed away in Madrid on February 6, 1910. He did not leave a will, and the succession of his titles and properties followed ordinary legal provisions: his mother inherited everything. The Marquesa died shortly after, in 1911, leaving Don Carlos Solano y Adán de Yarza as her heir, imposing on him "the obligation to complete the works planned by the deceased son of the testatrix, Mr. Marquis of Monsalud, at the palace of Almendralejo, following the instructions left by him, as well as the installation of the antiquities and the arrangement of all the objects in the Museum, once the pending works are finished."

However, the new owner of the palace did not respect these conditions. The palace was left uninhabited, and its collection began to suffer losses. What remained of the Monsalud Collection passed into the possession of the Barcelona bookseller D. Rafael Casulleras in 1930, and only a portion could be saved by the State Administration and incorporated into the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid. A limited part remained in Almendralejo, which is currently exhibited as the Monsalud Collection at the Convent of San Antonio in the city. This collection consists of around ninety pieces from the Neolithic, Roman, Visigothic, and Arab periods. He also had the opportunity to explore the important Harnina meadow site, near Almendralejo, dating back to the Chalcolithic period.

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