The King and the Shoemaker

Point of interest (8) Carrer Tapineria.

Carrer Tapineria refers to the sandals that the Romans called Tapineria, so this was the street of the shoemakers. Let the night watchman tell us the legend of the shoemaker.

The King and the Shoemaker

Near the Royal Palace of Barcelona lived a very cheerful shoemaker, who spent all day singing and working with great skill. Since he never stopped singing, it became annoying and he bothered the king. The king wanted to get rid of him, and one day he decided to give him a sum of money so that he could live without working, buy a farm and move. The shoemaker would be rich and happy in a place far away from the palace, where his songs could not irritate the ears of the king.

Indeed, when he was a rich man, the good shoemaker went to a place very far away from the palace, where he lived without working. But this new life did not suit his lifestyle. He was afraid that he might be robbed; he believed that everyone who approached him could be a thief; he feared that the food he ate was poisoned; he feared eating too little and suffering from anaemia; or eating too much and making himself sick. He ended up becoming sad, he lost the great joy that had always characterised him.

One day, when the shoemaker realised that wealth was the cause of his sadness and discomfort, he decided to give the money back to the king and return to his life as a poor man making shoes and singing every day. He went to meet King Jaume, return the money and explain what was happening to him; that he was richer without money and with peace of mind than with fortune and anxiety.

Moral: money doesn’t always bring wealth. In today’s world, perhaps small details are worth much more than a great amount of money.

Here, in this square, you can see Ramon Berenguer III riding a horse. This count expanded the county at the beginning of the 12^th century, extending his domains to Ampurias, Majorca and Provence in France. His son, Ramon Berenguer IV married Petronela a princess of the Aragon kingdom, and he was the first King of Catalonia and Aragon.