Battle of Portopí The Battle of Portopí ( September 12 , 1229 ) was an open field military conflict between the Almohad troops that occupied the island of Majorca and the Christian army led by King James I the Conqueror with the aim of annexing it to the Crown of Aragon in order to expand their domain . It was carried out at various points in the current Sierra de Na Burguesa ( formerly called Sierra de Portopí ) , approximately halfway between the current resort town of Santa Ponsa and the City of Majorca ( present Palma de Mallorca ) . It was the second major battle in the campaign for the conquest of the island of Majorca initiated by the Aragonese king . Background . After previous failed attempts to take control of the island , the army of James I managed to anchor in the Santa Ponsa bay on September 10 and deploy forces to begin the invasion . That same day they had a first major clash with the Muslims , from which they emerged winners , and after which they encamped at the site for the night . After being informed in the evening that the Almohad governor of the island , Abú Yahya , had regrouped his troops , and they were making their way from the capital to meet the Christians , the Aragonese monarch gave the relevant warning instructions to his men in order to avoid a possible surprise enemy attack . The battle . Historians such as Zurita state that on the morning of Wednesday the 12 , Guillermo de Montcada and his nephew Ramón on the one hand , and on the other Nuño Sánchez , argued over who would go ahead of troops that would participate in the battle that they assumed was going to take place the next day with the enemy . Zurita adds that ultimately , on that same day and without waiting for Sánchez , the Montcadas departed with their men into combat moving towards the enemy position , thus forcing the rest of the army to second them in action . According to Desclot it was the king himself who ordered the start of the raid , sending the Montcadas to go in the forefront of the troops . What is certain is that uncle and nephew were locked in fight with the hosts of the Muslim king of Majorca in the Sierra de Na Burguesa ( then known as Sierra de Portopí ) , thus beginning the battle . The Moncadas ' first attack against the Muslims started in the foothills of the mountains . The Christians initially appeared to have the upper hand but they were then surrounded by forces superior in number to theirs . The two nobles perished , along with others , in the ensuing struggle . Tradition has it that they were taken prisoner and beheaded at the hands of Muslims . Later it was the Bishop of Barcelona , Berenguer de Palou , who communicated the death of the two men to the king . James I , who was as yet unaware of the death of these men , followed the same path , advancing with the rest of the army , intending to join them and participate together in the battle . He encountered the enemy in the highlands . In the height of the battle , when confronted by a strong contingent of Muslim cavalry that forced the Nuño Sánchez host to retreat , the Conqueror famously exclaimed : " Vergonya , cavallers , vergonya ! " ( " For shame , Knights , shame ! " ) , because of the fear shown by some Catalan troops . At the end of the day and after successive battles in various parts of the mountain , the king and his army defeated the Muslims ( who withdrew to Majorca ) , eventually gaining a strategic position in the mountains , from which the capital could be seen . They rested and spent the night in Bendinat ( toponym that , according to local tradition , come from the Catalan " Bé hem dinat " , " We have eaten well " ) . Consequences . On Thursday 13th the camp was fortified with trenches , the navy that was in La Porrassa advanced to Portopí where they seized several Saracens vessels , and a portion of the fleet anchored off the city . On Friday 14 , Aragon men buried the Montcadas . The burial ceremony was held in the Bendinat mountains , beside a pine tree that was retained until 1914 , popularly known as the Pine of the Montcadas . The outcome of the Battle of Portopí marked the subsequent fate of the conquest of the island . Thereafter there were no major clashes in the open . The siege of the city of Majorca , where the bulk of the Muslim army was stationed , was immediately formalized . The ultimate goal that would pave the way for the control of the island was within reach . Monuments . Several landmarks in Majorca commemorate the first phase of the conquest of the island . Under the initiative of a group of Catalan and writers from the south of France , the " Creu de Montcada " ( " Montcada Cross " ) was erected in 1887 . This monument stands at the location where , according to tradition , the two nobles died : along the kilometre 14 of the old road from Palma to Andrach , present day Paseo Calviá . The work , designed by Tomás Vila ( 1893 - 1963 ) , was erected next to the aforementioned pine , and consists of a stone pedestal from Santanyí and a large Gothic cross . The traditional Barras de Aragón , the heraldic symbol par excellence of the Crown , is depicted in the centre of this cross . One side of the base bears the coat of arms of the Moncadas and the other the commemorative dates . The opening ceremony for the monument and the tribute to the nobles was organized and conducted by the Colell literary canon in which Jacinto Verdaguer also participated . In 1929 , in commemoration of the seventh anniversary of the battle , a Neoromanesque style building called the " Ermita de la piedra sagrada " ( " Shrine of the Sacred Stone " ) , was erected between the Puig de sa Ginesta and the Puig d ' en Zaragoza . This shrine owes its name to the fact that its inside hosts the stone that served as an altar for the first mass the conquerors held before their first battle . The " Creu del Desembarcament " ( " Cross of the Landing " ) was alsoopened in Santa Ponsa that year . It is a work by Vila , just like the previous . The reliefs on the base allude to the eight phases of the conquest of the island , among which is the battle of Portopí .