Casa de las Conchas

Behind the shells stands an urban palace built in the late fifteenth century with family defense in mind: the lower windows are barred with grilles, armed supporters could gather in the courtyard, and a tower once stood above the roof. There are more than three hundred stone shells here; they were not carved together with the wall but fixed with iron hooks during later finishing work. Beneath one of the windows, the coat of arms of related family members survives, and the facade speaks at once of a chivalric order and a fortunate marriage alliance. A public library now operates behind this facade, and after reconstruction the courtyard galleries were reassembled above new book storage rooms.

On September ninth, fifteen oh three, about forty armed men sent by Alonso de Acevedo attacked this house. The fight began at the doors and continued in the inner courtyard. Acevedo, a member of a family rivaling the Maldonados, was trying to recover the disputed estate of Babilafuente. The owner of the house, Rodrigo Maldonado de Talavera, a doctor of law and former royal councilor, had just received a court order requiring Rodrigo to hand over that land along with the income already collected—and Rodrigo refused.

Babilafuente brought in grain, an annual cash rent, and the right to administer local justice. Rodrigo's wealth rested on such estates, income from city offices, and royal service. He bought Babilafuente at auction for three and a half million maravedís, borrowing the money from a merchant. Maldonado then acquired neighboring fields and villages until he became the largest landowner in the district. Acevedo believed that part of this property had come to Rodrigo through a dubiously drawn-up inheritance.

The armed men came here precisely because Casa de las Conchas was Maldonado's main residence. Rodrigo began building it in the late fifteenth century as a fortified urban palace. Relatives and servants lived behind the grilles of the lower windows, armed supporters could gather in the courtyard, and a tower rose above the house. After the attack, Rodrigo ordered work on the tower to be accelerated. A relative of Acevedo immediately informed the Royal Council that the owner was fortifying the house for further unrest.

The shells on the facade also appeared because of a family calculation. Their exact meaning remains disputed. The scallop shell was the emblem of the Order of Santiago, to which Rodrigo belonged. But shells were also part of the Pimentels' coat of arms. In fourteen ninety-four, Rodrigo's son and heir, Arias Maldonado, married Juana Pimentel, niece of the Count of Benavente. Isabella I of Castile gave half a million maravedís for the marriage, and kinship with the count later helped Rodrigo return to the Royal Council.

The Pimentels' coat of arms can be seen beneath one of the windows. More than three hundred shells were not carved from the masonry: masons attached them to the wall with iron hooks, probably during the finishing work after the wedding. The facade can therefore be read in two ways at once—as the emblem of the Order of Santiago and as the coat of arms of the family, repeated hundreds of times, whose alliance was meant to protect the Maldonado inheritance.

After the fight in the courtyard, royal investigators dealt with both sides, and open clashes ceased for two years. The court again ordered Rodrigo to return the disputed land, but the experienced lawyer kept delaying the case. He did not live to see its final resolution: the lawsuit passed to his grandson Pedro Maldonado Pimentel.

Pedro inherited Babilafuente and became one of the commanders of the Comuneros—the rebellious Castilian cities seeking to have their representatives take part in the decisions of King Charles I. After the Comuneros were defeated at Villalar, Pedro was captured. His uncle, the Count of Benavente, secured a reprieve but could not save his nephew: in fifteen twenty-two, Pedro was beheaded in Simancas, and his property was confiscated.

The following year, the Crown sold Babilafuente to Alonso de Acevedo—the very man who had once sent forty armed men here. Juana Pimentel demanded the return of property intended to support her daughters and younger son. She was given the main Salamanca residence, and Casa de las Conchas remained with the descendants of the family whose coat of arms covers its facade.

A public library now stands behind the door. To create book storage, the architects Víctor López Cotelo and Carlos Puente dismantled the old courtyard into nine hundred thirty-three stone pieces, created new rooms beneath it, and reassembled the galleries. The library opened in nineteen ninety-three. Books are kept today beneath the courtyard where Acevedo's men fought Maldonado's servants.