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Near the Farell farmhouse, in the massif of Sant Llorenç del Munt, I took this photograph for Las Fotos de los Lectores de La Vanguardia of an inscription found in a well that reads: DE PAU BONOVEN 1616 IONES FARELL AND VILOMARE .
What does this writing on the lintel of this stone structure mean? It is known that the Farell heir married a daughter of the Pont de Vilomara family and that, in 1616, a baby named Pau Bonavantura Farell died, as explained in this investigation of the Valls del Valls. Montcau.
The question is whether this message refers precisely to the dead child. An albat (from the Latin albatus, white) is a creature who died before reaching the age of reason, so it was believed that it did not have the mark of original sin.
In ancient times, the belief was widespread that albats protected the members of the family to which they belonged as beneficial spirits.
As a consequence, and during the first centuries of the Middle Ages, it was common to bury them in the basement of the home or in front of the house, so that the child's spirit would not disturb and continue protecting the living.
This ancestral custom, documented in Iberian sites, persisted even after the introduction of Christianity. There are examples of this, such as in Castellot de Viver, in Berguedà, or in the town of Sant Miquel de la Vall, in the Tremp basin, between the 9th and 12th centuries.
In medieval times, burials of albats also occurred near the presbyteries of churches and in most cases they were venerated as relics.
