Neither cAbd al-Malikm, nor En Suau - Banys de l'Almirall

In 1891, Francisco Danvila wrote an article on the boundaries of the Jewish quarter in which, using erroneous data, he identified the Almirante bath as the one the Repartiment text calls, with several variations, cAbd al-Malik (who was not the same person as the ruler under the Taifa). This was the origin of the subsequent confusion. Roque Chabás (1905) and Sanchis Sivera (1935), also defended this location, although Rodrigo Pertegás (1913) had refuted it in a documented study endorsed by Julián Ribera's own research (1926). The cAbd al-Malik bath was actually located near the Plaza de la Figuera, probably within the limits of the first district designated as the Jewish quarter. Therefore, it can not be identified as the Baño del Almirante.

 

Another erroneous identification has been made, and completely accepted, although this one does not affect the issue of chronology. The Baño del Almirante has also been confused with the Bany d'En Suau evoked in the aforementioned verses by Jaume Roig in Espill (v. 2,650 and following), written in 1459-1460:

 

Sovint anava

de nit al nou

bany d'En Sanou

o d'En Suau

en lo Palau

 

[she often went / at night to the new / bath of Mr. Sanou / or Mr. Suau / in the Palace]

 

Orellana based his ideas on the relative proximity of the Baño del Almirante to the Archbishop's palace—the "Palau". Using this information as a precedent, Chabás and Sanchis Sivera also contributed to the spreading of this false identity, which has been assumed by more recent authors. And all this, in spite of ample evidence provided by archival documents dating mainly between 1380 and 1418 (including the aforementioned trial of Joan Suau vs. Tomasa de Montpaó) that explicitly locate the Bany d'En Suau next to the city market, at the beginning of Bolsería street, next to other establishments—a bakery and various workshops— also owned by Joan Suau.

 

Jaume Roig's mention of the Palau could have two explanations. On the one hand, it is possible that the word 'street' was simply omitted because of the demands of the verse, the Palau street being in the vicinity of Bolsería. But, on the other hand, there is a more plausible explanation: if we change the punctuation, linking the expression en lo Palau not with the previous verse, but with the one following it, we would have: En lo palau / al despullar / véreu ballar... [in the palace / upon getting undressed / you shall see the dance…] In this way the meaning would change, setting the stage for the scene where the protagonist takes off her clothes. She is inside a "palace", a word which also means a large room, as it is well known. In fact, a document concerning the baths of the Moorish quarter in Xàtiva, in 1503, expressively mentions the "palau calent" [hot palace].

 

This documented false identification has completely marred almost all of the material published up to now concerning the building of the Baño del Almirante. This was the state of affairs when the archaeological and archival documentary work was undertaken, which was carried out between 1991 and 1993, with the object of preparing the planned restoration of the building.