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Capital with the Combat of Two Knights on Foot.
Palace of the Kings of Navarre in Estella.
Photo source: A&E Reenactment Handicraft
In Estella stands the Palace of the Kings of Navarre, also known as the Palace of the Dukes of Granada de Ega. It is the only civil Romanesque building in Navarre and was declared a National Monument in 1931. It was built during the last third of the 12th century. Facing towards the church of San Pedro de la Rúa, it has a magnificent façade with two capitals featuring plants and two narrative capitals, one of which represents the battle between Roland and the giant Farragut.
The lower capital of the left-hand column is the most famous of the two narrative capitals, in which you can clearly distinguish the battle between Roland and Farragut, the former being Charlemagne's foremost knight and the latter a giant Moor.
Four sets of windows have smaller capitals. The central capital in the third set of windows from the left represents a sword duel between two heavily armoured foot-soldiers with lorica, helmet and shield.
Source: Curiosidades del Palacio de los Reyes de Navarra
See the positions of the capitals at ESTELLA. PALACIO DE LOS REYES DE NAVARRA
The swordsman on the right is referenced on p.151, Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era, 1050-1350, Western Europe and the Crusader States by David Nicolle
377 Carved capital from the Palace of the Dukes of Granada in Estella, Castile, late 12th century
(private collection)
This carving could, in fact, date from the early 13th century. It shows a warrior with a shield having metal reinforcing bars, a straight sword, a mail hauberk with an integral coif, and a high-domed round helmet. The helmet may have a nasal below its narrow rim, but this is not clear.
