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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6918-8.txt b/6918-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d5870a7 --- /dev/null +++ b/6918-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15958 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella V1 +by William H. Prescott + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella V1 + +Author: William H. Prescott + +Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6918] +[This file was first posted on February 11, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: iso-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, HISTORY OF THE REIGN OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA V1 *** + + + + +Anne Soulard, Tiffany Vergon, Charles Aldarondo and the Online Distributed + +Proofreading Team + + + +HISTORY OF THE REIGN OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA, THE CATHOLIC. + +BY WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT. + +IN THREE VOLUMES. +VOL. I. + + + + +TO +THE HONORABLE +WILLIAM PRESCOTT, LL.D., +THE GUIDE OF MY YOUTH, +MY BEST FRIEND IN RIPER YEARS, +THESE VOLUMES, +WITH THE WARMEST FEELINGS OF FILIAL AFFECTION, +ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. + + + + +PREFACE + +TO THE FIRST EDITION. + + +English writers have done more for the illustration of Spanish history, +than for that of any other except their own. To say nothing of the recent +general compendium, executed for the "Cabinet Cyclopaedia," a work of +singular acuteness and information, we have particular narratives of the +several reigns, in an unbroken series, from the emperor Charles the Fifth +(the First of Spain) to Charles the Third, at the close of the last +century, by authors whose names are a sufficient guaranty for the +excellence of their productions. It is singular, that, with this attention +to the modern history of the Peninsula, there should be no particular +account of the period which may be considered as the proper basis of it,-- +the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. + +In this reign, the several States, into which the country had been broken +up for ages, were brought under a common rule; the kingdom of Naples was +conquered; America discovered and colonized; the ancient empire of the +Spanish Arabs subverted; the dread tribunal of the Modern Inquisition +established; the Jews, who contributed so sensibly to the wealth and +civilization of the country, were banished; and, in fine, such changes +were introduced into the interior administration of the monarchy, as have +left a permanent impression on the character and condition of the nation. + +The actors in these events were every way suited to their importance. +Besides the reigning sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella, the latter +certainly one of the most interesting personages in history, we have, in +political affairs, that consummate statesman, Cardinal Ximenes, in +military, the "Great Captain," Gonsalvo de Cordova, and in maritime, the +most successful navigator of any age, Christopher Columbus; whose entire +biographies fall within the limits of this period. Even such portions of +it as have been incidentally touched by English writers, as the Italian +wars, for example, have been drawn so exclusively from French and Italian +sources, that they may be said to be untrodden ground for the historian of +Spain. [1] + +It must be admitted, however, that an account of this reign could not have +been undertaken at any preceding period, with anything like the advantages +at present afforded; owing to the light which recent researches of Spanish +scholars, in the greater freedom of inquiry now enjoyed, have shed on some +of its most interesting and least familiar features. The most important of +the works to which I allude are, the History of the Inquisition, from +official documents, by its secretary, Llorente; the analysis of the +political institutions of the kingdom, by such writers as Marina, Sempere, +and Capmany; the literal version, now made for the first time, of the +Spanish-Arab chronicles, by Conde; the collection of original and +unpublished documents, illustrating the history of Columbus and the early +Castilian navigators, by Navarrete; and, lastly, the copious illustrations +of Isabella's reign, by Clemencin, the late lamented secretary of the +Royal Academy of History, forming the sixth volume of its valuable +Memoirs. + +It was the knowledge of these facilities for doing justice to this +subject, as well as its intrinsic merits, which led me, ten years since, +to select it; and surely no subject could be found more suitable for the +pen of an American, than a history of that reign, under the auspices of +which the existence of his own favored quarter of the globe was first +revealed. As I was conscious that the value of the history must depend +mainly on that of its materials, I have spared neither pains nor expense, +from the first, in collecting the most authentic. In accomplishing this, I +must acknowledge the services of my friends, Mr. Alexander H. Everett, +then minister plenipotentiary from the United States to the court of +Madrid, Mr. Arthur Middleton, secretary of the American legation, and, +above all, Mr. O. Rich, now American consul for the Balearic Islands, a +gentleman, whose extensive bibliographical knowledge, and unwearied +researches, during a long residence in the Peninsula, have been liberally +employed for the benefit both of his own country and of England. With such +assistance, I flatter myself that I have been enabled to secure whatever +can materially conduce to the illustration of the period in question, +whether in the form of chronicle, memoir, private correspondence, legal +codes, or official documents. Among these are various contemporary +manuscripts, covering the whole ground of the narrative, none of which +have been printed, and some of them but little known to Spanish scholars. +In obtaining copies of these from the public libraries, I must add, that I +have found facilities under the present liberal government, which were +denied me under the preceding. In addition to these sources of +information, I have availed myself, in the part of the work occupied with +literary criticism and history, of the library of my friend, Mr. George +Ticknor, who during a visit to Spain, some years since, collected whatever +was rare and valuable in the literature of the Peninsula. I must further +acknowledge my obligations to the library of Harvard University, in +Cambridge, from whose rich repository of books relating to our own country +I have derived material aid. And, lastly, I must not omit to notice the +favors of another kind for which I am indebted to my friend, Mr. William +H. Gardiner, whose judicious counsels have been of essential benefit to me +in the revision of my labors. + +In the plan of the work, I have not limited myself to a strict +chronological narrative of passing events, but have occasionally paused, +at the expense, perhaps, of some interest in the story, to seek such +collateral information as might bring these events into a clearer view. I +have devoted a liberal portion of the work to the literary progress of the +nation, conceiving this quite as essential a part of its history as civil +and military details. I have occasionally introduced, at the close of the +chapters, a critical notice of the authorities used, that the reader may +form some estimate of their comparative value and credibility. Finally, I +have endeavored to present him with such an account of the state of +affairs, both before the accession, and at the demise of the Catholic +sovereigns, as might afford him the best points of view for surveying the +entire results of their reign. + +How far I have succeeded in the execution of this plan, must be left to +the reader's candid judgment. Many errors he may be able to detect. Sure I +am, there can be no one more sensible of my deficiencies than myself; +although it was not till after practical experience, that I could fully +estimate the difficulty of obtaining anything like a faithful portraiture +of a distant age, amidst the shifting hues and perplexing cross lights of +historic testimony. From one class of errors my subject necessarily +exempts me; those founded on national or party feeling. I may have been +more open to another fault; that of too strong a bias in favor of my +principal actors; for characters, noble and interesting in themselves, +naturally beget a sort of partiality akin to friendship, in the +historian's mind, accustomed to the daily contemplation of them. Whatever +defects may be charged on the work, I can at least assure myself, that it +is an honest record of a reign important in itself, new to the reader in +an English dress, and resting on a solid basis of authentic materials, +such as probably could not be met with out of Spain, nor in it without +much difficulty. + +I hope I shall be acquitted of egotism, although I add a few words +respecting the peculiar embarrassments I have encountered, in composing +these volumes. Soon after my arrangements were made, early in 1826, for +obtaining the necessary materials from Madrid, I was deprived of the use +of my eyes for all purposes of reading and writing, and had no prospect of +again recovering it. This was a serious obstacle to the prosecution of a +work requiring the perusal of a large mass of authorities, in various +languages, the contents of which were to be carefully collated, and +transferred to my own pages, verified by minute reference. [2] Thus shut +out from one sense, I was driven to rely exclusively on another, and to +make the ear do the work of the eye. With the assistance of a reader, +uninitiated, it may be added, in any modern language but his own, I worked +my way through several venerable Castilian quartos, until I was satisfied +of the practicability of the undertaking. I next procured the services of +one more competent to aid me in pursuing my historical inquiries. The +process was slow and irksome enough, doubtless, to both parties, at least +till my ear was accommodated to foreign sounds, and an antiquated, +oftentimes barbarous phraseology, when my progress became more sensible, +and I was cheered with the prospect of success. It certainly would have +been a far more serious misfortune, to be led thus blindfold through the +pleasant paths of literature; but my track stretched, for the most part, +across dreary wastes, where no beauty lurked, to arrest the traveller's +eye and charm his senses. After persevering in this course for some years, +my eyes, by the blessing of Providence, recovered sufficient strength to +allow me to use them, with tolerable freedom, in the prosecution of my +labors, and in the revision of all previously written. I hope I shall not +be misunderstood, as stating these circumstances to deprecate the severity +of criticism, since I am inclined to think the greater circumspection I +have been compelled to use has left me, on the whole, less exposed to +inaccuracies, than I should have been in the ordinary mode of composition. +But, as I reflect on the many sober hours I have passed in wading through +black letter tomes, and through manuscripts whose doubtful orthography and +defiance of all punctuation were so many stumbling-blocks to my +amanuensis, it calls up a scene of whimsical distresses, not usually +encountered, on which the good-natured reader may, perhaps, allow I have +some right, now that I have got the better of them, to dwell with +satisfaction. + +I will only remark, in conclusion of this too prolix discussion about +myself, that while making my tortoise-like progress, I saw what I had +fondly looked upon as my own ground, (having indeed lain unmolested by any +other invader for so many ages,) suddenly entered, and in part occupied, +by one of my countrymen. I allude to Mr. Irving's "History of Columbus," +and "Chronicle of Granada;" the subjects of which, although covering but a +small part of my whole plan, form certainly two of its most brilliant +portions. Now, alas! if not devoid of interest, they are, at least, +stripped of the charm of novelty. For what eye has not been attracted to +the spot on which the light of that writer's genius has fallen? + +I cannot quit the subject which has so long occupied me, without one +glance at the present unhappy condition of Spain; who, shorn of her +ancient splendor, humbled by the loss of empire abroad, and credit at +home, is abandoned to all the evils of anarchy. Yet, deplorable as this +condition is, it is not so bad as the lethargy in which she has been sunk +for ages. Better be hurried forward for a season on the wings of the +tempest, than stagnate in a deathlike calm, fatal alike to intellectual +and moral progress. The crisis of a revolution, when old things are +passing away, and new ones are not yet established, is, indeed, fearful. +Even the immediate consequences of its achievement are scarcely less so to +a people who have yet to learn by experiment the precise form of +institutions best suited to their wants, and to accommodate their +character to these institutions. Such results must come with time, +however, if the nation be but true to itself. And that they will come, +sooner or later, to the Spaniards, surely no one can distrust who is at +all conversant with their earlier history, and has witnessed the examples +it affords of heroic virtue, devoted patriotism, and generous love of +freedom; + + "Chè l'antico valore + ----non è ancor morto." + +Clouds and darkness have, indeed, settled thick around the throne of the +youthful Isabella; but not a deeper darkness than that which covered the +land in the first years of her illustrious namesake; and we may humbly +trust, that the same Providence, which guided her reign to so prosperous a +termination, may carry the nation safe through its present perils, and +secure to it the greatest of earthly blessings, civil and religious +liberty. + +_November_, 1837. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] The only histories of this reign by continental writers, with which I +am acquainted, are the "Histoire des Rois Catholiques Ferdinand et +Isabelle, par l'Abbé Mignot, Paris, 1766," and the "Geschichte der +Regierung Ferdinand des Katholischen, von Rupert Becker, Prag und Leipzig, +1790." Their authors have employed the most accessible materials only in +the compilation; and, indeed, they lay claim to no great research, which +would seem to be precluded by the extent of their works, in neither +instance exceeding two volumes duodecimo. They have the merit of +exhibiting, in a simple, perspicuous form, those events, which, lying on +the surface, may be found more or less expanded in moat general histories. + +[2] "To compile a history from various authors, when they can only be +consulted by other eyes, is not easy, nor possible, but with more skilful +and attentive help than can be commonly obtained." [Johnson's _Life of +Milton_.] This remark of the great critic, which first engaged my +attention in the midst of my embarrassments, although discouraging at +first, in the end stimulated the desire to overcome them. + + + + +PREFACE + +TO THE THIRD ENGLISH EDITION. + + +Since the publication of the First Edition of this work, it has undergone +a careful revision; and this, aided by the communications of several +intelligent friends, who have taken an interest in its success, has +enabled me to correct several verbal inaccuracies, and a few typographical +errors, which had been previously overlooked. While the Second Edition was +passing through the press, I received, also, copies of two valuable +Spanish works, having relation to the reign of the Catholic sovereigns, +but which, as they appeared during the recent troubles of the Peninsula, +had not before come to my knowledge. For these I am indebted to the +politeness of Don Angel Calderon de la Barca, late Spanish Minister at +Washington; a gentleman, whose frank and liberal manners, personal +accomplishments, and independent conduct in public life, have secured for +him deservedly high consideration in the United States, as well as in his +own country. + +I must still further acknowledge my obligation to Don Pascual de Gayangos, +the learned author of the "Mahommedan Dynasties in Spain," recently +published in London,--a work, which, from its thorough investigation of +original sources, and fine spirit of criticism, must supply, what has been +so long felt as an important desideratum with the student,--the means of +forming a perfect acquaintance with the Arabian portion of the Peninsular +annals. There fell into the hands of this gentleman, on the breaking up of +the convents of Saragossa in 1835, a rich collection of original +documents, comprehending, among other things, the autograph correspondence +of Ferdinand and Isabella, and of the principal persons of their court. It +formed, probably, part of the library of Geronimo Zurita,--historiographer +of Aragon, under Philip the Second,--who, by virtue of his office, was +intrusted with whatever documents could illustrate the history of the +country. This rare collection was left at his death to a monastery in his +native city. Although Zurita is one of the principal authorities for the +present work, there are many details of interest in this correspondence, +which have passed unnoticed by him, although forming the basis of his +conclusions; and I have gladly availed myself of the liberality and great +kindness of Señor de Gayangos, who has placed these manuscripts at my +disposal, transcribing such as I have selected, for the corroboration and +further illustration of my work. The difficulties attending this labor of +love will be better appreciated, when it is understood, that the original +writing is in an antiquated character, which _few_ Spanish scholars of the +present day could comprehend, and often in cipher, which requires much +patience and ingenuity to explain. With these various emendations, it is +hoped that the present Edition may be found more deserving of that favor +from the public, which has been so courteously accorded to the preceding. + +_March_, 1841. + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. + + +INTRODUCTION. + +SECTION I. + VIEW OF THE CASTILIAN MONARCHY BEFORE THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. + STATE OF SPAIN AT THE MIDDLE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY + EARLY HISTORY AND CONSTITUTION OF CASTILE + THE VISIGOTHS + INVASION OF THE ARABS + ITS INFLUENCE ON THE CONDITION OF THE SPANIARDS + CAUSES OF THEIR SLOW RECONQUEST OF THE COUNTRY + THEIR ULTIMATE SUCCESS CERTAIN + THEIR RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASM + INFLUENCE OF THEIR MINSTRELSY + THEIR CHARITY TO THE INFIDEL + THEIR CHIVALRY + EARLY IMPORTANCE OF THE CASTILIAN TOWNS + THEIR PRIVILEGES + CASTILIAN CORTES + ITS GREAT POWERS + ITS BOLDNESS + HERMANDADES OF CASTILE + WEALTH OF THE CITIES + PERIOD OF THE HIGHEST POWER OF THE COMMONS + THE NOBILITY + THEIR PRIVILEGES + THEIR GREAT WEALTH + THEIR TURBULENT SPIRIT + THE CAVALLEROS OR KNIGHTS + THE CLERGY + INFLUENCE OF THE PAPAL COURT + CORRUPTION OP THE CLERGY + THEIR RICH POSSESSIONS + LIMITED EXTENT OF THE ROYAL PREROGATIVE + POVERTY OF THE CROWN + ITS CAUSES + ANECDOTE OF HENRY III., OF CASTILE + CONSTITUTIONAL WRITERS ON CASTILE + CONSTITUTION AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY + NOTICE OF MARINA AND SEMPERE + +SECTION II. + REVIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF ARAGON TO THE MIDDLE OF THE FIFTEENTH + CENTURY. + RISE OF ARAGON + FOREIGN CONQUESTS + CODE OF SOPRARBE + THE RICOS HOMBRES + THEIR IMMUNITIES + THEIR TURBULENCE + PRIVILEGES OF UNION + THEIR ABROGATION + THE LEGISLATURE OF ARAGON + ITS FORMS OF PROCEEDING + ITS POWERS + THE GENERAL PRIVILEGE + JUDICIAL FUNCTIONS OF CORTES + PREPONDERANCE OF THE COMMONS + THE JUSTICE OF ARAGON + HIS GREAT AUTHORITY + SECURITY AGAINST ITS ABUSE + INDEPENDENT EXECUTION OF IT + VALENCIA AND CATALONIA + RISE AND OPULENCE OF BARCELONA + HER FREE INSTITUTIONS + HAUGHTY SPIRIT OF THE CATALANS + INTELLECTUAL CULTURE + POETICAL ACADEMY OF TORTOSA + BRIEF GLORY OF THE LIMOUSIN + CONSTITUTIONAL WRITERS ON ARAGON + NOTICES OF BLANCAS, MARTEL, AND CAPMANY + +PART FIRST. + +THE PERIOD WHEN THE DIFFERENT KINGDOMS OF SPAIN WERE FIRST UNITED UNDER +ONE MONARCHY, AND A THOROUGH REFORM WAS INTRODUCED INTO THEIR INTERNAL +ADMINISTRATION; OR THE PERIOD EXHIBITING MOST FULLY THE DOMESTIC POLICY OF +FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. + +CHAPTER I. + STATE OF CASTILE AT THE BIRTH OF ISABELLA.--REIGN OF JOHN II., + OF CASTILE. + REVOLUTION OF TRASTAMARA + ACCESSION OF JOHN II. + RISE OF ALVARO DE LUNA + JEALOUSY OF THE NOBLES + OPPRESSION OF THE COMMONS + ITS CONSEQUENCES + EARLY LITERATURE OF CASTILE + ITS ENCOURAGEMENT UNDER JOHN II. + MARQUIS OF VILLENA + MARQUIS OF SANTILLANA + JOHN DE MENA + HIS INFLUENCE + BAENA'S CANCIONERO + CASTILIAN LITERATURE UNDER JOHN II + DECLINE OF ALVARO DE LUNA + HIS FALL + HIS DEATH + LAMENTED BY JOHN + DEATH OF JOHN II + BIRTH OF ISABELLA + +CHAPTER II. + CONDITION OF ARAGON DURING THE MINORITY OF FERDINAND.--REIGN OF JOHN + II., OF ARAGON. + JOHN OF ARAGON + TITLE OF HIS SON CARLOS TO NAVARRE + HE TAKES ARMS AGAINST HIS FATHER + IS DEFEATED + BIRTH OF FERDINAND + CARLOS RETIRES TO NAPLES + HE PASSES INTO SICILY + JOHN II. SUCCEEDS TO THE CROWN OF ARAGON + CARLOS RECONCILED WITH HIS FATHER + IS IMPRISONED + INSURRECTION OF THE CATALANS + CARLOS RELEASED + HIS DEATH + HIS CHARACTER + TRAGICAL STORY OF BLANCHE + FERDINAND SWORN HEIR TO THE CROWN + BESIEGED BY THE CATALANS IN GERONA + TREATY BETWEEN FRANCE AND ARAGON + GENERAL REVOLT IN CATALONIA + SUCCESSES OF JOHN + CROWN OF CATALONIA OFFERED TO RENÉ OF ANJOU + DISTRESS AND EMBARRASSMENTS OF JOHN + POPULARITY OF THE DUKE OF LORRAINE + DEATH OF THE QUEEN OF ARAGON + IMPROVEMENT IN JOHN'S AFFAIRS + SIEGE OF BARCELONA + IT SURRENDERS + +CHAPTER III. + REIGN OF HENRY IV., OF CASTILE.--CIVIL WAR.--MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND + AND ISABELLA. + POPULARITY OF HENRY IV + HE DISAPPOINTS EXPECTATIONS + HIS DISSOLUTE HABITS + OPPRESSION OF THE PEOPLE + DEBASEMENT OF THE COIN + CHARACTER OF PACHECO, MARQUIS OF VILLENA + CHARACTER OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOLEDO + INTERVIEW BETWEEN HENRY IV. AND LOUIS XI + DISGRACE OF VILLENA AND THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOLEDO + LEAGUE OF THE NOBLES + DEPOSITION OF HENRY AT AVILA + DIVISION OF PARTIES + INTRIGUES OF THE MARQUIS OF VILLENA + HENRY DISBANDS HIS FORCES + PROPOSITION FOR THE MARRIAGE OF ISABELLA + HER EARLY EDUCATION + PROJECTED UNION WITH THE GRAND MASTER OF CALATRAVA + HIS SUDDEN DEATH + BATTLE OF OLMEDO + CIVIL ANARCHY + DEATH AND CHARACTER OF ALFONSO + HIS REIGN A USURPATION + THE CROWN OFFERED TO ISABELLA + SHE DECLINES IT + TREATY BETWEEN HENRY AND THE CONFEDERATES + ISABELLA ACKNOWLEDGED HEIR TO THE CROWN AT TOROS DE GUISANDO + SUITORS TO ISABELLA + FERDINAND OF ARAGON + SUPPORT OF JOANNA BELTRANEJA + PROPOSAL OF THE KING OF PORTUGAL REJECTED BY ISABELLA + SHE ACCEPTS FERDINAND + ARTICLES OF MARRIAGE + CRITICAL SITUATION OF ISABELLA + FERDINAND ENTERS CASTILE + PRIVATE INTERVIEW BETWEEN FERDINAND AND ISABELLA + THEIR MARRIAGE + NOTICE OF THE QUINCUAGENAS OF OVIEDO + +CHAPTER IV. + FACTIONS IN CASTILE.--WAR BETWEEN FRANCE AND ARAGON.--DEATH OF HENRY + IV., OF CASTILE. + FACTIONS IN CASTILE + FERDINAND AND ISABELLA + CIVIL ANARCHY + REVOLT OF ROUSSILLON FROM LOUIS XI. + GALLANT DEFENCE OF PERPIGNAN + FERDINAND RAISES THE SIEGE + TREATY BETWEEN FRANCE AND ARAGON + ISABELLA'S PARTY GAINS STRENGTH + INTERVIEW BETWEEN HENRY IV. AND ISABELLA AT SEGOVIA + SECOND FRENCH INVASION OF ROUSSILLON + FERDINAND'S SUMMARY EXECUTION OF JUSTICE + SIEGE AND REDUCTION OF PERPIGNAN + PERFIDY OF LOUIS XI. + ILLNESS OF HENRY IV., OF CASTILE + HIS DEATH + INFLUENCE OF HIS REIGN + NOTICE OF ALONSO DE PALENCIA + NOTICE OF ENRIQUEZ DE CASTILLO + +CHAPTER V. + ACCESSION OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.--WAR OF THE SUCCESSION.--BATTLE OF + TORO. + TITLE OF ISABELLA + SHE IS PROCLAIMED QUEEN + SETTLEMENT OF THE CROWN + PARTISANS OF JOANNA + ALFONSO OF PORTUGAL SUPPORTS HER CAUSE + HE INVADES CASTILE + HE ESPOUSES JOANNA + CASTILIAN ARMY + FERDINAND MARCHES AGAINST ALFONSO + HE CHALLENGES HIM TO PERSONAL COMBAT + DISORDERLY RETREAT OF THE CASTILIANS + APPROPRIATION OF THE CHURCH PLATE + REORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY + KING OF PORTUGAL ARRIVES BEFORE ZAMORA + ABSURD POSITION + HE SUDDENLY DECAMPS + OVERTAKEN BY FERDINAND + BATTLE OF TORO + THE PORTUGUESE ROUTED + ISABELLA'S THANKSGIVING FOR THE VICTORY + SUBMISSION OF THE WHOLE KINGDOM + THE KING OF PORTUGAL VISITS FRANCE + RETURNS TO PORTUGAL + PEACE WITH FRANCE + ACTIVE MEASURES OF ISABELLA + TREATY OF PEACE WITH PORTUGAL + JOANNA TAKES THE VEIL + DEATH OF THE KING OF PORTUGAL + DEATH OF THE KING OF ARAGON + +CHAPTER VI. + INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. + SCHEME OF REFORM FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF CASTILE + ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE + ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HERMANDAD + CODE OF THE HERMANDAD + INEFFECTUAL OPPOSITION OF THE NOBILITY + TUMULT AT SEGOVIA + ISABELLA'S PRESENCE OF MIND + ISABELLA VISITS SEVILLE + HER SPLENDID RECEPTION THERE + SEVERE EXECUTION OF JUSTICE + MARQUIS OF CADIZ AND DUKE OF MEDINA SIDONIA + ROYAL PROGRESS THROUGH ANDALUSIA + IMPARTIAL EXECUTION OP THE LAWS + REORGANIZATION OP THE TRIBUNALS + KING AND QUEEN PRESIDE IN COURTS OF JUSTICE + RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF ORDER + REFORM OF THE JURISPRUDENCE + CODE OF ORDENANÇAS REALES + SCHEMES FOR REDUCING THE NOBILITY + REVOCATION OF THE ROYAL GRANTS + LEGISLATIVE ENACTMENTS + THE QUEEN'S SPIRITED CONDUCT TO THE NOBILITY + MILITARY ORDERS OF CASTILE + ORDER OF ST. JAGO + ORDER OF CALATRAVA + ORDER OF ALCANTARA + GRAND-MASTERSHIPS ANNEXED TO THE CROWN + THEIR REFORMATION + USURPATIONS OF THE CHURCH + RESISTED BY CORTES + DIFFERENCE WITH THE POPE + RESTORATION OF TRADE + SALUTARY ENACTMENTS OF CORTES + PROSPERITY OF THE KINGDOM + NOTICE OF CLEMENCIN + +CHAPTER VII. + ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MODERN INQUISITION. + ORIGIN OF THE ANCIENT INQUISITION + ITS INTRODUCTION INTO ARAGON + RETROSPECTIVE VIEW OF THE JEWS IN SPAIN + UNDER THE ARABS + UNDER THE CASTILIANS + PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS + THEIR STATE AT THE ACCESSION OF ISABELLA + CHARGES AGAINST THEM + BIGOTRY OF THE AGE + ITS INFLUENCE ON ISABELLA + CHARACTER OF HER CONFESSOR, TORQUEMADA + PAPAL BULL AUTHORIZING THE INQUISITION + ISABELLA RESORTS TO MILDER MEASURES + ENFORCES THE PAPAL BULL + INQUISITION AT SEVILLE + PROOFS OF JUDAISM + THE SANGUINARY PROCEEDINGS OF THE INQUISITORS + CONDUCT OF THE PAPAL COURT + FINAL ORGANIZATION OF THE INQUISITION + FORMS OF TRIAL + TORTURE + INJUSTICE OF ITS PROCEEDINGS + AUTOS DA FE + CONVICTIONS UNDER TORQUEMADA + PERFIDIOUS POLICY OF ROME + NOTICE OF LLORENTE'S HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION + +CHAPTER VIII. + + REVIEW OF THE POLITICAL AND INTELLECTUAL CONDITION OF THE SPANISH ARABS + PREVIOUS TO THE WAR OF GRANADA. + EARLY SUCCESSES OF MAHOMETANISM + CONQUEST OF SPAIN + WESTERN CALIPHATE + FORM OF GOVERNMENT + CHARACTER OF THE SOVEREIGNS + MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT + SUMPTUOUS PUBLIC WORKS + GREAT MOSQUE OF CORDOVA + REVENUES + MINERAL WEALTH OF SPAIN + HUSBANDRY AND MANUFACTURES + POPULATION + CHARACTER OF ALHAKEM II. + INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT + DISMEMBERMENT OF THE CORDOVAN EMPIRE + KINGDOM OF GRANADA + AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE + RESOURCES OF THE CROWN + LUXURIOUS CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE + MOORISH GALLANTRY + CHIVALRY + UNSETTLED STATE OF GRANADA + CAUSES OF HER SUCCESSFUL RESISTANCE + LITERATURE OF THE SPANISH ARABS + CIRCUMSTANCES FAVORABLE TO IT + PROVISIONS FOR LEARNING + THE ACTUAL RESULTS + AVERROES + THEIR HISTORICAL MERITS + USEFUL DISCOVERIES + THE IMPULSE GIVEN BY THEM TO EUROPE + THEIR ELEGANT LITERATURE + POETICAL CHARACTER + INFLUENCE ON THE CASTILIAN + CIRCUMSTANCES PREJUDICIAL TO THEIR REPUTATION + NOTICES OF CASIRI, CONDE, AND CARDONNE + +CHAPTER IX. + WAR OF GRANADA.--SURPRISE OF ZAHARA.--CAPTURE OF ALHAMA. + ZAHARA SURPRISED BY THE MOORS + DESCRIPTION OF ALHAMA + THE MARQUIS OF CADIZ + HIS EXPEDITION AGAINST ALHAMA + SURPRISE OF THE FORTRESS + VALOR OF THE CITIZENS + SALLY UPON THE MOORS + DESPERATE COMBAT + FALL OF ALHAMA + CONSTERNATION OF THE MOORS + THE MOORS BESIEGE ALHAMA + DISTRESS OF THE GARRISON + THE DUKE OF MEDINA SIDONIA + MARCHES TO RELIEVE ALHAMA + RAISES THE SIEGE + MEETING OF THE TWO ARMIES + THE SOVEREIGNS AT CORDOVA + ALHAMA INVESTED AGAIN BY THE MOORS + ISABELLA'S FIRMNESS + FERDINAND RAISES THE SIEGE + VIGOROUS MEASURES OF THE QUEEN + +CHAPTER X. + WAR OF GRANADA.--UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT ON LOJA.--DEFEAT IN THE AXARQUIA. + SIEGE OF LOJA + CASTILIAN FORCES + ENCAMPMENT BEFORE LOJA + SKIRMISH WITH THE ENEMY + RETREAT OF THE SPANIARDS + REVOLUTION IN GRANADA + DEATH OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOLEDO + AFFAIRS OF ITALY + OF NAVARRE + RESOURCES OF THE CROWN + JUSTICE OF THE SOVEREIGNS + EXPEDITION TO THE AXARQUIA + THE MILITARY ARRAY + PROGRESS OF THE ARMY + MOORISH PREPARATIONS + SKIRMISH AMONG THE MOUNTAINS + RETREAT OF THE SPANIARDS + THEIR DISASTROUS SITUATION + THEY RESOLVE TO FORCE A PASSAGE + DIFFICULTIES OF THE ASCENT + DREADFUL SLAUGHTER + MARQUIS OF CADIZ ESCAPES + LOSSES OF THE CHRISTIANS + +CHAPTER XI. + WAR OF GRANADA.--GENERAL VIEW OF THE POLICY PURSUED IN THE CONDUCT OF + THIS WAR. + ABDALLAH MARCHES AGAINST THE CHRISTIANS + ILL OMENS + MARCHES ON LUCENA + BATTLE OF LUCENA + CAPTURE OF ABDALLAH + LOSSES OF THE MOORS + MOORISH EMBASSY TO CORDOVA + DEBATES IN THE SPANISH COUNCIL + TREATY WITH ABDALLAH + INTERVIEW BETWEEN THE TWO KINGS + GENERAL POLICY OF THE WAR + INCESSANT HOSTILITIES + DEVASTATING FORAYS + STRENGTH OF THE MOORISH FORTRESSES + DESCRIPTION OF THE PIECES + OF THE KINDS OF AMMUNITION + ROADS FOR THE ARTILLERY + DEFENCES OF THE MOORS + TERMS TO THE VANQUISHED + SUPPLIES FOR THE ARMY + ISABELLA'S CARE OF THE TROOPS + HER PERSEVERANCE IN THE WAR + POLICY TOWARDS THE NOBLES + COMPOSITION OF THE ARMY + SWISS MERCENARIES + THE ENGLISH LORD SCALES + THE QUEEN'S COURTESY + MAGNIFICENCE OF THE NOBLES + THEIR GALLANTRY + ISABELLA VISITS THE CAMP + ROYAL COSTUME + DEVOUT DEMEANOR OF THE SOVEREIGNS + CEREMONIES ON THE OCCUPATION OF A CITY + RELEASE OF CHRISTIAN CAPTIVES + POLICY IN FOMENTING THE MOORISH FACTIONS + CHRISTIAN CONQUESTS + NOTICE OF FERNANDO DEL PULGAR + NOTICE OF ANTONIO DE LEBRIJA + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +SECTION I. + +VIEW OF THE CASTILIAN MONARCHY BEFORE THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. + +Early History and Constitution of Castile.--Invasion of the Arabs.--Slow +Reconquest of the Country.--Religious Enthusiasm of the Spaniards.-- +Influence of their Minstrelsy.--Their Chivalry.--Castilian Towns.-- +Cortes.--Its Powers.--Its Boldness.--Wealth of the Cities.--The Nobility. +--Their Privileges and Wealth.--Knights.--Clergy.--Poverty of the Crown.-- +Limited Extent of the Prerogative. + + +For several hundred years after the great Saracen invasion in the +beginning of the eighth century, Spain was broken up into a number of +small but independent states, divided in their interests, and often in +deadly hostility with one another. It was inhabited by races, the most +dissimilar in their origin, religion, and government, the least important +of which has exerted a sensible influence on the character and +institutions of its present inhabitants. At the close of the fifteenth +century, these various races were blended into one great nation, under one +common rule. Its territorial limits were widely extended by discovery and +conquest. Its domestic institutions, and even its literature, were moulded +into the form, which, to a considerable extent, they have maintained to +the present day. It is the object of the present narrative to exhibit the +period in which these momentous results were effected,--the reign of +Ferdinand and Isabella. + +By the middle of the fifteenth century, the number of states, into which +the country had been divided, was reduced to four; Castile, Aragon, +Navarre, and the Moorish kingdom of Granada. The last, comprised within +nearly the same limits as the modern province of that name, was all that +remained to the Moslems of their once vast possessions in the Peninsula. +Its concentrated population gave it a degree of strength altogether +disproportioned to the extent of its territory; and the profuse +magnificence of its court, which rivalled that of the ancient caliphs, was +supported by the labors of a sober, industrious people, under whom +agriculture and several of the mechanic arts had reached a degree of +excellence, probably unequalled in any other part of Europe during the +Middle Ages. + +The little kingdom of Navarre, embosomed within the Pyrenees, had often +attracted the avarice of neighboring and more powerful states. But, since +their selfish schemes operated as a mutual check upon each other, Navarre +still continued to maintain her independence, when all the smaller states +in the Peninsula had been absorbed in the gradually increasing dominion of +Castile and Aragon. + +This latter kingdom comprehended the province of that name, together with +Catalonia and Valencia. Under its auspicious climate and free political +institutions, its inhabitants displayed an uncommon share of intellectual +and moral energy. Its long line of coast opened the way to an extensive +and flourishing commerce; and its enterprising navy indemnified the nation +for the scantiness of its territory at home, by the important foreign +conquests of Sardinia, Sicily, Naples, and the Balearic Isles. + +The remaining provinces of Leon, Biscay, the Asturias, Galicia, Old and +New Castile, Estremadura, Murcia, and Andalusia, fell to the crown of +Castile, which, thus extending its sway over an unbroken line of country +from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean, seemed by the magnitude, of +its territory, as well as by its antiquity, (for it was there that the old +Gothic monarchy may be said to have first revived after the great Saracen +invasion,) to be entitled to a pre-eminence over the other states of the +Peninsula. This claim, indeed, appears to have been recognized at an early +period of her history. Aragon did homage to Castile for her territory on +the western bank of the Ebro, until the twelfth century, as did Navarre, +Portugal, and, at a later period, the Moorish kingdom of Granada. [1] And, +when at length the various states of Spain were consolidated into one +monarchy, the capital of Castile became the capital of the new empire, and +her language the language of the court and of literature. + +It will facilitate our inquiry into the circumstances which immediately +led to these results, if we briefly glance at the prominent features in +the early history and constitution of the two principal Christian states, +Castile and Aragon, previous to the fifteenth century. [2] + +The Visigoths who overran the Peninsula, in the fifth century, brought +with them the same liberal principles of government which distinguished +their Teutonic brethren. Their crown was declared elective by a formal +legislative act. [3] Laws were enacted in the great national councils, +composed of prelates and nobility, and not unfrequently ratified in an +assembly of the people. Their code of jurisprudence, although abounding in +frivolous detail, contained many admirable provisions for the security of +justice; and, in the degree of civil liberty which it accorded to the +Roman inhabitants of the country, far transcended those of most of the +other barbarians of the north. [4] In short, their simple polity exhibited +the germ of some of those institutions, which, with other nations, and +under happier auspices, have formed the basis of a well-regulated +constitutional liberty. [5] + +But, while in other countries the principles of a free government were +slowly and gradually unfolded, their development was much accelerated in +Spain by an event, which, at the time, seemed to threaten their total +extinction,--the great Saracen invasion at the beginning of the eighth +century. The religious, as well as the political institutions of the +Arabs, were too dissimilar to those of the conquered nation, to allow the +former to exercise any very sensible influence over the latter in these +particulars. In the Spirit of toleration, which distinguished the early +followers of Mahomet, they conceded to such of the Goths, as were willing +to continue among them after the conquest, the free enjoyment of their +religious, as well as of many of the civil privileges which they possessed +under the ancient monarchy. [6] Under this liberal dispensation it cannot +be doubted, that many preferred remaining in the pleasant regions of their +ancestors, to quitting them for a life of poverty and toil. These, +however, appear to have been chiefly of the lower order; [7] and the men +of higher rank, or of more generous sentiments, who refused to accept a +nominal and precarious independence at the hands of their oppressors, +escaped from the overwhelming inundation into the neighboring countries of +France, Italy, and Britain, or retreated behind those natural fortresses +of the north, the Asturian hills and the Pyrenees, whither the victorious +Saracen disdained to pursue them. [8] + +Here the broken remnant of the nation endeavored to revive the forms, at +least, of the ancient government. But it may well be conceived, how +imperfect these must have been under a calamity, which, breaking up all +the artificial distinctions of society, seemed to resolve it at once into +its primitive equality. The monarch, once master of the whole Peninsula, +now beheld his empire contracted to a few barren, inhospitable rocks. The +noble, instead of the broad lands and thronged halls of his ancestors, saw +himself at best but the chief of some wandering horde, seeking a doubtful +subsistence, like himself, by rapine. The peasantry, indeed, may be said +to have gained by the exchange; and, in a situation, in which all +factitious distinctions were of less worth than individual prowess and +efficiency, they rose in political consequence. Even slavery, a sore evil +among the Visigoths, as indeed among all the barbarians of German origin, +though not effaced, lost many of its most revolting features, under the +more generous legislation of later times. [9] + +A sensible and salutary influence, at the same time, was exerted on the +moral energies of the nation, which had been corrupted in the long +enjoyment of uninterrupted prosperity. Indeed, so relaxed were the morals +of the court, as well as of the clergy, and so enervated had all classes +become, in the general diffusion of luxury, that some authors have not +scrupled to refer to these causes principally the perdition of the Gothic +monarchy. An entire reformation in these habits was necessarily effected +in a situation, where a scanty subsistence could only be earned by a life +of extreme temperance and toil, and where it was often to be sought, sword +in hand, from an enemy far superior in numbers. Whatever may have been the +vices of the Spaniards, they cannot have been those of effeminate sloth. +Thus a sober, hardy, and independent race was gradually formed, prepared +to assert their ancient inheritance, and to lay the foundations of far +more liberal and equitable forms of government, than were known to their +ancestors. + +At first, their progress was slow and almost imperceptible. The Saracens, +indeed, reposing under the sunny skies of Andalusia, so congenial with +their own, seemed willing to relinquish the sterile regions of the north +to an enemy whom they despised. But, when the Spaniards, quitting the +shelter of their mountains, descended into the open plains of Leon and +Castile, they found themselves exposed to the predatory incursions of the +Arab cavalry, who, sweeping over the face of the country, carried off in a +single foray the hard-earned produce of a summer's toil. It was not until +they had reached some natural boundary, as the river Douro, or the chain +of the Guadarrama, that they were enabled, by constructing a line of +fortifications along these primitive bulwarks, to secure their conquests, +and oppose an effectual resistance to the destructive inroads of their +enemies. + +Their own dissensions were another cause of their tardy progress. The +numerous petty states, which rose from the ruins of the ancient monarchy, +seemed to regard each other with even a fiercer hatred than that with +which they viewed the enemies of their faith; a circumstance that more +than once brought the nation to the verge of ruin. More Christian blood +was wasted in these national feuds, than in all their encounters with the +infidel. The soldiers of Fernan Gonçalez, a chieftain of the tenth +century, complained that their master made them lead the life of very +devils, keeping them in the harness day and night, in wars, not against +the Saracens, but one another. [10] + +These circumstances so far palsied the arm of the Christians, that a +century and a half elapsed after the invasion, before they had penetrated +to the Douro, [11] and nearly thrice that period before they had advanced +the line of conquest to the Tagus, [12] notwithstanding this portion of +the country had been comparatively deserted by the Mahometans. But it was +easy to foresee that a people, living, as they did, under circumstances so +well adapted to the development of both physical and moral energy, must +ultimately prevail over a nation oppressed by despotism, and the +effeminate indulgence, to which it was naturally disposed by a sensual +religion and a voluptuous climate. In truth, the early Spaniard was urged +by every motive that can give efficacy to human purpose. Pent up in his +barren mountains, he beheld the pleasant valleys and fruitful vineyards of +his ancestors delivered over to the spoiler, the holy places polluted by +his abominable rites, and the crescent glittering on the domes, which were +once consecrated by the venerated symbol of his faith. His cause became +the cause of Heaven. The church published her bulls of crusade, offering +liberal indulgences to those who served, and Paradise to those who fell in +battle, against the infidel. The ancient Castilian was remarkable for his +independent resistance of papal encroachment; but the peculiarity of his +situation subjected him in an uncommon degree to ecclesiastical influence +at home. Priests mingled in the council and the camp, and, arrayed in +their sacerdotal robes, not unfrequently led the armies to battle. [13] +They interpreted the will of Heaven as mysteriously revealed in dreams and +visions. Miracles were a familiar occurrence. The violated tombs of the +saints sent forth thunders and lightnings to consume the invaders; and, +when the Christians fainted in the fight, the apparition of their patron, +St. James, mounted on a milk-white steed, and bearing aloft the banner of +the cross, was seen hovering in the air, to rally their broken squadrons, +and lead them on to victory. [14] Thus the Spaniard looked upon himself as +in a peculiar manner the care of Providence. For him the laws of nature +were suspended. He was a soldier of the Cross, fighting not only for his +country, but for Christendom. Indeed, volunteers from the remotest parts +of Christendom eagerly thronged to serve under his banner; and the cause +of religion was debated with the same ardor in Spain, as on the plains of +Palestine. [15] Hence the national character became exalted by a religious +fervor, which in later days, alas! settled into a fierce fanaticism. Hence +that solicitude for the purity of the faith, the peculiar boast of the +Spaniards, and that deep tinge of superstition, for which they have ever +been distinguished above the other nations of Europe. + +The long wars with the Mahometans served to keep alive in their bosoms the +ardent glow of patriotism; and this was still further heightened by the +body of traditional minstrelsy, which commemorated in these wars the +heroic deeds of their ancestors. The influence of such popular +compositions on a simple people is undeniable. A sagacious critic ventures +to pronounce the poems of Homer the principal bond which united the +Grecian states. [16] Such an opinion may be deemed somewhat extravagant. +It cannot be doubted, however, that a poem like that of the "Cid," which +appeared as early as the twelfth century, [17] by calling up the most +inspiring national recollections in connection with their favorite hero, +must have operated powerfully on the moral sensibilities of the people. + +It is pleasing to observe, in the cordial spirit of these early effusions, +little of the ferocious bigotry which sullied the character of the nation +in after ages. [18] The Mahometans of this period far excelled their +enemies in general refinement, and had carried some branches of +intellectual culture to a height scarcely surpassed by Europeans in later +times. The Christians, therefore, notwithstanding their political aversion +to the Saracens, conceded to them a degree of respect, which subsided into +feelings of a very different complexion, as they themselves rose in the +scale of civilization. This sentiment of respect tempered the ferocity of +a warfare, which, although sufficiently disastrous in its details, affords +examples of a generous courtesy, that would do honor to the politest ages +of Europe. [19] The Spanish Arabs were accomplished in all knightly +exercises, and their natural fondness for magnificence, which shed a +lustre over the rugged features of chivalry, easily communicated itself to +the Christian cavaliers. In the intervals of peace, these latter +frequented the courts of the Moorish princes, and mingled with their +adversaries in the comparatively peaceful pleasures of the tourney, as in +war they vied with them in feats of Quixotic gallantry. [20] + +The nature of this warfare between two nations, inhabitants of the same +country, yet so dissimilar in their religious and social institutions as +to be almost the natural enemies of each other, was extremely favorable to +the exhibition of the characteristic virtues of chivalry. The contiguity +of the hostile parties afforded abundant opportunities for personal +rencounter and bold romantic enterprise. Each nation had its regular +military associations, who swore to devote their lives to the service of +God and their country, in perpetual war against the _infidel_ [21] The +Spanish knight became the true hero of romance, wandering over his own +land, and even into the remotest climes, in quest of adventures; and, as +late as the fifteenth century, we find him in the courts of England and +Burgundy, doing battle in honor of his mistress, and challenging general +admiration by his uncommon personal intrepidity. [22] This romantic spirit +lingered in Castile, long after the age of chivalry had become extinct in +other parts of Europe, continuing to nourish itself on those illusions of +fancy, which were at length dispelled by the caustic satire of Cervantes. + +Thus patriotism, religious loyalty, and a proud sense of independence, +founded on the consciousness of owing their possessions to their personal +valor, became characteristic traits of the Castilians previously to the +sixteenth century, when the oppressive policy and fanaticism of the +Austrian dynasty contrived to throw into the shade these generous virtues. +Glimpses of them, however, might long be discerned in the haughty bearing +of the Castilian noble, and in that erect, high-minded peasantry, whom +oppression has not yet been able wholly to subdue. [23] + +To the extraordinary position, in which the nation was placed, may also be +referred the liberal forms of its political institutions, as well as a +more early development of them than took place in other countries of +Europe. From the exposure of the Castilian towns to the predatory +incursions of the Arabs, it became necessary, not only that they should be +strongly fortified, but that every citizen should be trained to bear arms +in their defence. An immense increase of consequence was given to the +burgesses, who thus constituted the most effective part of the national +militia. To this circumstance, as well as to the policy of inviting the +settlement of frontier places by the grant of extraordinary privileges to +the inhabitants, is to be imputed the early date, as well as liberal +character, of the charters of community in Castile and Leon. [24] These, +although varying a good deal in their details, generally conceded to the +citizens the right of electing their own magistrates for the regulation of +municipal affairs. Judges were appointed by this body for the +administration of civil and criminal law, subject to an appeal to the +royal tribunal. No person could be affected in life or property, except by +a decision of this municipal court; and no cause while pending before it +could be evoked thence into the superior tribunal. In order to secure the +barriers of justice more effectually against the violence of power, so +often superior to law in an imperfect state of society, it was provided in +many of the charters that no nobles should be permitted to acquire real +property within the limits of the community; that no fortress or palace +should be erected by them there; that such as might reside within its +territory, should be subject to its jurisdiction; and that any violence, +offered by them to its inhabitants, might be forcibly resisted with +impunity. Ample and inalienable funds were provided for the maintenance of +the municipal functionaries, and for other public expenses. A large extent +of circumjacent country, embracing frequently many towns and villages, was +annexed to each city with the right of jurisdiction over it. All arbitrary +tallages were commuted for a certain fixed and moderate rent. An officer +was appointed by the crown to reside within each community, whose province +it was to superintend the collection of this tribute, to maintain public +order, and to be associated with the magistrates of each city in the +command of the forces it was bound to contribute towards the national +defence. Thus while the inhabitants of the great towns in other parts of +Europe were languishing in feudal servitude, the members of the Castilian +corporations, living under the protection of their own laws and +magistrates in time of peace, and commanded by their own officers in war, +were in full enjoyment of all the essential rights and privileges of +freemen. [25] + +It is true, that they were often convulsed by intestine feuds; that the +laws were often loosely administered by incompetent judges; and that the +exercise of so many important prerogatives of independent states inspired +them with feelings of independence, which led to mutual rivalry, and +sometimes to open collision. But with all this, long after similar +immunities in the free cities of other countries, as Italy for example, +[26] had been sacrificed to the violence of faction or the lust of power, +those of the Castilian cities not only remained unimpaired, but seemed to +acquire additional stability with age. This circumstance is chiefly +imputable to the constancy of the national legislature, which, until the +voice of liberty was stifled by a military despotism, was ever ready to +interpose its protecting arm in defence of constitutional rights. + +The earliest instance on record of popular representation in Castile +occurred at Burgos, in 1169; [27] nearly a century antecedent to the +celebrated Leicester parliament. Each city had but one vote, whatever +might be the number of its representatives. A much greater irregularity, +in regard to the number of cities required to send deputies to cortes on +different occasions, prevailed in Castile, than ever existed in England; +[28] though, previously to the fifteenth century, this does not seem to +have proceeded from any design of infringing on the liberties of the +people. The nomination of these was originally vested in the householders +at large, but was afterwards confined to the municipalities; a most +mischievous alteration, which subjected their election eventually to the +corrupt influence of the crown. [29] They assembled in the same chamber +with the higher orders of the nobility and clergy; but, on questions of +moment, retired to deliberate by themselves. [30] After the transaction of +other business, their own petitions were presented to the sovereign, and +his assent gave them the validity of laws. The Castilian commons, by +neglecting to make their money grants depend on correspondent concessions +from the crown, relinquished that powerful check on its operations so +beneficially exerted in the British parliament, but in vain contended for +even there, till a much later period than that now under consideration. +Whatever may have been the right of the nobility and clergy to attend in +cortes, their sanction was not deemed essential to the validity of +legislative acts; [31] for their presence was not even required in many +assemblies of the nation which occurred in the fourteenth and fifteenth +centuries. [32] The extraordinary power thus committed to the commons was, +on the whole, unfavorable to their liberties. It deprived them of the +sympathy and co-operation of the great orders of the state, whose +authority alone could have enabled them to withstand the encroachments of +arbitrary power, and who, in fact, did eventually desert them in their +utmost need. [33] + +But, notwithstanding these defects, the popular branch of the Castilian +cortes, very soon after its admission into that body, assumed functions +and exercised a degree of power on the whole superior to that enjoyed by +it in other European legislatures. It was soon recognized as a fundamental +principle of the constitution, that no tax could be imposed without its +consent; [34] and an express enactment to this effect was suffered to +remain on the statute book, after it had become a dead letter, as if to +remind the nation of the liberties it had lost. [35] The commons showed a +wise solicitude in regard to the mode of collecting the public revenue, +oftentimes more onerous to the subject than the tax itself. They watched +carefully over its appropriation to its destined uses. They restrained a +too prodigal expenditure, and ventured more than once to regulate the +economy of the royal household. [36] They kept a vigilant eye on the +conduct of public officers, as well as on the right administration of +justice, and commissions were appointed at their suggestion for inquiring +into its abuses. They entered into negotiation for alliances with foreign +powers, and, by determining the amount of supplies for the maintenance of +troops in time of war, preserved a salutary check over military +operations. [37] The nomination of regencies was subject to their +approbation, and they defined the nature of the authority to be entrusted +to them. Their consent was esteemed indispensable to the validity of a +title to the crown, and this prerogative, or at least the image of it, has +continued to survive the wreck of their ancient liberties. [38] Finally, +they more than once set aside the testamentary provisions of the +sovereigns in regard to the succession. [39] + +Without going further into detail, enough has been said to show the high +powers claimed by the commons, previously to the fifteenth century, which, +instead of being confined to ordinary subjects of legislation, seem, in +some instances, to have reached to the executive duties of the +administration. It would, indeed, show but little acquaintance with the +social condition of the Middle Ages, to suppose that the practical +exercise of these powers always corresponded with their theory. We trace +repeated instances, it is true, in which they were claimed and +successfully exerted; while, on the other hand, the multiplicity of +remedial statutes proves too plainly how often the rights of the people +were invaded by the violence of the privileged orders, or the more artful +and systematic usurpations of the crown. But, far from being intimidated +by such acts, the representatives in cortes were ever ready to stand +forward as the intrepid advocates of constitutional freedom; and the +unqualified boldness of their language on such occasions, and the +consequent concessions of the sovereign, are satisfactory evidence of the +real extent of their power, and show how cordially they must have been +supported by public opinion. + +It would be improper to pass by without notice an anomalous institution +peculiar to Castile, which sought to secure the public tranquillity by +means scarcely compatible themselves with civil subordination. I refer to +the celebrated _Hermandad_, or Holy Brotherhood, as the association was +sometimes called, a name familiar to most readers in the lively fictions +of Le Sage, though conveying there no very adequate idea of the +extraordinary functions which it assumed at the period under review. +Instead of a regularly organized police, it then consisted of a +confederation of the principal cities bound together by solemn league and +covenant, for the defence of their liberties in seasons of civil anarchy. +Its affairs were conducted by deputies, who assembled at stated intervals +for this purpose, transacting their business under a common seal, enacting +laws which they were careful to transmit to the nobles and even the +sovereign himself, and enforcing their measures by an armed force. This +wild kind of justice, so characteristic of an unsettled state of society, +repeatedly received the legislative sanction; and, however formidable such +a popular engine may have appeared to the eye of the monarch, he was often +led to countenance it by a sense of his own impotence, as well as of the +overweening power of the nobles, against whom it was principally directed. +Hence these associations, although the epithet may seem somewhat +overstrained, have received the appellation of "cortès extraordinary." +[40] + +With these immunities, the cities of Castile attained a degree of opulence +and splendor unrivalled, unless in Italy, during the middle ages. At a +very early period, indeed, their contact with the Arabs had familiarized +them with a better system of agriculture, and a dexterity in the mechanic +arts unknown in other parts of Christendom. [41] + +On the occupation of a conquered town, we find it distributed into +quarters or districts, appropriated to the several crafts, whose members +were incorporated into guilds, under the regulation of magistrates and by- +laws of their own appointment. Instead of the unworthy disrepute, into +which the more humble occupations have since fallen in Spain, they were +fostered by a liberal patronage, and their professors in some instances +elevated to the rank of knighthood. [42] The excellent breed of sheep, +which early became the subject of legislative solicitude, furnished them +with an important staple which, together with the simpler manufactures and +the various products of a prolific soil, formed the materials of a +profitable commerce. [43] Augmentation of wealth brought with it the usual +appetite for expensive pleasures; and the popular diffusion of luxury in +the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries is attested by the fashionable +invective of the satirist, and by the impotence of repeated sumptuary +enactments. [44] Much of this superfluous wealth, however, was expended on +the construction of useful public works. Cities, from which the nobles had +once been so jealously excluded, came now to be their favorite residence. +[45] But, while their sumptuous edifices and splendid retinues dazzled the +eyes of the peaceful burghers, their turbulent spirit was preparing the +way for those dismal scenes of faction, which convulsed the little +commonwealths to their centre during the latter half of the fifteenth +century. + +The flourishing condition of the communities gave their representatives a +proportional increase of importance in the national assembly. The +liberties of the people seemed to take deeper root in the midst of those +political convulsions, so frequent in Castile, which unsettled the ancient +prerogatives of the crown. Every new revolution was followed by new +concessions on the part of the sovereign, and the popular authority +continued to advance with a steady progress until the accession of Henry +the Third, of Trastamara, in 1393, when it may be said to have reached its +zenith. A disputed title and a disastrous war compelled the father of this +prince, John the First, to treat the commons with a deference unknown to +his predecessors. We find four of their number admitted into his privy +council, and six associated in the regency, to which he confided the +government of the kingdom during his son's minority. [46] A remarkable +fact, which occurred in this reign, showing the important advances made by +the commons in political estimation, was the substitution of the sons of +burgesses for an equal number of those of the nobility, who were +stipulated to be delivered as hostages for the fulfilment of a treaty with +Portugal, in 1393. [47] There will be occasion to notice, in the first +chapter of this History, some of the circumstances, which, contributing to +undermine the power of the commons, prepared the way for the eventual +subversion of the constitution. + +The peculiar situation of Castile, which had been so favorable to popular +rights, was eminently so to those of the aristocracy. The nobles, embarked +with their sovereign in the same common enterprise of rescuing their +ancient patrimony from its invaders, felt entitled to divide with him the +spoils of victory. Issuing forth, at the head of their own retainers, from +their strong-holds or castles, (the great number of which was originally +implied in the name of the country,) [48] they were continually enlarging +the circuit of their territories, with no other assistance than that of +their own good swords. [49] This independent mode of effecting their +conquests would appear unfavorable to the introduction of the feudal +system, which, although its existence in Castile is clearly ascertained, +by positive law, as well as usage, never prevailed to anything like the +same extent as it did in the sister kingdom of Aragon, and other parts of +Europe. [50] + +The higher nobility, or _ricos hombres_, were exempted from general +taxation, and the occasional attempt to infringe on this privilege in +seasons of great public emergency, was uniformly repelled by this jealous +body. [51] They could not be imprisoned for debt; nor be subjected to +torture, so repeatedly sanctioned in other cases by the municipal law of +Castile. They had the right of deciding their private feuds by an appeal +to arms; a right of which they liberally availed themselves. [52] They +also claimed the privilege, when aggrieved, of denaturalizing themselves, +or, in other words, of publicly renouncing their allegiance to their +sovereign, and of enlisting under the banners of his enemy. [53] The +number of petty states, which swarmed over the Peninsula, afforded ample +opportunity for the exercise of this disorganizing prerogative. The Laras +are particularly noticed by Mariana, as having a "great relish for +rebellion," and the Castros as being much in the habit of going over to +the Moors. [54] They assumed the license of arraying themselves in armed +confederacy against the monarch, on any occasion of popular disgust, and +they solemnized the act by the most imposing ceremonials of religion. [55] +Their rights of jurisdiction, derived to them, it would seem, originally +from royal grant, [56] were in a great measure defeated by the liberal +charters of incorporation, which, in imitation of the sovereign, they +conceded to their vassals, as well as by the gradual encroachment of the +royal judicatures. [57] In virtue of their birth they monopolized all the +higher offices of state, as those of constable and admiral of Castile, +_adelantados_ or governors of the provinces, cities, etc. [58] They +secured to themselves the grand-masterships of the military orders, which +placed at their disposal an immense amount of revenue and patronage. +Finally, they entered into the royal or privy council, and formed a +constituent portion of the national legislature. + +These important prerogatives were of course favorable to the accumulation +of great wealth. Their estates were scattered over every part of the +kingdom, and, unlike the grandees of Spain at the present day, [59] they +resided on them in person, maintaining the state of petty sovereigns, and +surrounded by a numerous retinue, who served the purposes of a pageant in +time of peace, and an efficient military force in war. The demesnes of +John, lord of Biscay, confiscated by Alfonso the Eleventh to the use of +the crown, in 1327, amounted to more than eighty towns and castles. [60] +The "good constable" Davalos, in the time of Henry the Third, could ride +through his own estates all the way from Seville to Compostella, almost +the two extremities of the kingdom. [61] Alvaro de Luna, the powerful +favorite of John the Second, could muster twenty thousand vassals. [62] A +contemporary, who gives a catalogue of the annual rents of the principal +Castilian nobility at the close of the fifteenth or beginning of the +following century, computes several at fifty and sixty thousand ducats a +year, [63] an immense income, if we take into consideration the value of +money in that age. The same writer estimates their united revenues as +equal to one-third of those in the whole kingdom. [64] + +These ambitious nobles did not consume their fortunes, or their energies +in a life of effeminate luxury. From their earliest boyhood they were +accustomed to serve in the ranks against the infidel, [65] and their whole +subsequent lives were occupied either with war, or with those martial +exercises which reflect the image of it. Looking back with pride to their +ancient Gothic descent, and to those times, when they had stood forward as +the peers, the electors of their sovereign, they could ill brook the +slightest indignity at his hand. [66] With these haughty feelings and +martial habits, and this enormous assumption of power, it may readily be +conceived that they would not suffer the anarchical provisions of the +constitution, which seemed to concede an almost unlimited license of +rebellion, to remain a dead letter. Accordingly, we find them perpetually +convulsing the kingdom with their schemes of selfish aggrandizement. The +petitions of the commons are filled with remonstrances on their various +oppressions, and the evils resulting from their long, desolating feuds. So +that, notwithstanding the liberal forms of its constitution, there was +probably no country in Europe, during the Middle Ages, so sorely afflicted +with the vices of intestine anarchy, as Castile. These were still further +aggravated by the improvident donations of the monarch to the aristocracy, +in the vain hope of conciliating their attachment, but which swelled their +already overgrown power to such a height, that, by the middle of the +fifteenth century, it not only overshadowed that of the throne, but +threatened to subvert the liberties of the state. + +Their self-confidence, however, proved eventually their ruin. They +disdained a co-operation with the lower orders in defence of their +privileges, and relied too unhesitatingly on their power as a body, to +feel jealous of their exclusion from the national legislature, where alone +they could have made an effectual stand against the usurpations of the +crown.--The course of this work will bring under review the dexterous +policy, by which the crown contrived to strip the aristocracy of its +substantial privileges, and prepared the way for the period, when it +should retain possession only of a few barren though ostentatious +dignities. [67] + +The inferior orders of nobility, the _hidalgos_, (whose dignity, like +that of the _ricos hombres_, would seem, as their name imports, to +have been originally founded on wealth,) [68] and the _cavalleros_, or +knights, enjoyed many of the immunities of the higher class, especially +that of exemption from taxation. [69] Knighthood appears to have been +regarded with especial favor by the law of Castile. Its ample privileges +and its duties are defined with a precision and in a spirit of romance, +that might have served for the court of King Arthur. [70] Spain was indeed +the land of chivalry. The respect for the sex, which had descended from +the Visigoths, [71] was mingled with the religious enthusiasm, which had +been kindled in the long wars with the infidel. The apotheosis of +chivalry, in the person of their apostle and patron, St. James, [72] +contributed still further to this exaltation of sentiment, which was +maintained by the various military orders, who devoted themselves, in the +bold language of the age, to the service "of God and the ladies." So that +the Spaniard may be said to have put in action what, in other countries, +passed for the extravagances of the minstrel. An example of this occurs in +the fifteenth century, when a passage of arms was defended at Orbigo, not +far from the shrine of Compostella, by a Castilian knight, named Sueño de +Quenones, and his nine companions, against all comers, in the presence of +John the Second and his court. Its object was to release the knight from +the obligation, imposed on him by his mistress, of publicly wearing an +iron collar round his neck every Thursday. The jousts continued for thirty +days, and the doughty champions fought without shield or target, with +weapons bearing points of Milan steel. Six hundred and twenty-seven +encounters took place, and one hundred and sixty-six lances were broken, +when the emprise was declared to be fairly achieved. The whole affair is +narrated with becoming gravity by an eye-witness, and the reader may fancy +himself perusing the adventures of a Launcelot or an Amadis. [73] + +The influence of the ecclesiastics in Spain may be traced back to the age +of the Visigoths, when they controlled the affairs of the state in the +great national councils of Toledo. This influence was maintained by the +extraordinary position of the nation after the conquest. The holy warfare, +in which it was embarked, seemed to require the co-operation of the +clergy, to propitiate Heaven in its behalf, to interpret its mysterious +omens, and to move all the machinery of miracles, by which the imagination +is so powerfully affected in a rude and superstitious age. They even +condescended, in imitation of their patron saint, to mingle in the ranks, +and, with the crucifix in their hands, to lead the soldiers on to battle. +Examples of these militant prelates are to be found in Spain so late as +the sixteenth century. [74] + +But, while the native ecclesiastics obtained such complete ascendency over +the popular mind, the Roman See could boast of less influence in Spain +than in any other country in Europe. The Gothic liturgy was alone +received, as canonical until the eleventh century; [75] and, until the +twelfth, the sovereign held the right of jurisdiction over all +ecclesiastical causes, of collating to benefices, or at least of +confirming or annulling the election of the chapters. The code of Alfonso +the Tenth, however, which borrowed its principles of jurisprudence from +the civil and canon law, completed a revolution already begun, and +transferred these important prerogatives to the pope, who now succeeded in +establishing a usurpation over ecclesiastical rights in Castile, similar +to that which had been before effected in other parts of Christendom. Some +of these abuses, as that of the nomination of foreigners to benefices, +were carried to such an impudent height, as repeatedly provoked the +indignant remonstrances of the cortes. The ecclesiastics, eager to +indemnify themselves for what they had sacrificed to Rome, were more than +ever solicitous to assert their independence of the royal jurisdiction. +They particularly insisted on their immunity from taxation, and were even +reluctant to divide with the laity the necessary burdens of a war, which, +from its sacred character, would seem to have imperative claims on them. +[76] + +Notwithstanding the immediate dependence thus established on the head of +the church by the legislation of Alfonso the Tenth, the general immunities +secured by it to the ecclesiastics operated as a powerful bounty on their +increase; and the mendicant orders in particular, that spiritual militia +of the popes, were multiplied over the country to an alarming extent. Many +of their members were not only incompetent to the duties of their +profession, being without the least tincture of liberal culture, but fixed +a deep stain on it by the careless laxity of their morals. Open +concubinage was familiarly practised by the clergy, as well as laity, of +the period; and, so far from being reprobated by the law of the land, +seems anciently to have been countenanced by it. [77] This moral +insensibility may probably be referred to the contagious example of their +Mahometan neighbors; but, from whatever source derived, the practice was +indulged to such a shameless extent, that, as the nation advanced in +refinement, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, it became the +subject of frequent legislative enactments, in which the concubines of the +clergy are described as causing general scandal by their lawless +effrontery and ostentatious magnificence of apparel. [78] + +Notwithstanding this prevalent licentiousness of the Spanish +ecclesiastics, their influence became every day more widely extended, +while this ascendency, for which they were particularly indebted in that +rude age to their superior learning and capacity, was perpetuated by their +enormous acquisitions of wealth. Scarcely a town was reconquered from the +Moors, without a considerable portion of its territory being appropriated +to the support of some ancient, or the foundation of some new, religious +establishment. These were the common reservoir, into which flowed the +copious streams of private as well as royal bounty; and, when the +consequences of these alienations in mortmain came to be visible in the +impoverishment of the public revenue, every attempt at legislative +interference was in a great measure defeated by the piety or superstition +of the age. The abbess of the monastery of Huelgas, which was situated +within the precincts of Burgos, and contained within its walls one hundred +and fifty nuns of the noblest families in Castile, exercised jurisdiction +ever fourteen capital towns, and more than fifty smaller places; and she +was accounted inferior to the queen only in dignity. [79] The archbishop +of Toledo, by virtue of his office primate of Spain and grand chancellor +of Castile, was esteemed, after the pope, the highest ecclesiastical +dignitary in Christendom. His revenues, at the close of the fifteenth +century, exceeded eighty thousand ducats; while the gross amount of those +of the subordinate beneficiaries of his church rose to one hundred and +eighty thousand. He could muster a greater number of vassals than any +other subject in the kingdom, and held jurisdiction over fifteen large and +populous towns, besides a great number of inferior places. [80] + +These princely funds, when intrusted to pious prelates, were munificently +dispensed in useful public works, and especially in the foundation of +eleemosynary institutions, with which every great city in Castile was +liberally supplied. [81] But, in the hands of worldly men, they were +perverted from these noble uses to the gratification of personal vanity, +or the disorganizing schemes of faction. The moral perceptions of the +people, in the mean time, were confused by the visible demeanor of a +hierarchy, so repugnant to the natural conceptions of religious duty. They +learned to attach an exclusive value to external rites, to the forms +rather than the spirit of Christianity; estimating the piety of men by +their speculative opinions, rather than their practical conduct.--The +ancient Spaniards, notwithstanding their prevalent superstition, were +untinctured with the fiercer religious bigotry of later times; and the +uncharitable temper of their priests, occasionally disclosed in the heats +of religious war, was controlled by public opinion, which accorded a high +degree of respect to the intellectual, as well as political superiority of +the Arabs. But the time was now coming when these ancient barriers were to +be broken down; when a difference of religious sentiment was to dissolve +all the ties of human brotherhood; when uniformity of faith was to be +purchased by the sacrifice of any rights, even those of intellectual +freedom; when, in fine, the Christian and the Mussulman, the oppressor and +the oppressed, were to be alike bowed down under the strong arm of +ecclesiastical tyranny. The means by which a revolution so disastrous to +Spain was effected, as well as the incipient stages of its progress, are +topics that fall within the scope of the present history. + +From the preceding survey of the constitutional privileges enjoyed by the +different orders of the Castilian monarchy, previous to the fifteenth +century, it is evident that the royal authority must have been +circumscribed within very narrow limits. The numerous states, into which +the great Gothic empire was broken after the conquest, were individually +too insignificant to confer on their respective sovereigns the possession +of extensive power, or even to authorize their assumption of that state, +by which, it is supported in the eyes of the vulgar. When some more +fortunate prince, by conquest or alliance, had enlarged the circle of his +dominions, and thus in some measure remedied the evil, it was sure to +recur upon his death, by the subdivision of his estates among his +children. This mischievous practice was even countenanced by public +opinion; for the different districts of the country, in their habitual +independence of each other, acquired an exclusiveness of feeling, which +made it difficult for them ever cordially to coalesce; and traces of this +early repugnance to each other are to be discerned in the mutual +jealousies and local peculiarities which still distinguish the different +sections of the Peninsula, after their consolidation into one monarchy for +more than three centuries. + +The election to the crown, although no longer vested in the hands of the +national assembly, as with the Visigoths, was yet subject to its +approbation. The title of the heir apparent was formerly recognized by a +cortes convoked for the purpose; and, on the demise of his parent, the new +sovereign again convened the estates to receive their oath of allegiance, +which they cautiously withheld until he had first sworn to preserve +inviolate the liberties of the constitution. Nor was this a merely nominal +privilege, as was evinced on more than one memorable occasion. [82] + +We have seen, in our review of the popular branch of the government, how +closely its authority pressed even on the executive functions of the +administration. The monarch was still further controlled, in this +department, by his Royal or Privy Council, consisting of the chief +nobility and great officers of state, to which, in later times, a +deputation of the commons was sometimes added. [83] This body, together +with the king, had cognizance of the most important public transactions, +whether of a civil, military, or diplomatic nature. It was established by +positive enactment, that the prince, without its consent, had no right to +alienate the royal demesne, to confer pensions beyond a very limited +amount, or to nominate to vacant benefices. [84] His legislative powers +were to be exercised in concurrence with the cortes; [85] and, in the +judicial department, his authority, during the latter part of the period +under review, seems to have been chiefly exercised in the selection of +officers for the higher judicatures, from a list of candidates presented +to him on a vacancy by their members concurrently with his privy council. +[86] + +The scantiness of the king's revenue corresponded with that of his +constitutional authority. By an ancient law, indeed, of similar tenor with +one familiar to the Saracens, the sovereign was entitled to a fifth of the +spoils of victory. [87] This, in the course of the long wars with the +Moslems, would have secured him more ample possessions than were enjoyed +by any prince in Christendom. But several circumstances concurred to +prevent it. + +The long minorities, with which Castile was afflicted perhaps more than +any country in Europe, frequently threw the government into the hands of +the principal nobility, who perverted to their own emoluments the high +powers intrusted to them. They usurped the possessions of the crown, and +invaded some of its most valuable privileges; so that the sovereign's +subsequent life was often consumed in fruitless attempts to repair the +losses of his minority. He sometimes, indeed, in the impotence of other +resources, resorted to such unhappy expedients as treachery and +assassination. [88] A pleasant tale is told by the Spanish historians, of +the more innocent device of Henry the Third, for the recovery of the +estates extorted from the crown by the rapacious nobles during his +minority. + +Returning home late one evening, fatigued and half famished, from a +hunting expedition, he was chagrined to find no refreshment prepared for +him, and still more so, to learn from his steward, that he had neither +money nor credit to purchase it. The day's sport, however, fortunately +furnished the means of appeasing the royal appetite; and, while this was +in progress, the steward took occasion to contrast the indigent condition +of the king with that of his nobles, who habitually indulged in the most +expensive entertainments, and were that very evening feasting with the +archbishop of Toledo. The prince, suppressing his indignation, determined, +like the far-famed caliph in the "Arabian Nights," to inspect the affair +in person, and, assuming a disguise, introduced himself privately into the +archbishop's palace, where he witnessed with his own eyes the prodigal +magnificence of the banquet, teeming with costly wines and the most +luxurious viands. + +The next day he caused a rumor to be circulated through the court, that he +had fallen suddenly and dangerously ill. The courtiers, at these tidings, +thronged to the palace; and, when they had all assembled, the king made +his appearance among them, bearing his naked sword in his hand, and, with +an aspect of unusual severity, seated himself on his throne at the upper +extremity of the apartment. + +After an interval of silence in the astonished assembly, the monarch, +addressing himself to the primate, inquired of him, "How many sovereigns +he had known in Castile?" The prelate answering four, Henry put the same +question to the duke of Benevente, and so on to the other courtiers in +succession. None of them, however, having answered more than five, "How is +this," said the prince, "that you, who are so old, should have known so +few, while I, young as I am, have beheld more than twenty! Yes," continued +he, raising his voice, to the astonished multitude, "you are the real +sovereigns of Castile, enjoying all the rights and revenues of royalty, +while I, stripped of my patrimony, have scarcely wherewithal to procure +the necessaries of life." Then giving a concerted signal, his guards +entered the apartment, followed by the public executioner bearing along +with him the implements of death. The dismayed nobles, not relishing the +turn the jest appeared likely to take, fell on their knees before the +monarch and besought his forgiveness, promising, in requital, complete +restitution of the fruits of their rapacity. Henry, content with having so +cheaply gained his point, allowed himself to soften at their entreaties, +taking care, however, to detain their persons as security for their +engagements, until such time as the rents, royal fortresses, and whatever +effects had been filched from the crown, were restored. The story, +although repeated by the gravest Castilian writers, wears, it must be +owned, a marvellous tinge of romance. But, whether fact, or founded on it, +it may serve to show the dilapidated condition of the revenues at the +beginning of the fourteenth century, and its immediate causes. [89] + +Another circumstance, which contributed to impoverish the exchequer, was +the occasional political revolutions in Castile, in which the adhesion of +a faction was to be purchased only by the most ample concessions of the +crown.--Such was the violent revolution, which placed the House of +Trastamara on the throne, in the middle of the fourteenth century. + +But perhaps a more operative cause, than all these, of the alleged evil, +was the conduct of those imbecile princes, who, with heedless prodigality, +squandered the public resources on their own personal pleasures and +unworthy minions. The disastrous reigns of John the Second and Henry the +Fourth, extending over the greater portion of the fifteenth century, +furnish pertinent examples of this. It was not unusual, indeed, for the +cortes, interposing its paternal authority, by passing an act for the +partial resumption of grants thus illegally made, in some degree to repair +the broken condition of the finances. Nor was such a resumption unfair to +the actual proprietors. The promise to maintain the integrity of the royal +demesnes formed an essential part of the coronation oath of every +sovereign; and the subject, on whom he afterwards conferred them, knew +well by what a precarious, illicit tenure he was to hold them. + +From the view which has been presented of the Castilian constitution at +the beginning of the fifteenth century, it is apparent, that the sovereign +was possessed of less power, and the people of greater, than in other +European monarchies at that period. It must be owned, however, as before +intimated, that the practical operation did not always correspond with the +theory of their respective functions in these rude times; and that the +powers of the executive, being susceptible of greater compactness and +energy in their movements, than could possibly belong to those of more +complex bodies, were sufficiently strong in the hands of a resolute +prince, to break down the comparatively feeble barriers of the law. +Neither were the relative privileges, assigned to the different orders of +the state, equitably adjusted. Those of the aristocracy were indefinite +and exorbitant. The license of armed combinations too, so freely assumed +both by this order and the commons, although operating as a safety-valve +for the escape of the effervescing spirit of the age, was itself obviously +repugnant to all principles of civil obedience, and exposed the state to +evils scarcely less disastrous than those which it was intended to +prevent. + +It was apparent, that, notwithstanding the magnitude of the powers +conceded to the nobility and the commons, there were important defects, +which prevented them from resting on any sound and permanent basis. The +representation of the people in cortes, instead of partially emanating, as +in England, from an independent body of landed proprietors, constituting +the real strength of the nation, proceeded exclusively from the cities, +whose elections were much more open to popular caprice and ministerial +corruption, and whose numerous local jealousies prevented them from acting +in cordial co-operation. The nobles, notwithstanding their occasional +coalitions, were often arrayed in feuds against each other. They relied, +for the defence of their privileges, solely on their physical strength, +and heartily disdained, in any emergency, to support their own cause by +identifying it with that of the commons. Hence, it became obvious, that +the monarch, who, notwithstanding his limited prerogative, assumed the +anomalous privilege of transacting public business with the advice of only +one branch of the legislature, and of occasionally dispensing altogether +with the attendance of the other, might, by throwing his own influence +into the scale, give the preponderance to whichever party he should +prefer; and, by thus dexterously availing himself of their opposite +forces, erect his own authority on the ruins of the weaker.--How far and +how successfully this policy was pursued by Ferdinand and Isabella, will +be seen in the course of this History. + + * * * * * + +Notwithstanding the general diligence of the Spanish historians, they have +done little towards the investigation of the constitutional antiquities of +Castile, until the present century. Dr. Geddes's meagre notice of the +cortes preceded probably, by a long interval, any native work upon that +subject. Robertson frequently complains of the total deficiency of +authentic sources of information respecting the laws and government of +Castile; a circumstance, that suggests to a candid mind an obvious +explanation of several errors, into which he has fallen. Capmany, in the +preface to a work, compiled by order of the central junta in Seville, in +1809, on the ancient organization of the cortes in the different states of +the Peninsula, remarks, that "no author has appeared, down to the present +day, to instruct us in regard to the origin, constitution, and celebration +of the Castilian cortes, on all which topics there remains the most +profound ignorance." The melancholy results to which such an investigation +must necessarily lead, from the contrast it suggests of existing +institutions to the freer forms of antiquity, might well have deterred the +modern Spaniard from these inquiries; which, moreover, it can hardly be +supposed, would have received the countenance of government. The brief +interval, however, in the early part of the present century, when the +nation so ineffectually struggled to resume its ancient liberties, gave +birth to two productions, which have gone far to supply the +_desiderata_ in this department. I allude to the valuable works of +Marina, on the early legislation, and on the cortes, of Castile, to which +repeated reference has been made in this section. The latter, especially, +presents us with a full exposition of the appropriate functions assigned +to the several departments of government, and with the parliamentary +history of Castile deduced from original unpublished records. + +It is unfortunate that his copious illustrations are arranged in so +unskilful a manner as to give a dry and repulsive air to the whole work. +The original documents, on which it is established, instead of being +reserved for an appendix, and their import only conveyed in the text, +stare at the reader in every page, arrayed in all the technicalities, +periphrases, and repetitions incident to legal enactments. The course of +the investigation is, moreover, frequently interrupted by impertinent +dissertations on the constitution of 1812, in which the author has fallen +into abundance of crudities, which he would have escaped, had he but +witnessed the practical operation of those liberal forms of government, +which he so justly admires. The sanguine temper of Marina has also +betrayed him into the error of putting, too uniformly, a favorable +construction on the proceedings of the commons, and of frequently deriving +a constitutional precedent from what can only be regarded as an accidental +and transient exertion of power in a season of popular excitement. + +The student of this department of Spanish history may consult, in +conjunction with Marina, Sempere's little treatise, often quoted, on the +History of the Castilian Cortes. It is, indeed, too limited and desultory +in its plan to afford anything like a complete view of the subject. But, +as a sensible commentary, by one well skilled in the topics that he +discusses, it is of undoubted value. Since the political principles and +bias of the author were of an opposite character to Marina's, they +frequently lead him to opposite conclusions in the investigation of the +same facts. Making all allowance for obvious prejudices, Sempere's work, +therefore, may be of much use in correcting the erroneous impressions made +by the former writer, whose fabric of liberty too often rests, as +exemplified more than once in the preceding pages, on an ideal basis. + +But, with every deduction, Marina's publications must be considered an +important contribution to political science. They exhibit an able analysis +of a constitution, which becomes singularly interesting, from its having +furnished, together with that of the sister kingdom of Aragon, the +earliest example of representative government, as well as from the liberal +principles on which that government was long administered. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Aragon was formally released from this homage in 1177, and Portugal in +1264. (Mariana, Historia General de España, (Madrid, 1780,) lib. 11, cap. +14; lib. 13, cap. 20.) The king of Granada, Aben Alahmar, swore fealty to +St. Ferdinand, in 1245, binding himself to the payment of an annual rent, +to serve under him with a stipulated number of his knights in war, and +personally _attend cortes when summoned_;--a whimsical stipulation this +for a Mahometan prince. Conde, Historia de la Dominacion de los Arabes en +España, (Madrid, 1820, 1821,) tom. iii. cap. 30. + +[2] Navarre was too inconsiderable, and bore too near a resemblance in its +government to the other Peninsular kingdoms, to require a separate notice; +for which, indeed, the national writers afford but very scanty materials. +The Moorish empire of Granada, so interesting in itself, and so +dissimilar, in all respects, to Christian Spain, merits particular +attention. I have deferred the consideration of it, however, to that +period of the history which is occupied with its subversion. See Part I., +Chapter 8. + +[3] See the Canons of the fifth Council of Toledo. Florez, España Sagrada, +(Madrid, 1747-1776,) tom. vi. p. 168. + +[4] Recesvinto, in order more effectually to bring about the consolidation +of his Gothic and Roman subjects into one nation, abrogated the law +prohibiting their intermarriage. The terms in which his enactment is +conceived disclose a far more enlightened policy than that pursued either +by the Franks or Lombards. (See the Fuero Juzgo, (ed. de la Acad., Madrid, +1815,) lib. 3, tit. 1, ley 1.)--The Visigothic code, Fuero Juzgo, (Forum +Judicum,) originally compiled in Latin, was translated into Spanish under +St. Ferdinand; a copy of which version was first printed in 1600, at +Madrid. (Los Doctores Asso y Manuel, Instituciones del Derecho Civil de +Castilla, (Madrid, 1792,) pp. 6, 7.) A second edition, under the +supervision of the Royal Spanish Academy, was published in 1815. This +compilation, notwithstanding the apparent rudeness and even ferocity of +some of its features, may be said to have formed the basis of all the +subsequent legislation of Castile. It was, doubtless, the exclusive +contemplation of these features, which brought upon these laws the +sweeping condemnation of Montesquieu, as "puériles, gauches, idiotes,-- +frivoles dans le fond et gigantesques dans le style." Espirit des Loix, +liv. 28, chap. 1. + +[5] Some of the local usages, afterwards incorporated in the _fueros_, or +charters, of the Castilian communities, may probably be derived from the +time of the Visigoths. The English reader may form a good idea of the +tenor of the legal institutions of this people and their immediate +descendants, from an article in the sixty-first Number of the Edinburgh +Review, written with equal learning and vivacity. + +[6] The Christians, in all matters exclusively relating to themselves, +were governed by their own laws, (See the Fuero Juzgo, Introd. p. 40,) +administered by their own judges, subject only in capital cases to an +appeal to the Moorish tribunals. Their churches and monasteries (_rosae +inter spinas_, says the historian) were scattered over the principal +towns, Cordova retaining seven, Toledo six, etc.; and their clergy were +allowed to display the costume, and celebrate the pompous ceremonial, of +the Romish communion. Florez, España Sagrada, tom. x. trat. 33, cap, 7.-- +Morales, Corónica General de España, (Obras, Madrid, 1791-1793,) lib. 12, +cap. 78.--Conde, Domination de los Arabes, part 1, cap. 15, 22. + +[7] Morales, Corónica, lib. 12, cap. 77.--Yet the names of several nobles +resident among the Moors appear in the record of those times. (See Salazar +de Mendoza, Monarquía de España, (Madrid, 1770,) tom. i. p. 34, note.) If +we could rely on a singular fact, quoted by Zurita, we might infer that a +large proportion of the Goths were content to reside among their Saracen +conquerors. The intermarriages among the two nations had been so frequent, +that, in 1311, the ambassador of James II., of Aragon, stated to his +Holiness, Pope Clement V., that of 200.000 persons composing the +population of Granada, not more than 500 were of pure Moorish descent! +(Anales de la Corona de Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1610,) lib. 5, cap. 93.) As the +object of the statement was to obtain certain ecclesiastical aids from the +pontiff, in the prosecution of the Moorish war, it appears very +suspicious, notwithstanding the emphasis laid on it by the historian. + +[8] Bleda, Corónica de los Moros de España, (Valencia, 1618,) p. 171.-- +This author states, that in his time there were several families in +Ireland, whose patronymics bore testimony to their descent from these +Spanish exiles. That careful antiquarian, Morales, considers the regions +of the Pyrenees lying betwixt Aragon and Navarre, together with the +Asturias, Biscay, Guipuscoa, the northern portion of Galicia and the +Alpuxarras, (the last retreat, too, of the Moors, under the Christian +domination,) to have been untouched by the Saracen invaders. See lib. 12, +cap. 76. + +[9] The lot of the Visigothic slave was sufficiently hard. The +oppressions, which this unhappy race endured, were such as to lead Mr. +Southey, in his excellent Introduction to the "Chronicle of the Cid," to +impute to their co-operation, in part, the easy conquest of the country by +the Arabs. But, although the laws, in relation to them, seem to be taken +up with determining their incapacities rather than their privileges, it is +probable that they secured to them, on the whole, quite as great a degree +of civil consequence, as was enjoyed by similar classes in the rest of +Europe. By the Fuero Juzgo, the slave was allowed to acquire property for +himself, and with it to purchase his own redemption. (Lib. 5, tit. 4, ley +16.) A certain proportion of every man's slaves were also required to bear +arms, and to accompany their master to the field. (Lib. 9, tit 2, ley 8.) +But their relative rank is better ascertained by the amount of composition +(that accurate measurement of civil rights with all the barbarians of the +north) prescribed for any personal violence inflicted on them. Thus, by +the Salic law, the life of a free Roman was estimated at only one-fifth of +that of a Frank, (Lex Salica, tit. 43, sec. 1, 8;) while, by the law of +the Visigoths, the life of a slave was valued at half of that of a +freeman, (lib. 6, tit. 4, ley 1.) In the latter code, moreover, the master +was prohibited, under the severe penalties of banishment and sequestration +of property, from either maiming or murdering his own slave, (lib. 6, tit. +5, leyes 12, 13;) while, in other codes of the barbarians, the penalty was +confined to similar trespasses on the slaves of another; and, by the Salic +law, no higher mulct was imposed for killing, than for kidnapping a slave. +(Lex Salica, tit. 11, sec. 1, 3.) The legislation of the Visigoths, in +those particulars, seems to have regarded this unhappy race as not merely +a distinct species of property. It provided for their personal security, +instead of limiting itself to the indemnification of their masters. + +[10] Corónica General, part. 3, fol. 54. + +[11] According to Morales, (Corónica, lib. 13, cap. 57,) this took place +about 850. + +[12] Toledo was not reconquered until 1085; Lisbon, in 1147. + +[13] The archbishops of Toledo, whose revenues and retinues far exceeded +those of the other ecclesiastics, were particularly conspicuous in these +holy wars. Mariana, speaking of one of these belligerent prelates, +considers it worthy of encomium, that "it is not easy to decide whether he +was most conspicuous for his good government in peace, or his conduct and +valor in war." Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 14. + +[14] The first occasion, on which the military apostle condescended to +reveal himself to the Leonese, was the memorable day of Clavijo, A. D. +844, when 70,000 infidels fell on the field. From that time, the name of +St. Jago became the battle-cry of the Spaniards. The truth of the story is +attested by a contemporary charter of Ramiro I. to the church of the +saint, granting it an annual tribute of corn and wine from the towns in +his dominions, and a knight's portion of the spoils of every victory over +the Mussulmans. The _privilegio del voto_, as it is called, is given +at length by Florez in his Collection, (España Sagrada, tom. xix. p. 329,) +and is unhesitatingly cited by most of the Spanish historians, as Garibay, +Mariana, Morales, and others.--More sharp-sighted critics discover, in its +anachronisms, and other palpable blunders, ample evidence of its forgery. +(Mondejar, Advertencies &, la Historia de Mariana (Valencia, 1746,) no. +157,--Masdeu, Historia Crítica de España, y de la Cultura Española, +(Madrid, 1783-1805,) tom. xvi. supl. 18.) The canons of Compostella, +however, seem to have found their account in it, as the tribute of good +cheer, which it imposed, continued to be paid by some of the Castilian +towns, according to Mariana, in his day. Hist. de España, tom. i. p. 416. + +[15] French, Flemish, Italian, and English volunteers, led by men of +distinguished rank, are recorded by the Spanish writers to have been +present at the sieges of Toledo, Lisbon, Algeziras, and various others. +More than sixty, or, as some accounts state, a hundred thousand, joined +the army before the battle of Navas de Tolosa; a round exaggeration, +which, however, implies the great number of such auxiliaries. (Garibay, +Compendio Historial de las Chrónicas de España, (Barcelona, 1628,) lib. +12, cap. 33.) The crusades in Spain were as rational enterprises, as those +in the East were vain and chimerical. Pope Pascal II. acted like a man of +sense, when he sent back certain Spanish adventurers, who had embarked in +the wars of Palestine, telling them that "the cause of religion could be +much better served by them at home." + +[16] See Heeren, Politics of Ancient Greece, translated by Bancroft, chap. +7. + +[17] The oldest manuscript extant of this poem, (still preserved at Bivar, +the hero's birth-place,) bears the date of 1207, or at latest 1307, for +there is some obscurity in the writing. Its learned editor, Sanchez, has +been led by the peculiarities of its orthography, metre, and idiom, to +refer its composition to as early a date as 1153. (Coleccion de Poesías +Castellanas anteriores al Siglo XV. (Madrid 1779-90,) tom. i. p. 223.) + +Some of the late Spanish antiquaries have manifested a skepticism in +relation to the "Cid," truly alarming. A volume was published at Madrid, +in 1792, by Risco, under the title of "Castilla, o Historia de Rodrigo +Diaz," etc., which the worthy father ushered into the world with much +solemnity, as a transcript of an original manuscript coeval with the time +of the "Cid," and fortunately discovered by him in an obscure corner of +some Leonese monastery. (Prólogo). Masdeu, in an analysis of this precious +document, has been led to scrutinize the grounds on which the reputed +achievements of the "Cid" have rested from time immemorial, and concludes +with the startling assertion, that "of Rodrigo Diaz, el Campeador, we +absolutely know nothing with any degree of probability, not even his +existence!" (Hist. Crítica, tom. xx. p. 370.) There are probably few of +his countrymen, that will thus coolly acquiesce in the annihilation of +their favorite hero, whose exploits have been the burden of chronicle, as +well as romance, from the twelfth century down to the present day. + +They may find a warrant for their fond credulity, in the dispassionate +judgment of one of the greatest of modern historians, John Muller, who, so +far from doubting the existence of the Campeador, has succeeded, in his +own opinion at least, in clearing from his history the "mists of fable and +extravagance," in which it has been shrouded. See his Life of the Cid, +appended to Escobar's "Romancero," edited by the learned and estimable Dr. +Julius, of Berlin. Frankfort, 1828. + +[18] A modern minstrel inveighs loudly against this charity of his +ancestors, who devoted their "cantos de cigarra," to the glorification of +this "Moorish rabble," instead of celebrating the prowess of the Cid, +Bernardo, and other worthies of their own nation. His discourtesy, +however, is well rebuked by a more generous brother of the craft. + + "No es culpa si de los Moros + los valientes hechos cantan, + pues tanto mas resplandecen + nuestras celebres hazañas; + que el encarecer los hechos + del vencido en la batalla, + engrandece al vencedor, + aunque no hablen de el palabra." + +Duran, Romancero de Romances Moriscos, (Madrid, 1828.) p. 227. + +[19] When the empress queen of Alfonso VII. was besieged in the castle of +Azeca, in 1139, she reproached the Moslem cavaliers for their want of +courtesy and courage in attacking a fortress defended by a female. They +acknowledged the justice of the rebuke, and only requested that she would +condescend to show herself to them from her palace; when the Moorish +chivalry, after paying their obeisance to her in the most respectful +manner, instantly raised the siege, and departed. (Ferreras, Histoire +Générale d'Espagne, traduite par d'Hermilly, (Paris, 1742-51.) tom. in. p. +410.) It was a frequent occurrence to restore a noble captive to liberty +without ransom, and even with costly presents. Thus Alfonso XI. sent back +to their father two daughters of a Moorish prince, who formed part of the +spoils of the battle of Tarifa. (Mariana, Hist. die España, tom. ii. p. +32.) When this same Castilian sovereign, after a career of almost +uninterrupted victory over the Moslems, died of the plague before +Gibraltar, in 1350, the knights of Granada put on mourning for him, +saying, that "he was a noble prince, and one that knew how to honor his +enemies as well as his friends." Conde, Domination de los Arabes, tom. +iii. p. 149. + +[20] One of the most extraordinary achievements, in this way, was that of +the grand master of Alcantara, in 1394, who, after ineffectually +challenging the king of Granada to meet him in single combat, or with a +force double that of his own, marched boldly up to the gates of his +capital, where he was assailed by such an overwhelming host, that he with +all his little band perished on the field. (Mariana, Hist. de España, lib. +19, cap. 3.) It was over this worthy compeer of Don Quixote that the +epitaph was inscribed, "Here lies one who never knew fear," which led +Charles V. to remark to one of his courtiers, that "the good knight could +never have tried to snuff a candle with his fingers." + +[21] This singular fact, of the existence of an Arabic military order, is +recorded by Conde. (Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. i. p. 619, note.) The +brethren were distinguished for the simplicity of their attire, and their +austere and frugal habits. They were stationed on the Moorish marches, and +were bound by a vow of perpetual war against the Christian infidel. As +their existence is traced as far back as 1030, they may possibly have +suggested the organization of similar institutions in Christendom, which +they preceded by a century at least. The loyal historians of the Spanish +military orders, it is true, would carry that of St. Jago as far back as +the time of Ramiro I., in the ninth century; (Caro de Torres, Historia de +las Ordenes Militares de Santiago, Calatrava, y Alcantara, (Madrid, 1629,) +fol. 2.--Rades y Andrada, Chrónica de las Tres Ordenes y Cavallerías, +(Toledo, 1572,) fol. 4,) but less prejudiced critics, as Zurita and +Mariana, are content with dating it from the papal bull of Alexander III., +1175. + +[22] In one of the Paston letters, we find the notice of a Spanish knight +appearing at the court of Henry VI., "wyth a Kercheff of Plesaunce +iwrapped aboute hys arme, the gwych Knight," says the writer, "wyl renne a +cours wyth a sharpe spere for his sou'eyn lady sake." (Fenn, Original +Letters, (1787,) vol. i. p. 6.) The practice of using sharp spears, +instead of the guarded and blunted weapons usual in the tournament, seems +to have been affected by the chivalrous nobles of Castile; many of whom, +says the chronicle of Juan II., lost their lives from this circumstance, +in the splendid tourney given in honor of the nuptials of Blanche of +Navarre and Henry, son of John II. (Crónica de D. Juan II., (Valencia, +1779,) p. 411.) Monstrelet records the adventures of a Spanish cavalier, +who "travelled all the way to the court of Burgundy to seek honor and +reverence" by his feats of arms. His antagonist was the Lord of Chargny; +on the second day they fought with battle-axes, and "the Castilian +attracted general admiration, by his uncommon daring in fighting with his +visor up." Chroniques, (Paris, 1595,) tom. ii. p. 109. + +[23] The Venetian ambassador, Navagiero, speaking of the manners of the +Castilian nobles, in Charles V.'s time, remarks somewhat bluntly, that, +"if their power were equal to their pride, the whole world would not be +able to withstand them." Viaggio fatto in Spagna et in Francia, (Vinegia, +1563,) fol. 10. + +[24] The most ancient of these regular charters of incorporation, now +extant, was granted by Alfonso V., in 1020, to the city of Leon and its +territory. (Mariana rejects those of an earlier date, adduced by Asso and +Manuel and other writers. Ensayo Histórico-Crítico, sobre la Antigua +Legislation de Castilla, (Madrid, 1808,) pp. 80-82.) It preceded, by a +long interval, those granted to the burgesses in other parts of Europe, +with the exception, perhaps, of Italy; where several of the cities, as +Milan, Pavia, and Pisa, seem early in the eleventh century to have +exercised some of the functions of independent states. But the extent of +municipal immunities conceded to, or rather assumed by, the Italian cities +at this early period, is very equivocal; for their indefatigable +antiquarian confesses that all, or nearly all their archives, previous to +the time of Frederick I., (the latter part of the twelfth century,) had +perished amid their frequent civil convulsions. (See the subject in +detail, in Muratori, Dissertazioni sopra le Antichità Italiane, (Napoli, +1752,) dissert. 45.) Acts of enfranchisement became frequent in Spain +during the eleventh century; several of which are preserved, and exhibit, +with sufficient precision, the nature of the privileges accorded to the +inhabitants.--Robertson, who wrote when the constitutional antiquities of +Castile had been but slightly investigated, would seem to have little +authority, therefore, for deriving the establishment of communities from +Italy, and still less for tracing their progress through France and +Germany to Spain. See his History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V, +(London, 1796,) vol. i. pp. 29, 30. + +[25] For this account of the ancient polity of the Castilian cities, the +reader is referred to Sempere, Histoire des Cortès d'Espagne, (Bordeaux, +1815,) and Marina's valuable works, Ensayo Histórico-Crítico sobre la +Antigua Legislacion de Camilla, (Nos. 160-196,) and Teoría de las Cortes, +(Madrid, 1813, part. 2, cap. 21-23,) where the meagre outline given above +is filled up with copious illustration. + +[26] The independence of the Lombard cities had been sacrificed, according +to the admission of their enthusiastic historian, about the middle of the +thirteenth century. Sismondi, Histoire des Républiques Italiennes du +Moyen-Age, (Paris, 1818,) ch. 20. + +[27] Or in 1160, according to the Corónica General, (part. 4, fol. 344, +345,) where the fact is mentioned; Mariana refers this celebration of +cortes to 1170, (Hist. de España, lib. 11, cap. 2;) but Ferreras, who +often rectifies the chronological inaccuracies of his predecessor, fixes +it in 1169. (Hist. d'Espagne, tom. iii. p. 484) Neither of these authors +notices the presence of the commons in this assembly; although the phrase +used by the Chronicle, _los cibdadanos_, is perfectly unequivocal. + +[28] Capmany, Práctica y Estilo de Celebrar Cortes en Aragon, Cataluña, y +Valencia, (Madrid, 1821,) pp. 230, 231.--Whether the convocation of the +third estate to the national councils proceeded from politic calculation +in the sovereign, or was in a manner forced on him by the growing power +and importance of the cities, it is now too late to inquire. It is nearly +as difficult to settle on what principles the selection of cities to be +represented depended. Marina asserts, that every great town and community +was entitled to a seat in the legislature, from the time of receiving its +municipal charter from the sovereign, (Teoría, tom. i. p. 138;) and +Sempere agrees, that this right became general, from the first, to all who +chose to avail themselves of it. (Histoire des Cortès, p. 56.) The right, +probably, was not much insisted on by the smaller and poorer places, +which, from the charges it involved, felt it often, no doubt, less of a +boon than a burden. This, we know, was the case in England. + +[29] It was an evil of scarcely less magnitude, that contested elections +were settled by the crown. (Capmany, Práctica y Estilo, p. 231.) The +latter of these practices, and, indeed, the former to a certain extent, +are to be met with in English history. + +[30] Marina leaves this point in some obscurity. (Teoría, tom. i. cap. +28.) Indeed, there seems to have been some irregularity in the +parliamentary usages themselves. From minutes of a meeting of cortes at +Toledo, in 1538, too soon for any material innovation on the ancient +practice, we find the three estates sitting in separate chambers, from the +very commencement to the close of the session. See the account drawn up by +the count of Coruña, apud Capmany, Práctica y Estilo, pp. 240 et seq. + +[31] This, however, so contrary to the analogy of other European +governments, is expressly contradicted by the declaration of the nobles, +at the cortes of Toledo, in 1538. "Oida esta respuesta se dijo, que pues +S. M. habia dicho que no eran Córtes ni habia Brazos, no podian tratar +cosa alguna, _que ellos sin procuradores, y los procuradores sin ellos, +no seria válido lo que hicieren._" Relacion del Conde de Coruña, apud +Capmany, Práctica y Estilo, p. 247. + +[32] This omission of the privileged orders was almost uniform under +Charles V. and his successors. But it would be unfair to seek for +constitutional precedent in the usages of a government, whose avowed +policy was altogether subversive of the constitution. + +[33] During the famous war of the _Comunidades_, under Charles V. For +the preceding paragraph consult Marina, (Teoría, part. 1, cap. 10, 20, 26, +29,) and Capmany. (Práctica y Estilo, pp. 220-250.) The municipalities of +Castile seem to have reposed but a very limited confidence in their +delegates, whom they furnished with instructions, to which they were bound +to conform themselves literally. See Marina, Teoría, part. 1, cap. 23. + +[34] The term "fundamental principle" is fully authorized by the existence +of repeated enactments to this effect. Sempere, who admits the "usage," +objects to the phrase "fundamental law," on the ground that these acts +were specific, not general, in their character. Histoire des Cortès, p. +254. + +[35] "Los Reyes en nuestros Reynos progenitores establecieron por leyes, y +ordenanças fechas en Cortes, que no se echassen, ni repartiessen ningunos +pechos, seruicios, pedidos, ni monedas, ni otros tributes nueuos, +especial, ni generalmente en todos nuestros Reynos, sin que primeramente +sean llamados à Cortes los procuradores de todas las Ciudades, y villas de +nuestros Reynos, y sean otorgados por los dichos procuradores que á las +Cortes vinieren." (Recopilacion de las Leyes, (Madrid, 1640,) tom. ii. +fol. 124.) This law, passed under Alfonso XI., was confirmed by John II., +Henry III., and Charles V. + +[36] In 1258, they presented a variety of petitions to the king, in +relation to his own personal expenditure, as well as that of his +courtiers; requiring him to diminish the charges of his table, attire, +etc., and, bluntly, to "bring his appetite within a more reasonable +compass;" to all which he readily gave his assent. (Sempere y Guarinos, +Historia del Luxo, y de las Leyes Suntuarias de España, (Madrid, 1788,) +tom. i. pp. 91, 92.) The English reader is reminded of a very different +result, which attended a similar interposition of the commons in the time +of Richard II., more than a century later. + +[37] Marina claims also the right of the cortes to be consulted on +questions of war and peace, of which he adduces several precedents. +(Teoría, part. 2, cap. 19, 20.) Their interference in what is so generally +held the peculiar province of the executive, was perhaps encouraged by the +sovereign, with the politic design of relieving himself of the +responsibility of measures whose success must depend eventually on their +support. Hallam notices a similar policy of the crown, under Edward III., +in his view of the English constitution during the Middle Ages. View of +the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, (London, 1819,) vol. iii. +chap. 8. + +[38] The recognition of the title of the heir apparent, by a cortes +convoked for that purpose, has continued to be observed in Castile down to +the present time. Práctica y Estilo, p. 229. + +[39] For the preceding notice of the cortes, see Marina, Teoría, part. 2, +cap. 13, 19, 20, 21, 31, 35, 37, 38. + +[40] So at least they are styled by Marina. See his account of these +institutions; (Teoría, part. 2, cap. 39;) also Salazar de Mendoza, +(Monarquía, lib. 3, cap. 15, 16,) and Sempere, (Histoire des Cortès, chap. +12, 13.) One hundred cities associated in the Hermandad of 1315. In that +of 1295, were thirty-four. The knights and inferior nobility frequently +made part of the association. The articles of confederation are given by +Risco, in his continuation of Florez. (España Sagrada, (Madrid, 1775- +1826,) tom. xxxvi. p. 162.) In one of these articles it is declared, that, +if any noble shall deprive a member of the association of his property, +and refuse restitution, his house shall be razed to the ground. (Art. 4.) +In another, that if any one, by command of the king, shall attempt to +collect an unlawful tax, he shall be put to death on the spot. Art. 9. + +[41] See Sempere, Historia del Luxo, tom. i. p. 97.--Masdeu, Hist. +Crítica, tom. xiii. nos. 90, 91.--Gold and silver, curiously wrought into +plate, were exported in considerable quantities from Spain, the tenth and +eleventh centuries. They were much used in the churches. The tiara of the +pope was so richly encrusted with the precious metals, says Masdeu, as to +receive the name of _Spanodista_. The familiar use of these metals as +ornaments of dress is attested by the ancient poem of the "Cid." See, in +particular, the costume of the Campeador; vv. 3099 et seq. + +[42] Zuñiga, Annales Eclesiasticos y Seculares de Sevilla, (Madrid, 1677,) +pp. 74, 75.--Sempere, Historia del Luxo, tom. i. p. 80. + +[43] The historian of Seville describes that city, about the middle of the +fifteenth century, as possessing a flourishing commerce and a degree of +opulence unexampled since the conquest. It was filled with an active +population, employed in the various mechanic arts. Its domestic fabrics, +as well as natural products, of oil, wine, wool, etc., supplied a trade +with Prance, Flanders, Italy, and England. (Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. +341.--See also Sempere, Historia del Luxo, p. 81, nota 2.) The ports of +Biscay, which belonged to the Castilian crown, were the marts of an +extensive trade with the north, during the thirteenth and fourteenth +centuries. This province entered into repeated treaties of commerce with +France and England; and her factories were established at Bruges, the +great emporium of commercial intercourse during this period between the +north and south, before those of any other people in Europe, except the +Germans. (Diccionario Geográfico-Histórico de España, por la Real Academia +de la Historia, (Madrid, 1802,) tom. i. p. 333.) + +The institution of the _mesta_ is referred, says Laborde, (Itinéraire +Descriptif de l'Espagne, (Paris, 1827-1830,) tom. iv. p. 47,) to the +middle of the fourteenth century, when the great plague, which devastated +the country so sorely, left large depopulated tracts open to pasturage. +This popular opinion is erroneous, since it engaged the attention of +government, and became the subject of legislation as anciently as 1273, +under Alfonso the Wise. (See Asso y Manuel, Instituciones, Introd. p. 56.) +Capmany, however, dates the great improvement in the breed of Spanish +sheep from the year 1394, when Catharine of Lancaster brought with her, as +a part of her dowry to the heir apparent of Castile, a flock of English +merinos, distinguished, at that time, above those of every other country, +for the beauty and delicacy of their fleece. (Memorias Históricas sobre la +Marina, Comercio, y Artes de Barcelona, (Madrid, 1779-1792,) tom. iii. pp. +336, 337.) This acute writer, after a very careful examination of the +subject, differing from those already quoted, considers the raw material +for manufacture, and the natural productions of the soil, to have +constituted almost the only articles of export from Spain, until after the +fifteenth century. (Ibid., p. 338.) We will remark, in conclusion of this +desultory note, that the term _merinos_ is derived, by Conde, from +_moedinos_, signifying "wandering;" the name of an Arabian tribe, who +shifted their place of residence with the season. (Hist. de los Arabes en +España, tom. i. p. 488, nota.) The derivation might startle any but a +professed etymologist. + +[44] See the original acts, cited by Sempere. (Historia del Luxo, passim.) +The archpriest of Hita indulges his vein freely against the luxury, +cupidity, and other fashionable sins of his age. (See Sanchez, Poesias +Castellanas, tom. iv.)--The influence of Mammon appears to have been as +supreme in the fourteenth century as at any later period. + + "Sea un ome nescio, et rudo labrador, + Los dineros le fasen fidalgo e sabidor, + Quanto mas algo tiene, tanto es mas de valor, + El que no ba dineros, non es de si señor." + Vv. 465 et seq. + +[45] Marina, Ensayo, nos. 199, 297.--Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 341. + +[46] Marina, Teoría, part. 2, cap. 28.--Mariana, Hist. de España, lib. 18, +cap. 15.--The admission of citizens into the king's council would have +formed a most important epoch for the commons, had they not soon been +replaced by jurisconsults, whose studies and sentiments inclined them less +to the popular side than to that of prerogative. + +[47] Ibid., lib. 18, cap. 17. + +[48] _Castilla_. See Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquía, tom. i. p. 108.-- +Livy mentions the great number of these towers in Spain in his day. +"Multas et locis altis positas turres Hispania habet." (Lib. 22, cap. +19.)--A castle was emblazoned on the escutcheon of Castile, as far back as +the reign of Urraca, in the beginning of the twelfth century, according to +Salazar de Mendoza, (Monarquía, tom. i. p. 142,) although Garibay discerns +no vestige of these arms on any instrument of a much older date than the +beginning of the thirteenth century. Compendio, lib. 12, cap. 32. + +[49] + "Hizo guerra a los Moros, + Ganando sus fortalezas + Y sus villas. + Y en las lides que Venció + Caballeros y Caballos + Se perdiéron, + Y en este ofloio ganó + Las rentas y los vasallos + Que le dieron." Coplas de Manrique, copla 31. + +[50] Asso and Manuel derive the introduction of fiefs into Castile, from +Catalonia. (Instituciones, p. 96.) The twenty-sixth title, part. 4, of +Alfonso X.'s code, (Siete Partidas,) treats exclusively of them. (De los +Feudos.) The laws 2, 4, 5, are expressly devoted to a brief exposition of +the nature of a fief, the ceremonies of investiture, and the reciprocal +obligations of lord and vassal. Those of the latter consisted in keeping +his lord's counsel, maintaining his interest, and aiding him in war. With +all this, there are anomalies in this code, and still more in the usages +of the country, not easy to explain on the usual principles of the feudal +relation; a circumstance, which has led to much discrepancy of opinion on +the subject, in political writers, as well as to some inconsistency. +Sempere, who entertains no doubt of the establishment of feudal +institutions in Castile, tells us, that "the nobles, after the Conquest, +succeeded in obtaining an exemption from military service,"--one of the +most conspicuous and essential of all the feudal relations. Histoire des +Cortès, pp. 30, 72, 249. + +[51] Asso y Manuel, Instituciones, p. 26.--Sempere, Histoire des Cortès, +chap. 4.--The incensed nobles quitted the cortes in disgust, and +threatened to vindicate their rights by arms, on one such occasion, 1176. +Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. i. p. 644. See also tom. ii. p. 176. + +[52] Idem auctores, ubi supra.--Prieto y Sotelo, Historia del Derecho Real +de España, (Madrid, 1738,) lib. 2, cap. 23; lib. 3, cap. 8. + +[53] Siete Partidas, (ed. de la Real Acad., Madrid, 1807,) part. 4, tit. +25, ley 11. On such occasions they sent him a formal defiance by their +king at arms. Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. i. pp. 768, 912. + +[54] Ibid., tom. i. pp. 707, 713. + +[55] The forms of this solemnity may be found in Mariana, Hist. de España, +tom. i. p. 907. + +[56] Marina, Ensayo, p. 128. + +[57] John I., in 1390, authorized appeals from the seignorial tribunals to +those of the crown. Ibid., tom. ii. p. 179. + +[58] The nature of these dignities is explained in Salazar de Mendoza, +Monarquía, tom. i. pp. 155, 166, 203. + +[59] From the scarcity of these baronial residences, some fanciful +etymologists have derived the familiar saying of "Châteaux en Espagne." +See Bourgoanne, Travels in Spain, tom. ii. chap. 12. + +[60] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. i. p. 910. + +[61] Crónica de Don Alvaro de Luna, (ed. de la Acad. Madrid, 1784,) App. +p. 465. + +[62] Guzman, Generaciones y Semblanzas, (Madrid, 1775,) cap. 84.--His +annual revenue is computed by Perez de Guzman, at 100,000 doblas of gold; +a sum equivalent to 856,000 dollars at the present day. + +[63] The former of these two sums is equivalent to $438,875, or £91,474 +sterling; and the latter to $526,650, or £109,716, nearly. I have been +guided by a dissertation of Clemencin, in the sixth volume of the Memorias +de la Real Academia de la Historia, (Madrid, 1821, pp. 507-566,) in the +reduction of sums in this History. That treatise is very elaborate and +ample, and brings under view all the different coins of Ferdinand and +Isabella's time, settling their specific value with great accuracy. The +calculation is attended with considerable difficulty, owing to the +depreciation of the value of the precious metals, and the repeated +adulteration of the _real_. In his tables, at the end, he exhibits the +commercial value of the different denominations, ascertained by the +quantity of wheat (as sure a standard as any), which they would buy at +that day. Taking the average of values, which varied considerably in +different years of Ferdinand and Isabella, it appears that the ducat, +reduced to our own currency, will be equal to about eight dollars and +seventy-seven cents, and the dobla to eight dollars and fifty-six cents. + +[64] The ample revenues of the Spanish grandee of the present time, +instead of being lavished on a band of military retainers, as of yore, are +sometimes dispensed in the more peaceful hospitality of supporting an +almost equally formidable host of needy relations and dependants. +According to Bourgoanne (Travels in Spain, vol. 1. chap. 4), no less than +3000 of these gentry were maintained on the estates of the duke of Arcos, +who died in 1780. + +[65] Mendoza records the circumstance of the head of the family of Ponce +de Leon, (a descendant of the celebrated marquis of Cadiz,) carrying his +son, then thirteen years old, with him into battle; "an ancient usage," he +says, "in that noble house." (Guerra de Granada, (Valencia, 1776,) p. +318.) The only son of Alfonso VI. was slain, fighting manfully in the +ranks, at the battle of Ucles, in 1109, when only eleven years of age. +Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. i. p. 565. + +[66] The northern provinces, the theatre of this primitive independence, +have always been consecrated by this very circumstance, in the eyes of a +Spaniard. "The proudest lord," says Navagiero, "feels it an honor to trace +his pedigree to this quarter." (Viaggio, fol. 44.) The same feeling has +continued, and the meanest native of Biscay, or the Asturias, at the +present day, claims to be noble; a pretension, which often contrasts +ridiculously enough with the humble character of his occupation, and has +furnished many a pleasant anecdote to travellers. + +[67] An elaborate dissertation, by the advocate Don Alonso Carillo, on the +pre-eminence and privileges of the Castilian grandee, is appended to +Salazar de Mendoza's Origen de las Dignidades Seglares de Castilla, +(Madrid, 1794.) The most prized of these appears to be that of keeping the +head covered in the presence of the sovereign; "prerogativa tan ilustre," +says the writer, "que ella sola imprime el principal caracter de la +Grandeza. Y considerada _por sus efectos admirables_, ocupa dignamente el +primero lugar." (Discurso 3.) The sentimental citizen Bourgoanne, finds it +necessary to apologize to his republican brethren, for noticing these +"important trifles." Travels in Spain, vol. i. chap. 4. + +[68] "Los llamaron fijosdalgo, que muestra a tanto como fijos de bien." +(Siete Partidas, part. 2, tit. 21.) "Por hidalgos se entienden _los +hombres escogidos de buenos lugares é con algo_." Asso y Manuel, +Instituciones, pp. 33, 34. + +[69] Recop. de las Leyes, lib. 6, tit. 1, leyes 2, 9; tit. 2, leyes 3, 4, +10; tit. 14, leyes 14, 19.--They were obliged to contribute to the repair +of fortifications and public works, although, as the statute expresses it, +"tengan privilegios para que sean essentos de todos pechos." + +[70] The knight was to array himself in light and cheerful vestments, and, +in the cities and public places his person was to be enveloped in a long +and flowing mantle, in order to impose greater reverence on the people. +His good steed was to be distinguished by the beauty and richness of his +caparisons. He was to live abstemiously, indulging himself in none of the +effeminate delights of couch or banquet. During his repast, his mind was +to be refreshed with the recital, from history, of deeds of ancient +heroism; and in the fight he was commanded to invoke the name of his +mistress, that it might infuse new ardor into his soul, and preserve him +from the commission of unknightly actions. See Siete Partidas, part, 2, +tit. 21, which is taken up with defining the obligations of chivalry. + +[71] See Fuero Juzgo, lib. 3, which is devoted almost exclusively to the +sex. Montesquieu discerns in the jealous surveillance, which the Visigoths +maintained over the honor of their women, so close an analogy with +oriental usages, as must have greatly facilitated the conquest of the +country by the Arabians. Esprit des Loix, liv. 14, chap. 14. + +[72] Warton's expression. See vol. i. p. 245, of the late learned edition +of his History of English Poetry, (London, 1824.) + +[73] See the "Passo Honroso" appended to the Crónica de Alvaro de Luna. + +[74] The present narrative will introduce the reader to more than one +belligerent prelate, who filled the very highest post in the Spanish, and, +I may say, the Christian Church, next the papacy. (See Alvaro Gomez, De +Rebus Gestis a Francisco Ximenio Cisnerio, (Compluti, 1569,) fol. 110 et +seq.) The practice, indeed, was familiar in other countries, as well as +Spain, at this late period. In the bloody battle of Ravenna, in 1512, two +cardinal legates, one of them the future Leo X., fought on opposite sides. +Paolo Giovo, Vita Leonis X., apud "Vitae Illustrium Virorum," (Basiliae, +1578,) lib. 2. + +[75] The contest for supremacy, between the Mozarabic ritual and the +Roman, is familiar to the reader, in the curious narrative extracted by +Robertson from Mariana, Hist. de España, lib. 9, cap. 18. + +[76] Siete Partidas, part. 1, tit. 6.--Florez, España Sagrada, tom. xx. p. +16.--The Jesuit Mariana appears to grudge this appropriation of the +"sacred revenues of the Church" to defray the expenses of the holy war +against the Saracen. (Hist. de España, tom. i. p. 177.) See also the +Ensayo, (nos. 322-364,) where Marina has analyzed and discussed the +general import of the first of the Partidas. + +[77] Marina, Ensayo, ubi supra, and nos. 220 et seq. + +[78] See the original acts quoted by Sempere, in his Historia del Luxo, +tom. i. pp. 166 et seq. + +[79] Lucio Marineo Siculo, Cosas Memorables de España, (Alcalá de Henares, +1539,) fol. 16. + +[80] Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. 9.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 12.-- +Laborde reckons the revenues of this prelate, in his tables, at 12,000,000 +reals, or 600,000 dollars. (Itinéraire, tom. vi. p. 9.) The estimate is +grossly exaggerated for the present day. The rents of this see, like those +of every other in the kingdom, have been grievously clipped in the late +political troubles. They are stated by the intelligent author of "A Year +in Spain," on the authority of the clergy of the diocese, at one-third of +the above sum, only; (p. 217, Boston ed. 1829;) an estimate confirmed by +Mr. Inglis, who computes them at £40,000. Spain in 1830, vol. i. ch. 11. + +[81] Modern travellers, who condemn without reserve the corruption of the +inferior clergy, bear uniform testimony to the exemplary piety and +munificent charities of the higher dignitaries of the church. + +[82] Marina, Teoría, part. 2, cap. 2, 5, 6.--A remarkable instance of this +occurred as late as the accession of Charles V. + +[83] The earliest example of this permanent committee of the commons, +residing at court, and entering into the king's council, was in the +minority of Ferdinand IV., in 1295. The subject is involved in some +obscurity, which Marina has not succeeded in dispelling. He considers the +deputation to have formed a necessary and constituent part of the council, +from the time of its first appointment. (Teoría, tom. ii. cap. 27, 28.) +Sempere, on the other hand, discerns no warrant for this, after its +introduction, till the time of the Austrian dynasty. (Histoire des Cortès, +chap. 29.) Marina, who too often mistakes anomaly for practice, is +certainly not justified, even by his own showing, in the sweeping +conclusions to which he arrives. But, if his prejudices lead him to see +more than has happened, on the one hand, those of Sempere, on the other, +make him sometimes high gravel blind. + +[84] The important functions and history of this body are investigated by +Marina. (Teoría, part. 2, cap. 27, 28, 29.) See also Sempere, (Histoire +des Cortès, cap. 16,) and the Informe de Don Agustin Riol, (apud Semanario +Erudito, tom. iii. pp. 113 et seq.) where, however, its subsequent +condition is chiefly considered. + +[85] Not so exclusively, however, by any means, as Marina pretends. +(Teoría, part. 2, cap. 17, 18.) He borrows a pertinent illustration from +the famous code of Alfonso X., which was not received as law of the land +till it had been formally published in cortes, in 1348, more than seventy +years after its original compilation. In his zeal for popular rights, he +omits to notice, however, the power so frequently assumed by the sovereign +of granting _fueros_, or municipal charters; a right, indeed, which +the great lords, spiritual and temporal, exercised in common with him, +subject to his sanction. See a multitude of these seignorial codes, +enumerated by Asso and Manuel. (Instituciones, Introd., pp. 31 et seq.) +The monarch claimed, moreover, though not by any means so freely as in +later times, the privilege of issuing _pragmáticas_, ordinances of an +executive character, or for the redress of grievances submitted to him by +the national legislature. Within certain limits, this was undoubtedly a +constitutional prerogative; But the history of Castile, like that of most +other countries in Europe, shows how easily it was abused in the hands of +an arbitrary prince. + +[86] The civil and criminal business of the kingdom was committed, in the +last resort, to the very ancient tribunal of _alcaldes de casa y corte_, +until, in 1371, a new one, entitled the royal audience or chancery, was +constituted under Henry II., with supreme and ultimate jurisdiction in +civil causes. These, in the first instance, however, might be brought +before the _alcaldes de la corte_, which continued, and has since +continued, the high court in criminal matters. + +The _audiencia_, or chancery, consisted at first of seven judges, whose +number varied a good deal afterwards. They were appointed by the crown, in +the manner mentioned in the text. Their salaries were such as to secure +their independence, as far as possible, of any undue influence; and this +was still further done by the supervision of cortes, whose acts show +the deep solicitude with which it watched over the concerns and conduct of +this important tribunal. For a notice of the original organization and +subsequent modifications of the Castilian courts, consult Marina, (Teoría, +part. 2, cap. 21-25,) Riol, (Informe, apud Semanario Erudito, tom. iii. +pp. 129 et seq.) and Sempere, (Histoire des Cortès, chap. 15,) whose loose +and desultory remarks show perfect familiarity with the subject, and +presuppose more than is likely to be found in the reader. + +[87] Siete Partidas, part. 2, tit. 26, leyes 5, 6, 7.--Mendoza notices +this custom as recently as Philip II.'s day. Guerra de Granada, p. 170. + +[88] Mariana, Hist. de España, lib. 15, cap. 19, 20. + +[89] Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. p. 399.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. +ii. pp. 234, 235.--Pedro Lopez de Ayala, chancellor of Castile and +chronicler of the reigns of four of its successive monarchs, terminated +his labors abruptly with the sixth year of Henry III., the subsequent +period of whose administration is singularly barren of authentic materials +for history. The editor of Ayala's Chronicle considers the adventure, +quoted in the text, as fictitious, and probably suggested by a stratagem +employed by Henry for the seizure of the duke of Benevente, and by his +subsequent imprisonment at Burgos. See Ayala, Crónica de Castilla, p. 355, +note, (ed. de la Acad., 1780.) + + + + +SECTION II. + +REVIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF ARAGON TO THE MIDDLE OF THE FIFTEENTH +CENTURY. + +Rise of Aragon.--Ricos Hombres.--Their Immunities.--Their Turbulence.-- +Privileges of Union.--The Legislature.--Its Forms.--Its Powers.--General +Privilege.--Judicial Functions of Cortes.--The Justice.--His Great +Authority.--Else and Opulence of Barcelona.--Her Free Institutions.-- +Intellectual Culture. + + +The political institutions of Aragon, although bearing a general +resemblance to those of Castile, were sufficiently dissimilar to stamp a +peculiar physiognomy on the character of the nation, which still continued +after it had been incorporated with the great mass of the Spanish +monarchy.--It was not until the expiration of nearly five centuries after +the Saracen invasion, that the little district of Aragon, growing up under +the shelter of the Pyrenees, was expanded into the dimensions of the +province which now bears that name. During this period, it was painfully +struggling into being, like the other states of the Peninsula, by dint of +fierce, unintermitted warfare with the infidel. + +Even after this period, it would probably have filled but an insignificant +space in the map of history, and, instead of assuming an independent +station, have been compelled, like Navarre, to accommodate itself to the +politics of the potent monarchies by which it was surrounded, had it not +extended its empire by a fortunate union with Catalonia in the twelfth, +and the conquest of Valencia in the thirteenth century. [1] These new +territories were not only far more productive than its own, but, by their +long line of coast and commodious ports, enabled the Aragonese, hitherto +pent up within their barren mountains, to open a communication with +distant regions. + +The ancient county of Barcelona had reached a higher degree of +civilization than Aragon, and was distinguished by institutions quite as +liberal. The sea-board would seem to be the natural seat of liberty. There +is something in the very presence, in the atmosphere of the ocean, which +invigorates not only the physical, but the moral energies of man. The +adventurous life of the mariner familiarizes him with dangers, and early +accustoms him to independence. Intercourse with various climes opens new +and more copious sources of knowledge; and increased wealth brings with it +an augmentation of power and consequence. It was in the maritime cities +scattered along the Mediterranean that the seeds of liberty, both in +ancient and modern times, were implanted and brought to maturity. During +the Middle Ages, when the people of Europe generally maintained a toilsome +and infrequent intercourse with each other, those situated on the margin +of this inland ocean found an easy mode of communication across the high +road of its waters. They mingled in war too as in peace, and this long +period is filled with their international contests, while the other free +cities of Christendom were wasting themselves in civil feuds and degrading +domestic broils. In this wide and various collision their moral powers +were quickened by constant activity; and more enlarged views were formed, +with a deeper consciousness of their own strength, than could be obtained +by those inhabitants of the interior, who were conversant only with a +limited range of objects, and subjected to the influence of the same dull, +monotonous circumstances. + +Among these maritime republics, those of Catalonia were eminently +conspicuous. By the incorporation of this country with the kingdom of +Aragon, therefore, the strength of the latter was greatly augmented. The +Aragonese princes, well aware of this, liberally fostered institutions to +which the country owed its prosperity, and skilfully availed themselves of +its resources for the aggrandizement of their own dominions. They paid +particular attention to the navy, for the more perfect discipline of which +a body of laws was prepared by Peter the Fourth, in 1354, that was +designed to render it invincible. No allusion whatever is made in this +stern code to the mode of surrendering to, or retreating from the enemy. +The commander, who declined attacking any force not exceeding his own by +more than one vessel, was punished with death. [2] The Catalan navy +successfully disputed the empire of the Mediterranean with the fleets of +Pisa, and still more of Genoa. With its aid, the Aragonese monarchs +achieved the conquest successively of Sicily, Sardinia, and the Balearic +Isles, and annexed them to the empire. [3] It penetrated into the farthest +regions of the Levant; and the expedition of the Catalans into Asia, which +terminated with the more splendid than useful acquisition of Athens, forms +one of the most romantic passages in this stirring and adventurous era. +[4] + +But, while the princes of Aragon were thus enlarging the bounds of their +dominion abroad, there was probably not a sovereign in Europe possessed of +such limited authority at home. The three great states with their +dependencies, which constituted the Aragonese monarchy, had been declared +by a statute of James the Second, in 1319, inalienable and indivisible. +[5] Each of them, however, maintained a separate constitution of +government, and was administered by distinct laws. As it would be +fruitless to investigate the peculiarities of their respective +institutions, which bear a very close affinity to one another, we may +confine ourselves to those of Aragon, which exhibit a more perfect model +than those either of Catalonia or Valencia, and have been far more +copiously illustrated by her writers. + +The national historians refer the origin of their government to a written +constitution of about the middle of the ninth century, fragments of which +are still preserved in certain ancient documents and chronicles. On +occurrence of a vacancy in the throne, at this epoch, a monarch was +elected by the twelve principal nobles, who prescribed a code of laws, to +the observance of which he was obliged to swear before assuming the +sceptre. The import of these laws was to circumscribe within very narrow +limits the authority of the sovereign, distributing the principal +functions to a _Justicia_, or Justice, and these same peers, who, in +case of a violation of the compact by the monarch, were authorized to +withdraw their allegiance, and, in the bold language of the ordinance, "to +substitute any other ruler in his stead, even a pagan, if they listed." +[6] The whole of this wears much of a fabulous aspect, and may remind the +reader of the government which Ulysses met with in Phaeacia; where King +Alcinous is surrounded by his "twelve illustrious peers or archons," +subordinate to himself, "who," says he, "rule over the people, I myself +being the thirteenth." [7] But, whether true or not, this venerable +tradition must be admitted to have been well calculated to repress the +arrogance of the Aragonese monarchs, and to exalt the minds of their +subjects by the image of ancient liberty which it presented. [8] + +The great barons of Aragon were few in number. They affected to derive +their descent from the twelve peers above mentioned, and were styled +_ricos hombres de natura_, implying by this epithet, that they were +not indebted for their creation to the will of the sovereign. No estate +could be legally conferred by the crown, as an _honor_ (the denomination +of fiefs in Aragon), on any but one of these high nobles. This, however, +was in time evaded by the monarchs, who advanced certain of their own +retainers to a level with the ancient peers of the land; a measure which +proved a fruitful source of disquietude. [9] No baron could be divested of +his fief, unless by public sentence of the Justice and the cortes. The +proprietor, however, was required, as usual, to attend the king in +council, and to perform military service, when summoned, during two months +in the year, at his own charge. [10] + +The privileges, both honorary and substantial, enjoyed by the _ricos +hombres_, were very considerable. They filled the highest posts in the +state. They originally appointed judges in their domains for the +cognizance of certain civil causes, and over a class of their vassals +exercised an unlimited criminal jurisdiction. They were excused from +taxation except in specified cases; were exempted from all corporal and +capital punishment; nor could they be imprisoned, although their estates +might be sequestrated for debt. A lower class of nobility styled +_infanzones_, equivalent to the Castilian _hidalgos_, together with the +_caballeros_, or knights, were also possessed of important though inferior +immunities. [11] The king distributed among the great barons the territory +reconquered from the Moors, in proportions determined by the amount of +their respective services. We find a stipulation to this effect from James +the First to his nobles, previous to his invasion of Majorca. [12] On a +similar principle they claimed nearly the whole of Valencia. [13] On +occupying a city, it was usual to divide it into _barrios_, or districts, +each of which was granted by way of fief to some one of the ricos hombres, +from which he was to derive his revenue. What proportion of the conquered +territory was reserved for the royal demesne does not appear. [14] We find +one of these nobles, Bernard de Cabrera, in the latter part of the +fourteenth century, manning a fleet of king's ships on his own credit; +another, of the ancient family of Luna, in the fifteenth century, so +wealthy that he could travel through an almost unbroken line of his +estates all the way from Castile to France. [15] With all this, their +incomes in general, in this comparatively poor country, were very inferior +to those of the great Castilian lords. [16] + +The laws conceded certain powers to the aristocracy of a most dangerous +character. They were entitled, like the nobles of the sister kingdom, to +defy, and publicly renounce their allegiance to their sovereign, with the +whimsical privilege, in addition, of commending their families and estates +to his protection, which he was obliged to accord, until they were again +reconciled. [17] The mischievous right of private war was repeatedly +recognized by statute. It was claimed and exercised in its full extent, +and occasionally with circumstances of peculiar atrocity. An instance is +recorded by Zurita of a bloody feud between two of these nobles, +prosecuted with such inveteracy that the parties bound themselves by +solemn oath never to desist from it during their lives, and to resist +every effort, even on the part of the crown itself, to effect a +pacification between them. [18] This remnant of barbarism lingered longer +in Aragon than in any other country in Christendom. + +The Aragonese sovereigns, who were many of them possessed of singular +capacity and vigor, [19] made repeated efforts to reduce the authority of +their nobles within more temperate limits. Peter the Second, by a bold +stretch of prerogative, stripped them of their most important rights of +jurisdiction. [20] James the Conqueror artfully endeavored to +counterbalance their weight by that of the commons and the ecclesiastics. +[21] But they were too formidable when united, and too easily united, to +be successfully assailed. The Moorish wars terminated, in Aragon, with the +conquest of Valencia, or rather the invasion of Murcia, by the middle of +the thirteenth century. The tumultuous spirits of the aristocracy, +therefore, instead of finding a vent, as in Castile, in these foreign +expeditions, were turned within, and convulsed their own country with +perpetual revolution. Haughty from the consciousness of their exclusive +privileges and of the limited number who monopolized them, the Aragonese +barons regarded themselves rather as the rivals of their sovereign, than +as his inferiors. Intrenched within the mountain fastnesses, which the +rugged nature of the country everywhere afforded, they easily bade +defiance to his authority. Their small number gave a compactness and +concert to their operations, which could not have been obtained in a +multitudinous body. Ferdinand the Catholic well discriminated the relative +position of the Aragonese and Castilian nobility, by saying, "it was as +difficult to divide the one, as to unite the other." [22] + +These combinations became still more frequent after formally receiving the +approbation of King Alfonso the Third, who, in 1287, signed the two +celebrated ordinances entitled the "Privileges of Union," by which his +subjects were authorized to resort to arms on an infringement of their +liberties. [23] The _hermandad_ of Castile had never been countenanced by +legislative sanction; it was chiefly resorted to as a measure of police, +and was directed more frequently against the disorders of the nobility, +than of the sovereign; it was organized with difficulty, and, compared +with the union of Aragon, was cumbrous and languid in its operations. +While these privileges continued in force, the nation was delivered over +to the most frightful anarchy. The least offensive movement on the part of +the monarch, the slightest encroachment on personal right or privilege, +was the signal for a general revolt. At the cry of _Union_, that "last +voice," says the enthusiastic historian, "of the expiring republic, full +of authority and majesty, and an open indication of the insolence of +kings," the nobles and the citizens eagerly rushed to arms. The principal +castles belonging to the former were pledged as security for their +fidelity, and intrusted to conservators, as they were styled, whose duty +it was to direct the operations and watch over the interests of the Union. +A common seal was prepared, bearing the device of armed men kneeling +before their king, intimating at once their loyalty and their resolution, +and a similar device was displayed on the standard and the other military +insignia of the confederates. [24] + +The power of the monarch was as nothing before this formidable array. The +Union appointed a council to control all his movements, and, in fact, +during the whole period of its existence, the reigns of four successive +monarchs, it may be said to have dictated law to the land. At length Peter +the Fourth, a despot in heart, and naturally enough impatient of this +eclipse of regal prerogative, brought the matter to an issue, by defeating +the army of the Union, at the memorable battle of Epila, in 1348, "the +last," says Zurita, "in which it was permitted to the subject to take up +arms against the sovereign for the cause of liberty." Then, convoking an +assembly of the states at Saragossa, he produced before them the +instrument containing the two Privileges, and cut it in pieces with his +dagger. In doing this, having wounded himself in the hand, he suffered the +blood to trickle upon the parchment, exclaiming, that "a law which had +been the occasion of so much blood, should be blotted out by the blood of +a king." [25] All copies of it, whether in the public archives, or in the +possession of private individuals, were ordered, under a heavy penalty, to +be destroyed. The statute passed to that effect carefully omits the date +of the detested instrument, that all evidence of its existence might +perish with it. [26] + +Instead of abusing his victory, as might have been anticipated from his +character, Peter adopted a far more magnanimous policy. He confirmed the +ancient privileges of the realm, and made in addition other wise and +salutary concessions. From this period, therefore, is to be dated the +possession of constitutional liberty in Aragon; (for surely the reign of +unbridled license, above described, is not deserving that name;) and this +not so much from the acquisition of new immunities, as from the more +perfect security afforded for the enjoyment of the old. The court of the +_Justicia_, that great barrier interposed by the constitution between +despotism on the one hand and popular license on the other, was more +strongly protected, and causes hitherto decided by arms were referred for +adjudication to this tribunal. [27] From this period, too, the cortes, +whose voice was scarcely heard amid the wild uproar of preceding times, +was allowed to extend a beneficial and protecting sway over the land. And, +although the social history of Aragon, like that of other countries in +this rude age, is too often stained with deeds of violence and personal +feuds, yet the state at large, under the steady operation of its laws, +probably enjoyed a more uninterrupted tranquillity than fell to the lot of +any other nation in Europe. + +The Aragonese cortes was composed of four branches, or arms; [28] the +ricos hombres, or great barons; the lesser nobles, comprehending the +knights; the clergy, and the commons. The nobility of every denomination +were entitled to a seat in the legislature. The ricos hombres were allowed +to appear by proxy, and a similar privilege was enjoyed by baronial +heiresses. The number of this body was very limited, twelve of them +constituting a quorum. [29] + +The arm of the ecclesiastics embraced an ample delegation from the +inferior as well as higher clergy. [30] It is affirmed not to have been a +component of the national legislature until more than a century and a half +after the admission of the commons. [31] Indeed, the influence of the +church was much less sensible in Aragon, than in the other kingdoms of the +peninsula. Notwithstanding the humiliating concessions of certain of their +princes to the papal see, they were never recognized by the nation, who +uniformly asserted their independence of the temporal supremacy of Rome; +and who, as we shall see hereafter, resisted the introduction of the +Inquisition, that last stretch of ecclesiastical usurpation, even to +blood. [32] + +The commons enjoyed higher consideration and civil privileges than in +Castile. For this they were perhaps somewhat indebted to the example of +their Catalan neighbors, the influence of whose democratic institutions +naturally extended to other parts of the Aragonese monarchy. The charters +of certain cities accorded to the inhabitants privileges of nobility, +particularly that of immunity from taxation; while the magistrates of +others were permitted to take their seats in the order of hidalgos. [33] +From a very early period we find them employed in offices of public trust, +and on important missions. [34] The epoch of their admission into the +national assembly is traced as far back as 1133, several years earlier +than the commencement of popular representation in Castile. [35] Each city +had the right of sending two or more deputies selected from persons +eligible to its magistracy; but with the privilege of only one vote, +whatever might be the number of its deputies. Any place, which had been +once represented in cortes, might always claim to be so. [36] + +By a statute of 1307, the convocation of the states, which had been +annual, was declared biennial. The kings, however, paid little regard to +this provision, rarely summoning them except for some specific necessity. +[37] The great officers of the crown, whatever might be their personal +rank, were jealously excluded from their deliberations. The session was +opened by an address from the king in person, a point of which they were +very tenacious; after which the different _arms_ withdrew to their +separate apartments. [38] The greatest scrupulousness was manifested in +maintaining the rights and dignity of the body; and their intercourse with +one another, and with the king, was regulated by the most precise forms of +parliamentary etiquette. [39] The subjects of deliberation were referred +to a committee from each order, who, after conferring together, reported +to their several departments. Every question, it may be presumed, +underwent a careful examination; as the legislature, we are told, was +usually divided into two parties, "the one maintaining the rights of the +monarch, the other, those of the nation," corresponding nearly enough with +those of our day. It was in the power of any member to defeat the passage +of a bill, by opposing to it his _veto_ or dissent, formally registered to +that effect. He might even interpose his negative on the proceedings of +the house, and thus put a stop to the prosecution of all further business +during the session. This anomalous privilege, transcending even that +claimed in the Polish diet, must have been too invidious in its exercise, +and too pernicious in its consequences, to have been often resorted to. +This may be inferred from the fact, that it was not formally repealed +until the reign of Philip the Second, in 1592. During the interval of the +sessions of the legislature, a deputation of eight was appointed, two from +each arm, to preside over public affairs, particularly in regard to the +revenue, and the security of justice; with authority to convoke a cortes +extraordinary, whenever the exigency might demand it. [40] + +The cortes exercised the highest functions whether of a deliberative, +legislative, or judicial nature. It had a right to be consulted on all +matters of importance, especially on those of peace and war. No law was +valid, no tax could be imposed, without its consent; and it carefully +provided for the application of the revenue to its destined uses. [41] It +determined the succession to the crown; removed obnoxious ministers; +reformed the household, and domestic expenditure, of the monarch; and +exercised the power, in the most unreserved manner, of withholding +supplies, as well as of resisting what it regarded as an encroachment on +the liberties of the nation. [42] + +The excellent commentators on the constitution of Aragon have bestowed +comparatively little attention on the development of its parliamentary +history; confining themselves too exclusively to mere forms of procedure. +The defect has been greatly obviated by the copiousness of their general +historians. But the statute-book affords the most unequivocal evidence of +the fidelity with which the guardians of the realm discharged the high +trust reposed in them, in the numerous enactments it exhibits, for the +security both of person and property. Almost the first page which meets +the eye in this venerable record contains the General Privilege, the Magna +Charta, as it has been well denominated, of Aragon. It was granted by +Peter the Great to the cortes at Saragossa, in 1283. It embraces a variety +of provisions for the fair and open administration of justice; for +ascertaining the legitimate powers intrusted to the cortes; for the +security of property against exactions of the crown; and for the +conservation of their legal immunities to the municipal corporations and +the different orders of nobility. In short, the distinguishing excellence +of this instrument, like that of Magna Charta, consists in the wise and +equitable protection which it affords to all classes of the community. +[43] The General Privilege, instead of being wrested, like King John's +charter, from a pusillanimous prince, was conceded, reluctantly enough, it +is true, in an assembly of the nation, by one of the ablest monarchs who +ever sat on the throne of Aragon, at a time when his arms, crowned with +repeated victory, had secured to the state the most important of her +foreign acquisitions. The Aragonese, who rightly regarded the General +Privilege as the broadest basis of their liberties, repeatedly procured +its confirmation by succeeding sovereigns. "By so many and such various +precautions," says Blancas, "did our ancestors establish that freedom +which their posterity have enjoyed; manifesting a wise solicitude, that +all orders of men, even kings themselves, confined within their own +sphere, should discharge their legitimate functions without jostling or +jarring with one another; for in this harmony consists the temperance of +our government. Alas!" he adds, "how much of all this has fallen into +desuetude from its antiquity, or been effaced by new customs." [44] + +The judicial functions of the cortes have not been sufficiently noticed by +writers. They were extensive in their operation, and gave it the name of +the General Court. They were principally directed to protect the subject +from the oppressions of the crown and its officers; over all which cases +it possessed original and ultimate jurisdiction. The suit was conducted +before the Justice, as president of the cortes, in its judicial capacity, +who delivered an opinion conformable to the will of the majority. [45] The +authority, indeed, of this magistrate in his own court was fully equal to +providing adequate relief in all these cases. [46] But for several reasons +this parliamentary tribunal was preferred. The process was both more +expeditious and less expensive to the suitor. Indeed, "the most obscure +inhabitant of the most obscure village in the kingdom, although a +foreigner," might demand redress of this body; and, if he was incapable of +bearing the burden himself, the state was bound to maintain his suit, and +provide him with counsel at its own charge. But the most important +consequence, resulting from this legislative investigation, was the +remedial laws frequently attendant on it. "And our ancestors," says +Blancas, "deemed it great wisdom patiently to endure contumely and +oppression for a season, rather than seek redress before an inferior +tribunal, since, by postponing their suit till the meeting of cortes, they +would not only obtain a remedy for their own grievance, but one of a +universal and permanent application." [47] + +The Aragonese cortes maintained a steady control over the operations of +government, especially after the dissolution of the Union; and the weight +of the commons was more decisive in it, than in other similar assemblies +of that period. Its singular distribution into four estates was favorable +to this. The knights and _hidalgos_, an intermediate order between +the great nobility and the people, when detached from the former, +naturally lent additional support to the latter, with whom, indeed, they +had considerable affinity. The representatives of certain cities, as well +as a certain class of citizens, were entitled to a seat in this body; [48] +so that it approached both in spirit and substance to something like a +popular representation. Indeed, this arm of the cortes was so uniformly +vigilant in resisting any encroachment on the part of the crown, that it +has been said to represent, more than any other, the liberties of the +nation. [49] In some other particulars the Aragonese commons possessed an +advantage over those of Castile. 1. By postponing their money grants to +the conclusion of the session, and regulating them in some degree by the +previous dispositions of the crown, they availed themselves of an +important lever relinquished by the Castilian cortes. [50] 2. The kingdom +of Aragon proper was circumscribed within too narrow limits to allow of +such local jealousies and estrangements, growing out of an apparent +diversity of interests, as existed in the neighboring monarchy. Their +representatives, therefore, were enabled to move with a more hearty +concert, and on a more consistent line of policy. 3. Lastly, the +acknowledged right to a seat in cortes, possessed by every city which had +once been represented there, and this equally whether summoned or not, if +we may credit Capmany, [51] must have gone far to preserve the popular +branch from the melancholy state of dilapidation to which it was reduced +in Castile by the arts of despotic princes. Indeed, the kings of Aragon, +notwithstanding occasional excesses, seem never to have attempted any +systematic invasion of the constitutional rights of their subjects. They +well knew, that the spirit of liberty was too high among them to endure +it. When the queen of Alfonso the Fourth urged her husband, by quoting the +example of her brother the king of Castile, to punish certain refractory +citizens of Valencia, he prudently replied, "My people are free, and not +so submissive as the Castilians. They respect me as their prince, and I +hold them for good vassals and comrades."[52] + +No part of the constitution of Aragon has excited more interest, or more +deservedly, than the office of the _Justicia_, or Justice; [53] whose +extraordinary functions were far from being limited to judicial matters, +although in these his authority was supreme. The origin of this +institution is affirmed to have been coeval with that of the constitution +or frame of government itself. [54] If it were so, his authority may be +said, in the language of Blancas, "to have slept in the scabbard" until +the dissolution of the Union; when the control of a tumultuous aristocracy +was exchanged for the mild and uniform operation of the law, administered +by this, its supreme interpreter. + +His most important duties may be briefly enumerated. He was authorized to +pronounce on the validity of all royal letters and ordinances. He +possessed, as has been said, concurrent jurisdiction with the cortes over +all suits against the crown and its officers. Inferior judges were bound +to consult him in all doubtful cases, and to abide by his opinion, as of +"equal authority," in the words of an ancient jurist, "with the law +itself." [55] An appeal lay to his tribunal from those of the territorial +and royal judges. [56] He could even evoke a cause, while pending before +them, into his own court, and secure the defendant from molestation on his +giving surety for his appearance. By another process, he might remove a +person under arrest from the place in which he had been confined by order +of an inferior court, to the public prison appropriated to this purpose, +there to abide his own examination of the legality of his detention. These +two provisions, by which the precipitate and perhaps intemperate +proceedings of subordinate judicatures were subjected to the revision of a +dignified and dispassionate tribunal, might seem to afford sufficient +security for personal liberty and property. [57] In addition to these +official functions, the Justice of Aragon was constituted a permanent +counsellor of the sovereign, and, as such, was required to accompany him +where-ever he might reside. He was to advise the king on all +constitutional questions of a doubtful complexion; and finally, on a new +accession to the throne, it was his province to administer the coronation +oath; this he performed with his head covered, and sitting, while the +monarch, kneeling before him bare-headed, solemnly promised to maintain +the liberties of the kingdom. A ceremony eminently symbolical of that +superiority of law over prerogative, which was so constantly asserted in +Aragon. [58] + +It was the avowed purpose of the institution of the Justicia to interpose +such an authority between the crown and the people, as might suffice for +the entire protection of the latter. This is the express import of one of +the laws of Soprarbe, which, whatever he thought of their authenticity, +are undeniably of very high antiquity. [59] This part of his duties is +particularly insisted on by the most eminent juridical writers of the +nation. Whatever estimate, therefore, may be formed of the real extent of +his powers, as compared with those of similar functionaries in other +states of Europe, there can be no doubt that this ostensible object of +their creation, thus openly asserted, must have had a great tendency to +enforce their practical operation. Accordingly we find repeated examples, +in the history of Aragon, of successful interposition on the part of the +Justice for the protection of individuals persecuted by the crown, and in +defiance of every attempt at intimidation. [60] The kings of Aragon, +chafed by this opposition, procured the resignation or deposition, on more +than one occasion, of the obnoxious magistrate. [61] But, as such an +exercise of prerogative must have been altogether subversive of an +independent discharge of the duties of this office, it was provided by a +statute of Alfonso the Fifth, in 1442, that the Justice should continue in +office during life, removable only, on sufficient cause, by the king and +the cortes united. [62] + +Several provisions were enacted, in order to secure the nation more +effectually against the abuse of the high trust reposed in this officer. +He was to be taken from the equestrian order, which, as intermediate +between the high nobility and the people, was less likely to be influenced +by undue partiality to either. He could not be selected from the ricos +hombres, since this class was exempted from corporal punishment, while the +Justice was made responsible to the cortes for the faithful discharge of +his duties, under penalty of death. [63] As this supervision of the whole +legislature was found unwieldy in practice, it was superseded, after +various modifications by a commission of members elected from each one of +the four estates, empowered to sit every year in Saragossa, with authority +to investigate the charges preferred against the Justice, and to pronounce +sentence upon him. [64] + +The Aragonese writers are prodigal of their encomiums on the pre-eminence +and dignity of this functionary, whose office might seem, indeed, but a +doubtful expedient for balancing the authority of the sovereign; depending +for its success less on any legal powers confided to it, than on the +efficient and constant support of public opinion. Fortunately the Justice +of Aragon uniformly received such support, and was thus enabled to carry +the original design of the institution into effect, to check the +usurpations of the crown, as well as to control the license of the +nobility and the people. A series of learned and independent magistrates, +by the weight of their own character, gave additional dignity to the +office. The people, familiarized with the benignant operation of the law, +referred to peaceful arbitration those great political questions, which, +in other countries at this period, must have been settled by a sanguinary +revolution. [65] While, in the rest of Europe, the law seemed only the web +to ensnare the weak, the Aragonese historians could exult in the +reflection, that the fearless administration of justice in their land +"protected the weak equally with the strong, the foreigner with the +native." Well might their legislature assert, that the value of their +liberties more than counterbalanced "the poverty of the nation, and the +sterility of their soil." [66] + +The governments of Valencia and Catalonia, which, as has been already +remarked, were administered independently of each other after their +consolidation into one monarchy, bore a very near resemblance to that of +Aragon. [67] No institution, however, corresponding in its functions with +that of the Justicia, seems to have obtained in either. [68] Valencia, +which had derived a large portion of its primitive population, after the +conquest, from Aragon, preserved the most intimate relations with the +parent kingdom, and was constantly at its side during the tempestuous +season of the Union. The Catalans were peculiarly jealous of their +exclusive privileges, and their civil institutions wore a more +democratical aspect than those of any other of the confederated states; +circumstances, which led to important results that fall within the compass +of our narrative. [69] + +The city of Barcelona, which originally gave its name to the county of +which it was the capital, was distinguished from a very early period by +ample municipal privileges. [70] After the union with Aragon in the +twelfth century, the monarchs of the latter kingdom extended towards it +the same liberal legislation; so that, by the thirteenth, Barcelona had +reached a degree of commercial prosperity rivalling that of any of the +Italian republics. She divided with them the lucrative commerce with +Alexandria; and her port, thronged with foreigners from every nation, +became a principal emporium in the Mediterranean for the spices, drugs, +perfumes, and other rich commodities of the east, whence they were +diffused over the interior of Spain and the European continent. [71] Her +consuls, and her commercial factories, were established in every +considerable port in the Mediterranean and in the north of Europe. [72] +The natural products of her soil, and her various domestic fabrics, +supplied her with abundant articles of export. Fine wool was imported by +her in considerable quantities from England in the fourteenth and +fifteenth centuries, and returned there manufactured into cloth; an +exchange of commodities the reverse of that existing between the two +nations at the present day. [73] Barcelona claims the merit of having +established the first bank of exchange and deposit in Europe, in 1401; it +was devoted to the accommodation of foreigners as well as of her own +citizens. She claims the glory, too, of having compiled the most ancient +written code, among the moderns, of maritime law now extant, digested from +the usages of commercial nations, and which formed the basis of the +mercantile jurisprudence of Europe during the Middle Ages. [74] + +The wealth which flowed in upon Barcelona, as the result of her activity +and enterprise, was evinced by her numerous public works, her docks, +arsenal, warehouses, exchange, hospitals, and other constructions of +general utility. Strangers, who visited Spain in the fourteenth and +fifteenth centuries, expatiate on the magnificence of this city, its +commodious private edifices, the cleanliness of its streets and public +squares (a virtue by no means usual in that day), and on the amenity of +its gardens and cultivated environs. [75] + +But the peculiar glory of Barcelona was the freedom of her municipal +institutions. Her government consisted of a senate or council of one +hundred, and a body of _regidores_ or counsellors, as they were styled, +varying at times from four to six in number; the former intrusted +with the legislative, the latter with the executive functions of +administration. A large proportion of these bodies were selected from the +merchants, tradesmen, and mechanics of the city. They were invested, not +merely with municipal authority, but with many of the rights of +sovereignty. They entered into commercial treaties with foreign powers; +superintended the defence of the city in time of war; provided for the +security of trade; granted letters of reprisal against any nation who +might violate it; and raised and appropriated the public moneys for the +construction of useful works, or the encouragement of such commercial +adventures as were too hazardous or expensive for individual enterprise. +[76] + +The counsellors, who presided over the municipality, were complimented +with certain honorary privileges, not even accorded to the nobility. They +were addressed by the title of _magníficos_; were seated, with their +heads covered, in the presence of royalty; were preceded by mace-bearers, +or lictors, in their progress through the country; and deputies from their +body to the court were admitted on the footing, and received the honors, +of foreign ambassadors. [77] These, it will be recollected, were +plebeians,--merchants and mechanics. Trade never was esteemed a +degradation in Catalonia, as it came to be in Castile. [78] The professors +of the different arts, as they were called, organized into guilds or +companies, constituted so many independent associations, whose members +were eligible to the highest municipal offices. And such was the +importance attached to these offices, that the nobility in many instances, +resigning the privileges of their rank, a necessary preliminary, were +desirous of being enrolled among the candidates for them. [79] One cannot +but observe in the peculiar organization of this little commonwealth, and +in the equality assumed by every class of its citizens, a close analogy to +the constitutions of the Italian republics; which the Catalans, having +become familiar with in their intimate commercial intercourse with Italy, +may have adopted as the model of their own. + +Under the influence of these democratic institutions, the burghers of +Barcelona, and indeed of Catalonia in general, which enjoyed more or less +of a similar freedom, assumed a haughty independence of character beyond +what existed among the same class in other parts of Spain; and this, +combined with the martial daring fostered by a life of maritime adventure +and warfare, made them impatient, not merely of oppression, but of +contradiction, on the part of their sovereigns, who have experienced more +frequent and more sturdy resistance from this quarter of their dominions, +than from every other. [80] Navagiero, the Venetian ambassador to Spain, +early in the sixteenth century, although a republican himself, was so +struck with what he deemed the insubordination of the Barcelonians, that +he asserts, "The inhabitants have so many privileges, that the king +scarcely retains any authority over them; their liberty," he adds, "should +rather go by the name of license." [81] One example among many, may be +given, of the tenacity with which they adhered to their most +inconsiderable immunities. + +Ferdinand the First, in 1416, being desirous, in consequence of the +exhausted state of the finances on his coming to the throne, to evade the +payment of a certain tax or subsidy customarily paid by the kings of +Aragon to the city of Barcelona, sent for the president of the council, +John Fiveller, to require the consent of that body to this measure. The +magistrate, having previously advised with his colleagues, determined to +encounter any hazard, says Zurita, rather than compromise the rights of +the city. He reminded the king of his coronation oath, expressed his +regret that he was willing so soon to deviate from the good usages of his +predecessors, and plainly told him, that he and his comrades would never +betray the liberties entrusted to them. Ferdinand, indignant at this +language, ordered the patriot to withdraw into another apartment, where he +remained in much uncertainty as to the consequences of his temerity. But +the king was dissuaded from violent measures, if he ever contemplated +them, by the representation of his courtiers, who warned him not to reckon +too much on the patience of the people, who bore small affection to his +person, from _the little familiarity with which he had treated them_ +in comparison with their preceding monarchs, and who were already in arms +to protect their magistrate. In consequence of these suggestions, +Ferdinand deemed it prudent to release the counsellor, and withdrew +abruptly from the city on the ensuing day, disgusted at the ill success of +his enterprise. [82] + +The Aragonese monarchs well understood the value of their Catalan +dominions, which sustained a proportion of the public burdens equal in +amount to that of both the other states of the kingdom. [83] +Notwithstanding the mortifications, which they occasionally experienced +from this quarter, therefore, they uniformly extended towards it the most +liberal protection. A register of the various customs paid in the ports of +Catalonia, compiled in 1413, under the above-mentioned Ferdinand, exhibits +a discriminating legislation, extraordinary in an age when the true +principles of financial policy were so little understood. [84] Under James +the First, in 1227, a navigation act, limited in its application, was +published, and another under Alfonso the Fifth, in 1454, embracing all the +dominions of Aragon; thus preceding by some centuries the celebrated +ordinance, to which England owes so much of her commercial grandeur. [85] + +The brisk concussion given to the minds of the Catalans in the busy career +in which they were engaged, seems to have been favorable to the +development of poetical talent, in the same manner as it was in Italy. +Catalonia may divide with Provence the glory of being the region where the +voice of song was first awakened in modern Europe. Whatever may be the +relative claims of the two countries to precedence in this respect, [86] +it is certain that under the family of Barcelona, the Provençal of the +south of France reached its highest perfection; and, when the tempest of +persecution in the beginning of the thirteenth century fell on the lovely +valleys of that unhappy country, its minstrels found a hospitable asylum +in the court of the kings of Aragon; many of whom not only protected, but +cultivated the _gay science_ with considerable success. [87] Their +names have descended to us, as well as those of less illustrious +troubadours, whom Petrarch and his contemporaries did not disdain to +imitate; [88] but their compositions, for the most part, lie still buried +in those cemeteries of the intellect so numerous in Spain, and call loudly +for the diligence of some Sainte Palaye or Raynouard to disinter them. +[89] + +The languishing condition of the poetic art, at the close of the +fourteenth century, induced John the First, who mingled somewhat of the +ridiculous even with his most respectable tastes, to depute a solemn +embassy to the king of France, requesting that a commission might be +detached from the Floral Academy of Toulouse, into Spain, to erect there a +similar institution. This was accordingly done, and the Consistory of +Barcelona was organized, in 1390. The kings of Aragon endowed it with +funds, and with a library valuable for that day, presiding over its +meetings in person, and distributing the poetical premiums with their own +hands. During the troubles consequent on the death of Martin, this +establishment fell into decay, until it was again revived, on the +accession of Ferdinand the First, by the celebrated Henry, marquis of +Villena, who transplanted it to Tortosa. [90] + +The marquis, in his treatise on the _gaya sciencia_, details with +becoming gravity the pompous ceremonial observed in his academy on the +event of a public celebration. The topics of discussion were "the praises +of the Virgin, love, arms, and other good usages." The performances of the +candidates, "inscribed on parchment of various colors, richly enamelled +with gold and silver, and beautifully illuminated," were publicly recited, +and then referred to a committee, who made solemn oath to decide +impartially and according to the rules of the art. On the delivery of the +verdict, a wreath of gold was deposited on the victorious poem, which was +registered in the academic archives; and the fortunate troubadour, greeted +with a magnificent prize, was escorted to the royal palace amid a +_cortège_ of minstrelsy and chivalry; "thus manifesting to the world," +says the marquis, "the superiority which God and nature have assigned to +genius over dulness." [91] + +The influence of such an institution in awakening a poetic spirit is at +best very questionable. Whatever effect an academy may have in stimulating +the researches of science, the inspirations of genius must come unbidden; + + "Adflata est numine quando + Jam propiore del." + +The Catalans, indeed, seem to have been of this opinion; for they suffered +the Consistory of Tortosa to expire with its founder. Somewhat later, in +1430, was established the University of Barcelona, placed under the +direction of the municipality, and endowed by the city with ample funds +for instruction in the various departments of law, theology, medicine, and +the belles-lettres. This institution survived until the commencement of +the last century. [92] + +During the first half of the fifteenth century, long after the genuine +race of the troubadours had passed away, the Provençal or Limousin verse +was carried to its highest excellence by the poets of Valencia. [93] It +would be presumptuous for any one, who has not made the _Romance_ +dialects his particular study, to attempt a discriminating criticism of +these compositions, so much of the merit of which necessarily consists in +the almost impalpable beauties of style and expression. The Spaniards, +however, applaud, in the verses of Ausias March, the same musical +combinations of sound, and the same tone of moral melancholy, which +pervade the productions of Petrarch. [94] In prose too, they have (to +borrow the words of Andres) their Boccaccio in Martorell; whose fiction of +"Tirante el Blanco" is honored by the commendation of the curate in Don +Quixote, as "the best book in the world of the kind, since the knights- +errant in it eat, drink, sleep, and die quietly in their beds, like other +folk, and very unlike most heroes of romance." The productions of these, +and some other of their distinguished contemporaries, obtained a general +circulation very early by means of the recently invented art of printing, +and subsequently passed into repeated editions.[95] But their language has +long since ceased to be the language of literature. On the union of the +two crowns of Castile and Aragon, the dialect of the former became that of +the court and of the Muses. The beautiful Provençal, once more rich and +melodious than any other idiom in the Peninsula, was abandoned as a +_patois_ to the lower orders of the Catalans, who, with the language, +may boast that they also have inherited the noble principles of freedom +which distinguished their ancestors. + + * * * * * + +The influence of free institutions in Aragon is perceptible in the +familiarity displayed by its writers with public affairs, and in the +freedom with which they have discussed the organization, and general +economy of its government. The creation of the office of national +chronicler, under Charles V., gave wider scope to the development of +historic talent. Among the most conspicuous of these historiographers was +Jerome Blancas, several of whose productions, as the "Coronaciones de los +Reyes," "Modo de Proceder en Cortes," and "Commentarii Rerum +Aragonensium," especially the last, have been repeatedly quoted in the +preceding section. This work presents a view of the different orders of +the state, and particularly of the office of the Justicia, with their +peculiar functions and privileges. The author, omitting the usual details +of history, has devoted himself to the illustration of the constitutional +antiquities of his country, in the execution of which he has shown a +sagacity and erudition equally profound. His sentiments breathe a generous +love of freedom, which one would scarcely suppose to have existed, and +still less to have been promulgated, under Philip II. His style is +distinguished by the purity and even elegance of its latinity. The first +edition, being that which I have used, appeared in 1588, in folio, at +Saragossa, executed with much typographical beauty. The work was +afterwards incorporated into Schottus's "Hispania Illustrata."--Blancas, +after having held his office for ten years, died in his native city of +Saragossa, in 1590. + +Jerome Martel, from whose little treatise, "Forma de Celebrar Cortes," I +have also liberally cited, was appointed public historiographer in 1597. +His continuation of Zurita's Annals, which he left unpublished at his +decease, was never admitted to the honors of the press, because, says his +biographer, Uztarroz, _verdades lastiman_; a reason as creditable to +the author as disgraceful to the government. + +A third writer, and the one chiefly relied on for the account of +Catalonia, is Don Antonio Capmany. His "Memorias Históricas de Barcelona," +(5 tom. 4to, Madrid, 1779-1792,) may be thought somewhat too discursive +and circumstantial for his subject; but it is hardly right to quarrel with +information so rare, and painfully collected; the sin of exuberance at any +rate is much less frequent, and more easily corrected, than that of +sterility. His work is a vast repertory of facts relating to the commerce, +manufactures, general policy, and public prosperity, not only of +Barcelona, but of Catalonia. It is written with an independent and liberal +spirit, which may be regarded as affording the best commentary on the +genius of the institutions which he celebrates.--Capmany closed his useful +labors at Madrid, in 1810, at the age of fifty-six. + +Notwithstanding the interesting character of the Aragonese constitution, +and the amplitude of materials for its history, the subject has been +hitherto neglected, as far as I am aware, by continental writers. +Robertson and Hallam, more especially the latter, have given such a view +of its prominent features to the English reader, as must, I fear, deprive +the sketch which I have attempted, in a great degree, of novelty. To these +names must now be added that of the author of the "History of Spain and +Portugal," (Cabinet Cyclopaedia,) whose work, published since the +preceding pages were written, contains much curious and learned +disquisition on the early jurisprudence and municipal institutions of +both Castile and Aragon. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Catalonia was united with Aragon by the marriage of queen Petronilla +with Raymond Berengere, count of Barcelona, in 1150. Valencia was +conquered from the Moors by James I., in 1238. + +[2] Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. iii. pp. 45-47.--The Catalans were +much celebrated during the Middle Ages for their skill with the crossbow; +for a more perfect instruction in which, the municipality of Barcelona +established games and gymnasiums. Ibid., tom. i. p. 113. + +[3] Sicily revolted to Peter III., in 1282.--Sardinia was conquered by +James II., in 1324, and the Balearic Isles by Peter IV., in 1343-4. +Zurita, Anales, tom. i. fol. 247; tom. ii. fol. 60.--Hermilly, Histoire du +Royaume de Majorque, (Maestricht, 1777,) pp. 227-268. + +[4] Hence the title of duke of Athens, assumed by the Spanish sovereigns. +The brilliant fortunes of Roger de Flor are related by count Moncada, +(Expedicion de los Catalanes y Aragoneses contrá Turcos y Griegos, Madrid, +1805) in a style much commended by Spanish critics for its elegance. See +Mondejar, Advertencias, p. 184. + +[5] It was confirmed by Alfonso III., in 1328. Zurita, Anales, tom. ii. +fol. 90. + +[6] See the fragments of the _Fuero de Soprarbe_, cited by Blancas, +Aragonensium Rerum Commentarii, (Caesaraugustae, 1588.) pp. 25-29.--The +well-known oath of the Aragonese to their sovereign on his accession, "Nos +que valemos tanto como vos," etc., frequently quoted by historians, rests +on the authority of Antonio Perez, the unfortunate minister of Philip II., +who, however good a voucher for the usages of his own time, has made a +blunder in the very sentence preceding this, by confounding the Privilege +of Union with one of the Laws of Soprarbe, which shows him to be +insufficient, especially as he is the only, authority for this ancient +ceremony. See Antonio Perez, Relaciones, (Paris, 1598,) fol. 92. + +[7] + Dodeka gar kata daemon aripretees Basilaees + Archoi krainonsi, triskaidekatos d' ego autos. + Odyss. O 390. + +In like manner Alfonso III. alludes to "the ancient times in Aragon, when +there were as many kings as ricos hombres." See Zurita, Anales, tom. i. +fol. 316. + +[8] The authenticity of the "Fuero de Soprarbe" has been keenly debated by +the Aragonese and Navarrese writers. Moret, in refutation of Blancas, who +espouses it, (see Commentarii, p. 289,) states, that after a diligent +investigation of the archives of that region, he finds no mention of the +laws, nor even of the name, of Soprarbe, until the eleventh century; a +startling circumstance for the antiquary. (Investigaciones Históricas de +las Antiguedades del Reyno de Navarra, (Pamplona, 1766,) tom. vi. lib. 2, +cap. 11.) Indeed, the historians of Aragon admit, that the public +documents previous to the fourteenth century suffered so much from various +causes as to leave comparatively few materials for authentic narrative. +(Blancas, Commentarii, Pref.--Risco, España Sagrada, tom. xxx. Prólogo.) +Blancas transcribed his extract of the laws of Soprarbe principally from +Prince Charles of Viana's History, written in the fifteenth century. See +Commentarii, p. 25. + +[9] Asso y Manuel, Instituciones, pp. 39, 40.--Blancas, Commentarii, pp. +333, 334, 340.--Fueros y Observancias del Reyno de Aragon, (Zaragoza, +1667,) tom. i. fol. 130.--The _ricos hombres_, thus created by the +monarch, were styled _de mesnada_, signifying "of the household." It +was lawful for a _rico hombre_ to bequeath his honors to whichsoever +of his legitimate children he might prefer, and, in default of issue, to +his nearest of kin. He was bound to distribute the bulk of his estates in +fiefs among his knights, so that a complete system of sub-infeudation was +established. The knights, on restoring their fiefs, might change their +suzerains at pleasure. + +[10] Asso y Manuel, Instituciones, p. 41.--Blancas, Commentarii, pp. 307, +322, 331. + +[11] Fueros y Observancias, tom. i. fol. 130.--Martel, Forma de Celebrar +Cortes en Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1641,) p. 98.--Blancas, Commentarii, pp. 306, +312-317, 323, 360.--Asso y Manual, Instituciones, pp. 40-43. + +[12] Zurita, Anales, tom. i. fol. 124. + +[13] Blancas, Commentarii, p. 334. + +[14] See the partition of Saragossa by Alonso the Warrior. Zurita, Anales, +tom. i. fol. 43. + +[15] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 198.--Blancas, Commentarii, p. +218. [16] See a register of these at the beginning of the sixteenth +century, apud L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 25. + +[17] Zurita, Anales, tom. ii. fol. 127.--Blancas, Commentarii, p. 324.-- +"Adhaec Ricis hominibus ipsis majorum more institutisque concedebatur, ut +sese possent, dum ipsi vellent, a nostrorum Regum jure et potestare, quasi +nodum aliquem, expedire; neque expedire solum, _sed dimisso prius, quo +potirentur, Honore_, bellum ipsis inferre; Reges vero Rici hominis sic +expediti uxorem, filios, familiam, res, bona, et fortunas omnes in suam +recipere fidem tenebantur. Neque ulla erat eorum utilitatis facienda +jactura." + +[18] Fueros y Observancias, tom. i. p. 84.--Zurita, Anales, tom. i. fol. +350. + +[19] Blancas somewhere boasts, that no one of the kings of Aragon has been +stigmatized by a cognomen of infamy, as in most of the other royal races +of Europe. Peter IV., "the Ceremonious," richly deserved one. + +[20] Zurita, Anales, tom. i. fol. 102. + +[21] Zurita, Anales, tom. i. fol. 198.--He recommended this policy to his +son-in-law, the king of Castile. + +[22] Sempere, Histoire des Cortès, p. 164. + +[23] Zurita, Anales, lib. 4, cap. 96.--Abarca dates this event in the year +preceding. Reyes de Aragon, en Anales Históricos, (Madrid, 1682-1684,) +tom. ii. fol. 8. + +[24] Blancas, Commentarii, pp. 192, 193.--Zurita, Anales, tom. i. fol. 266 +et alibi. + +[25] Zurita, Anales, tom. ii. fol. 126-130.--Blancas, Commentarii, pp. +195-197.--Hence he was styled "Peter of the Dagger;" and a statue of him, +bearing in one hand this weapon, and in the other the Privilege, stood in +the Chamber of Deputation at Saragossa in Philip II.'s time. See Antonio +Perez, Relaciones, fol. 95. + +[26] See the statute, De Prohibità Unione, etc. Fueros y Observancias, +tom. i. fol. 178.--A copy of the original Privileges was detected by +Blancas among the manuscripts of the archbishop of Saragossa; but he +declined publishing it from deference to the prohibition of his ancestors. +Commentarii, p. 179. + +[27] "Haec itaque domestica Regis victoria, quae miserrimum universae +Reipublicae interitum videbatur esse allatura, stabilem nobis constituit +pacem, tranquillitatem, et otium. Inde enim Magistratus Justitiae Aragonum +in eam, quam nunc colimus, amplitudinem dignitatis devenit." Ibid., p. +197. + +[28] Martel, Forma de Celebrar Cortes, cap. 8.--"Bracos del reino, porque +_abraçan_, y tienen en si."--The cortes consisted only of three arms +in Catalonia and Valencia; both the greater and lesser nobility sitting in +the same chamber. Perguera, Cortes en Cataluña, and Matheu y Sanz, +Constitucion de Valencia, apud Capmany, Práctica y Estilo, pp. 65, 183, +184. + +[29] Martel, Forma de Celebrar Cortes, cap. 10, 17, 21, 46.--Blancas, Modo +de Proceder en Cortes de Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1641,) fol. 17, 18. + +[30] Capmany, Práctica y Estilo, p. 12. + +[31] Blancas, Modo de Proceder, fol. 14,--and Commentarii, p. 374.-- +Zurita, indeed, gives repeated instances of their convocation in the +thirteenth and twelfth centuries, from a date almost coeval with that of +the commons; yet Blancas, who made this subject his particular study, who +wrote posterior to Zurita, and occasionally refers to him, postpones the +era of their admission into the legislature to the beginning of the +fourteenth century. + +[32] One of the monarchs of Aragon, Alfonso the Warrior, according to +Mariana, bequeathed all his dominions to the Templars and Hospitallers. +Another, Peter II., agreed to hold his kingdom as a fief of the see of +Rome, and to pay it an annual tribute. (Hist. de España, tom. i. pp. 596, +664.) This so much disgusted the people, that they compelled his +successors to make a public protest against the claims of the church, +before their coronation.--See Blancas, Coronaciones de los Serenisimos +Reyes de Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1641,) Cap. 2. + +[33] Martel, Forma de Celebrar Cortes, cap. 22.--Asso y Manuel, +Instituciones, p. 44. + +[34] Zurita, Anales, tom. i. fol. 163, A.D. 1250. + +[35] Ibid., tom. i. fol. 51.--The earliest appearance of popular +representation in Catalonia is fixed by Ripoll at 1283, (apud Capmany, +Práctica y Estilo, p. 135.) What can Capmany mean by postponing the +introduction of the commons into the cortes of Aragon to 1300? (See p. +55.) Their presence and names are commemorated by the exact Zurita, +several times before the close of the twelfth century. + +[36] Práctica y Estilo, pp. 14, 17, 18, 30.--Martel, Forma de Celebrar +Cortes, cap. 10.--Those who followed a mechanical occupation, _including +surgeons and apothecaries_, were excluded from a seat in cortes. (Cap. +17.) The faculty have rarely been treated with so little ceremony. + +[37] Martel, Forma de Celebrar Cortes, cap. 7.--The cortes appear to have +been more frequently convoked in the fourteenth century, than in any +other. Blancas refers to no less than twenty-three within that period, +averaging nearly one in four years. (Commentarii, Index, _voce_ Comitia.) +In Catalonia and Valencia, the cortes was to be summoned every three +years. Berart, Discurso Breve sobre la Celebracion de Cortes de Aragon, +(1626,) fol. 12. + +[38] Capmany, Práctica y Estilo, p. 15.--Blancas has preserved a specimen +of an address from the throne, in 1398, in which the king, after selecting +some moral apothegm as a text, rambles for the space of half an hour +through Scripture history, etc., and concludes with announcing the object +of his convening the cortes together, in three lines. Commentarii, pp. +376-380. + +[39] See the ceremonial detailed with sufficient prolixity by Martel, +(Forma de Celebrar Cortes, cap. 52, 53,) and a curious illustration of it +in Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 313. + +[40] Capmany, Práctica y Estilo, pp. 44 et seq.--Martel, Forma de Celebrar +Cortes, cap. 50, 60 et seq.--Fueros y Observancias, tom. i. fol. 229.-- +Blancas, Modo de Proceder, fol. 2-4.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iii. fol. 321. +--Robertson, misinterpreting a passage of Blancas, (Commentarii, p. 375,) +states, that a "session of Cortes continued forty days." (History of +Charles V., vol. i. p. 140.) It usually lasted months. + +[41] Fueros y Observancias, fol. 6, tit. Privileg. Gen.--Blancas, +Commentarii, p. 371.--Capmany, Práctica y Estilo, p. 51.--It was anciently +the practice of the legislature to grant supplies of troops, but not of +money. When Peter IV. requested a pecuniary subsidy, the cortes told him, +that "such thing had not been usual; that his Christian subjects were wont +to serve him with their persons, and it was only for Jews and Moors to +serve him with money." Blancas, Modo de Proceder, cap. 18. + +[42] See examples of them in Zurita, Anales, tom. i. fol. 51, 263; tom. +ii. fol. 391, 394, 424.--Blancas, Modo de Proceder, fol. 98, 106. + +[43] "There was such a conformity of sentiment among all parties," says +Zurita, "that the privileges of the nobility were no better secured than +those of the commons. For the Aragonese deemed that the existence of the +commonwealth depended not so much on its strength, as on its liberties." +(Anales, lib. 4, cap. 38.) In the confirmation of the privilege by James +the Second, in 1325, torture, then generally recognized by the municipal +law of Europe, was expressly prohibited in Aragon, "as unworthy of +freemen." See Zurita, Anales, lib. 6, cap. 61,--and Fueros y Observancias, +tom. i. fol. 9. Declaratio Priv. Generalis. + +[44] The patriotism of Blancas warms as he dwells on the illusory picture +of ancient virtue, and contrasts it with the degeneracy of his own day. +"Et vero prisca haec tanta severitas, desertaque illa et inculta vita, +quando dies noctesque nostri armati concursabant, ac in bello et Maurorum +sanguine assidui versabantur; verè quidem parsimoniae, fortitudinis, +temperantiae, caeterarumque virtutum omnium magistra fuit. In quá +maleficia ac scelera, quae nunc in otiosâ hac nostrâ umbratili et delicatâ +gignuntur, gigni non solebant; quinimmo ita tunc aequaliter omnes omni +genere virtutum floruere, ut egregia haec laus videatur non hominum solum, +verum illorum etiam temporum fuisse." Commentarii, p. 340. + +[45] It was more frequently referred, both for the sake of expedition, and +of obtaining a more full investigation, to commissioners nominated +conjointly by the cortes and the party demanding redress. The nature of +the _greuges_, or grievances, which might be brought before the +legislature, and the mode of proceeding in relation to them, are +circumstantially detailed by the parliamentary historians of Aragon. See +Berart, Discurso sobre la Celebracion de Cortes, cap. 7.--Capmany, +Práctica y Estilo, pp. 37-44.--Blancas, Modo de Proceder, cap. 14,--and +Martel, Forma de Celebrar Cortes, cap. 54-59. + +[46] Blancas, Modo de Proceder, cap. 14.--Yet Peter IV., in his dispute +with the justice Fernandez de Castro, denied this. Zurita, Anales, tom. +ii. fol. 170. + +[47] Blancas, Modo de Proceder, ubi supra. + +[48] As for example the _ciudadanos honrados_ of Saragossa. (Capmany, +Práctica y Estilo, p. 14.) A _ciudadano honrado_ in Catalonia, and I +presume the same in Aragon, was a landholder, who lived on his rents +without being engaged in commerce or trade of any kind, answering to the +French _propriétaire_. See Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. ii. Apend. no. +30. + +[49] Blancas, Modo de Proceder, fol. 102. + +[50] Not, however, it must be allowed, without a manly struggle in its +defence, and which, in the early part of Charles V.'s reign, in 1525, +wrenched a promise from the crown, to answer all petitions definitively, +before the rising of cortes. The law still remains on the statute-book, +(Recop. de las Leyes, lib. 6, tit. 7, ley 8,) a sad commentary on the +faith of princes. + +[51] Práctica y Estilo, p. 14. + +[52] "Y nos tenemos á ellos como buenos vassallos y compañeros."--Zurita, +Anales, lib. 7, cap. 17. + +[53] The noun "justicia" was made masculine for the accommodation of this +magistrate, who was styled "_el_ justicia." Antonio Perez, Relaciones, +fol. 91. + +[54] Blancas, Commentarii, p. 26.--Zurita, Anales, tom. i. fol. 9. + +[55] Molinus, apud Blancas, Commentarii, pp. 343, 344.--Fueros y +Observancias, tom. i. fol. 21, 25. + +[56] Blancas, Commentarii, p. 536.--The principal of these jurisdictions +was the royal audience in which the king himself presided in person. +Ibid., p. 355. + +[57] Fueros y Observancias, tom. i. fol. 23, 60 et seq., 155, lib. 3, tit. +De Manifestationibus Personarum.--Also fol. 137 et seq., tit. 7, De Firmis +Juris.--Blancas, Commentarii, pp. 350, 351.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 10, cap. +37.--The first of these processes was styled _firma de derecho_, the +last, _manifestation_. The Spanish writers are warm in their encomiums of +these two provisions. "Quibus duobus praesidiis," says Blancas, "ita +nostrae reipublicae status continetur, ut nulla pars communium fortunarum +tutelâ vacua relinquatur." Both this author and Zurita have amplified the +details respecting them, which the reader may find extracted, and in part +translated, by Mr. Hallam, Middle Ages, vol. ii. pp. 75-77, notes. + +When complex litigation became more frequent, the Justice was allowed one, +afterwards two, and at a still later period, in 1528, five lieutenants, as +they were called, who aided him in the discharge of his onerous duties. +Martel, Forma de Celebrar Cortes, Notas de Uztarroz, pp. 92-96.--Blancas, +Commentarii, pp. 361-366. + +[58] Ibid., pp. 343, 346, 347.--Idem, Coronaciones, pp. 200, 202.--Antonio +Perez, Relaciones, fol. 92. + +Sempere cites the opinion of an ancient canonist, Canellas, bishop of +Huesca, as conclusive against the existence of the vast powers imputed by +later commentators to the Justicia. (Histoire des Cortès, chap. 19.) The +vague, rhapsodical tone of the extract shows it to be altogether +undeserving of the emphasis laid on it; not to add, that it was written +more than a century before the period, when the Justicia possessed the +influence or the legal authority claimed for him by Aragonese writers,--by +Blancas, in particular, from whom Sempere borrowed the passage at second +hand. + +[59] The law alluded to runs thus: "Ne quid autem damni detrimentive leges +aut libertates nostrae patiantur, judex quidam medius adesto, ad quem a +Rege provocare, si aliquem laeserit, injuriasque arcere si quas forsan +Reipub. intulerit, jus fasque esto." Blancas, Commentarii, p. 26. + +[60] Such instances may he found in Zurita, Anales, tom. ii. fol. 385, +414.--Blancas, Commentarii, pp. 199, 202-206, 214, 225.--When Ximenes +Cerdan, the independent Justice of John I., removed certain citizens from +the prison, in which they had been unlawfully confined by the king, in +defiance equally of that officer's importunities and menaces, the +inhabitants of Saragossa, says Abarca, came out in a body to receive him +on his return to the city, and greeted him as the defender of their +ancient and natural liberties. (Reyes de Aragon, tom. i. fol. 155.) So +openly did the Aragonese support their magistrate in the boldest exercise +of his authority. + +[61] This occurred once under Peter III., and twice under Alfonso V. +(Zurita, Anales, tom. iii. fol. 255.--Blancas, Commentarii, pp. 174, 489, +499.) The Justice was appointed by the king. + +[62] Fueros y Observancias, tom. i. fol. 22. + +[63] Ibid., tom. i. fol. 25. + +[64] Ibid., tom. i. lib. 3, tit. Forum Inquisitionis Officii Just. Arag., +and tom. ii. fol. 37-41.--Blancas, Commentarii, pp. 391-399. + +The examination was conducted in the first instance before a court of four +inquisitors, as they were termed; who, after a patient hearing of both +sides, reported the result of their examination to a council of seventeen, +chosen like them from the cortes, from whose decision there was no appeal. +No lawyer was admitted into this council, lest the law might be distorted +by verbal quibbles, says Blancas. The council, however, was allowed the +advice of two of the profession. They voted by ballot, and the majority +decided. Such, after various modifications, were the regulations +ultimately adopted in 1461, or rather 1467. Robertson appears to have +confounded the council of seventeen with the court of inquisition. See his +History of Charles V., vol. i. note 31. + +[65] Probably no nation of the period would have displayed a temperance +similar to that exhibited by the Aragonese at the beginning of the +fifteenth century, in 1412; when the people, having been split into +factions by a contested succession, agreed to refer the dispute to a +committee of judges, elected equally from the three great provinces of the +kingdom; who, after an examination conducted with all the forms of law, +and on the same equitable principles as would have guided the +determination of a private suit, delivered an opinion, which was received +as obligatory on the whole nation. + +[66] See Zurita, Anales, lib. 8, cap. 29,--and the admirable sentiments +cited by Blancas from the parliamentary acts, in 1451. Commentarii, p. +350. + +From this independent position must be excepted, indeed, the lower classes +of the peasantry, who seem to have been in a more abject state in Aragon +than in most other feudal countries. "Era tan absolute su dominio (of +their lords) que podian mater con hambre, sed, y frio á sus vasallos de +servidumbre." (Asso y Manuel, Instituciones, p. 40,--also Blancas, +Commentarii, p. 309.) These serfs extorted, in an insurrection, the +recognition of certain rights from their masters, on condition of paying a +specified tax; whence the name _villanos de parada_. + +[67] Although the legislatures of the different states of the crown of +Aragon were never united in one body when convened in the same town, yet +they were so averse to all appearance of incorporation, that the monarch +frequently appointed for the places of meeting three distinct towns, +within their respective territories and contiguous, in order that he might +pass the more expeditiously from one to the other. See Blancas, Modo de +Proceder, cap. 4. + +[68] It is indeed true, that Peter III., at the request of the Valencians, +appointed an Aragonese knight Justice of that kingdom, in 1283. (Zurita, +Anales, tom. i. fol. 281.) But we find no further mention of this officer, +or of the office. Nor have I met with any notice of it in the details of +the Valencian constitution, compiled by Capmany from various writers. +(Práctica y Estilo, pp. 161-208.) An anecdote of Ximenes Cerdan, recorded +by Blancas, (Commentarii, p. 214,) may lead one to infer, that the places +in Valencia, which received the laws of Aragon, acknowledged the +jurisdiction of its Justicia. + +[69] Capmany, Práctica y Estilo, pp. 62-214.--Capmany has collected +copious materials, from a variety of authors, for the parliamentary +history of Catalonia and Valencia, forming a striking contrast to the +scantiness of information he was able to glean respecting Castile. The +indifference of the Spanish writers, till very recently, to the +constitutional antiquities of the latter kingdom, so much more important +than the other states of the Peninsula, is altogether inexplicable. + +[70] Corbera, Cataluña Illustrada, (Nápoles, 1678,) lib. 1, c. 17.--Petrus +de Marca cites a charter of Raymond Berenger, count of Barcelona, to the +city, as ancient as 1025, confirming its former privileges. See Marca +Hispanica, sive Limes Hispanicus, (Parisiis, 1688,) Apend. no. 198. + +[71] Navarrete, Discurso Histórico, apud Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. +v. pp. 81, 82, 112, 113.--Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. i. part. 1, +cap. 1, pp. 4, 8, 10, 11. + +[72] Mem. de Barcelona, part. 1, cap. 2, 3.--Capmany has given a register +of the consuls and of the numerous stations, at which they were +established throughout Africa and Europe, in the fourteenth and fifteenth +centuries, (tom. ii. Apend. no. 23.) These officers during the Middle Ages +discharged much more important duties than at the present day, if we +except those few residing with the Barbary powers. They settled the +disputes arising between their countrymen, in the ports where they were +established; they protected the trade of their own nation with these +ports; and were employed in adjusting commercial relations, treaties, etc. +In short, they filled in some sort the post of a modern ambassador, or +resident minister, at a period when this functionary was only employed on +extraordinary occasions. + +[73] Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, (London, 1825,) vol. i. p. 655.--The +woollen manufacture constituted the principal staple of Barcelona. +(Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. i. p. 241.) The English sovereigns +encouraged the Catalan traders by considerable immunities to frequent +their ports during the fourteenth century. Macpherson, ubi supra, pp. 502, +551, 588. + +[74] Heeren, Essai sur l'Influence des Croisades, traduit par Villers, +(Paris, 1808,) p. 376.--Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. i. p. 213, also +pp. 170-180.--Capmany fixes the date of the publication of the +_Consulado del Mar_ at the middle of the thirteenth century, under +James I. He discusses and refutes the claims of the Pisans to precedence +in this codification. See his Preliminary Discourse to the Costumbres +Maritimas de Barcelona. + +[75] Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. 3.--L. Marineo styles it "the most beautiful +city he had ever seen, or, to speak more correctly, in the whole world." +(Cosas Memorables, fol. 18.) Alfonso V., in one of his ordinances, in +1438, calls it "urbs venerabilis in egregiis templis, tuta ut in optimis, +pulchra in caeteris aedificiis," etc. Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. ii. +Apend. no. 13. + +[76] Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, Apend. no. 24.--The senate or great +council, though styled the "one hundred," seems to have fluctuated at +different times between that number and double its amount. + +[77] Corbera, Cataluña Illustrada, p. 84.--Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, +tom. ii. Apend. no. 29. + +[78] Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. i. part. 3, p. 40, tom. iii. part. +2, pp. 317, 318. + +[79] Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. i. part. 2, p. 187.--tom. ii. Apend. +30.--Capmany says _principal nobleza_; yet it may be presumed that much +the larger proportion of these noble candidates for office was drawn +from the inferior class of the privileged orders, the knights and +hidalgos. The great barons of Catalonia, fortified with extensive +immunities and wealth, lived on their estates in the country, probably +little relishing the levelling spirit of the burghers of Barcelona. + +[80] Barcelona revolted and was twice besieged by the royal arms under +John II., once under Philip IV., twice under Charles II., and twice under +Philip V. This last siege, 1713-14, in which it held out against the +combined forces of France and Spain under Marshal Berwick, is one of the +most memorable events in the eighteenth century. An interesting account of +the siege may be found in Coxe's Memoirs of the Kings of Spain of the +House of Bourbon, (London, 1815,) vol. ii. chap. 21.--The late monarch, +Ferdinand VII., also had occasion to feel, that the independent spirit of +the Catalans did not become extinct with their ancient constitution. + +[81] Viaggio, fol. 3. + +[82] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 183.--Zurita, Anales, tom. +iii. lib. 12, cap. 59.--The king turned his back on the magistrates, who +came to pay their respects to him, on learning his intention of quitting +the city. He seems, however, to have had the magnanimity to forgive, +perhaps to admire, the independent conduct of Fiveller; for at his death, +which occurred very soon after, we find this citizen mentioned as one of +his executors. See Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. ii. Apend. 29. + +[83] The taxes were assessed in the ratio of one-sixth on Valencia, two- +sixths on Aragon, and three-sixths on Catalonia. See Martel, Forma de +Celebrar Cortes, cap. 71. + +[84] See the items specified by Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. i. pp. +231, 232. + +[85] Idem, tom. i. pp. 221, 234.--Capmany states, that the statute of +Alfonso V. prohibited "all foreign ships from taking cargoes in the ports +of his dominions." (See also Colec. Dipl., tom. ii. no. 187.) The object +of this law, like that of the British Navigation Act, was the +encouragement of the national marine. It deviated far, however, from the +sagacious policy of the latter, which imposed no restriction on the +exportation of domestic produce to foreign countries, except, indeed, its +own colonies. + +[86] Andres, Dell' Origine, de' Progressi, e dello Stato Attuale d' Ogni +Letteratura, (Venezia, 1783,) part. 1, cap. 11.--Lampillas, Saggio +Storico-Apologetico della Letteratura Spagnuola, (Genova, 1778,) part. 1, +dis. 6, sec. 7.--Andres conjectures, and Lampillas decides, in favor of +Catalonia. _Arcades ambo_; and the latter critic, the worst possible +authority on all questions of national preference. + +[87] Velazquez, Orígenes de la Poesía Castellana, (Málaga, 1797,) pp. 20- +22.--Andres, Letteratura, part. 1, cap. 11.--Alfonso II., Peter II., Peter +III, James I., Peter IV., have all left compositions in the Limousin +tongue behind them; the three former in verse; the two latter in prose, +setting forth the history of their own time. For a particular account of +their respective productions, see Latassa, (Escritores Aragoneses, tom. i. +pp. 175-179, 185-189, 222, 224, 242-248; tom. ii. p. 28,) also Lanuza, +(Historias Eclesiásticas y Seculares de Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1622,) tom. i. +p. 553.) The Chronicle of James I. is particularly esteemed for its +fidelity. + +[88] Whether Jordi stole from Petrarch, or Petrarch from Jordi, has been +matter of hot debate between the Spanish and French _littérateurs_. +Sanchez, after a careful examination of the evidence, candidly decides +against his countryman, (Poesías Castellanas, tom. i. pp. 81-84.) A +competent critic in the Retrospective Review, (No. 7, art. 2,) who enjoyed +the advantage over Sanchez of perusing a MS. copy of Jordi's original +poem, makes out a very plausible argument in favor of the originality of +the Valencian poet. After all, as the amount stolen, or, to speak more +reverently, borrowed, does not exceed half a dozen lines, it is not of +vital importance to the reputation of either poet. + +[89] The abate Andres lamented fifty years ago, that the worms and moths +should be allowed to revel among the precious relics of ancient Castilian +literature. (Letteratura, tom. ii. p. 306.) Have their revels been +disturbed yet? + +[90] Mayáns y Siscár, Orígenes de la Lengua Española, (Madrid, 1737,) tom. +ii. pp. 323, 324.--Crescimbeni, Istoria della Volgar Poesia, (Venezia, +1731,) tom. ii. p. 170.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. i. p. 183.-- +Velazquez, Poesía Castellana, pp. 23, 24. + +[91] Mayáns y Siscár, Orígenes, tom. ii. pp. 325-327. + +[92] Andres, Letteratura, tom. iv. pp. 85, 86.--Capmany, Mem. de +Barcelona, tom. ii. Apend. no. 16.--There were thirty-two chairs, or +professorships, founded and maintained at the expense of the city; six of +theology; six of jurisprudence; five of medicine; six of philosophy; four +of grammar; one of rhetoric; one of surgery; one of anatomy; one of +Hebrew, and another of Greek. It is singular, that none should have +existed for the Latin, so much more currently studied at that time, and of +so much more practical application always, than either of the other +ancient languages. + +[93] The Valencian, "the sweetest and most graceful of the Limousin +dialects," says Mayáns y Siscár, Orígenes, tom. i. p. 58. + +[94] Nicolás Antonio, Bibliotheca, Hispana Vetus, (Matriti, 1788,) tom. +ii. p. 146.--Andres, Letteratura, tom. iv. p. 87. + +[95] Cervantes, Don Quixote, (ed. de Pellicer, Madrid, 1787,) tom. i, p. +62.--Mendez, Typographia Española, (Madrid, 1796,) pp. 72-75.--Andres, +Letteratura, ubi supra.--Pellicer seems to take Martorell's word in good +earnest, that his book is only a version from the Castilian. + +The _names_ of some of the most noted troubadours are collected by +Velazquez, Poesía Castellana, (pp. 20-24.--Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, +tom. ii. Apend. no. 5.) Some extracts and pertinent criticisms on their +productions may be found by the English reader in the Retrospective +Review. (No. 7, art. 2.) It is to be regretted that the author has not +redeemed his pledge of continuing his notices to the Castilian era of +Spanish poetry. + + +[Illustration: GENEALOGY OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.] + + + + +PART FIRST. + +1406-1492. + +THE PERIOD WHEN THE DIFFERENT KINGDOMS OF SPAIN WERE FIRST UNITED UNDER +ONE MONARCHY, AND A THOROUGH REFORM WAS INTRODUCED INTO THEIR INTERNAL +ADMINISTRATION; OR THE PERIOD EXHIBITING MOST FULLY THE DOMESTIC POLICY OF +FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +STATE OF CASTILE AT THE BIRTH OF ISABELLA.--REIGN OF JOHN II., OF CASTILE. + +1406-1454. + +Revolution of Trastamara.--Accession of John II.--Rise of Alvaro de Luna. +--Jealousy of the Nobles.--Oppression of the Commons.--Its Consequences.-- +Early Literature of Castile.--Its Encouragement under John II.--Decline of +Alvaro de Luna.--His Fall.--Death of John II.--Birth of Isabella. + + +The fierce civil feuds, which preceded the accession of the House of +Trastamara in 1368, were as fatal to the nobility of Castile, as the wars +of the Hoses were to that of England. There was scarcely a family of note, +which had not poured out its blood on the field or the scaffold. The +influence of the aristocracy was, of course, much diminished with its +numbers. The long wars with foreign powers, which a disputed succession +entailed on the country, were almost equally prejudicial to the authority +of the monarch, who was willing to buoy up his tottering title by the most +liberal concession of privileges to the people. Thus the commons rose in +proportion as the crown and the privileged orders descended in the scale; +and, when the claims of the several competitors for the throne were +finally extinguished, and the tranquillity of the kingdom was secured, by +the union of Henry the Third with Catharine of Lancaster at the close of +the fourteenth century, the third estate may be said to have attained to +the highest degree of political consequence which it ever reached in +Castile. + +The healthful action of the body politic, during the long interval of +peace that followed this auspicious union, enabled it to repair the +strength, which had been wasted in its murderous civil contests. The +ancient channels of commerce were again opened; various new manufactures +were introduced, and carried to a considerable perfection; [1] wealth, +with its usual concomitants, elegance and comfort, flowed in apace; and +the nation promised itself a long career of prosperity under a monarch, +who respected the laws in his own person, and administered them with +vigor. All these fair hopes were blasted by the premature death of Henry +the Third, before he had reached his twenty-eighth year. The crown +devolved on his son John the Second, then a minor, whose reign was one of +the longest and the most disastrous in the Castilian annals. [2] As it was +that, however, which gave birth to Isabella, the illustrious subject of +our narrative, it will be necessary to pass its principal features under +review, in order to obtain a correct idea of her government. + +The wise administration of the regency, during a long minority, postponed +the season of calamity; and when it at length arrived, it was concealed +for some time from the eyes of the vulgar by the pomp and brilliant +festivities, which distinguished the court of the young monarch. His +indisposition, if not incapacity for business, however, gradually became +manifest; and, while he resigned himself without reserve to pleasures, +which it must be confessed were not unfrequently of a refined and +intellectual character, he abandoned the government of his kingdom to the +control of favorites. + +The most conspicuous of these was Alvaro de Luna, grand master of St. +James, and constable of Castile. This remarkable person, the illegitimate +descendant of a noble house in Aragon, was introduced very early as a page +into the royal household, where he soon distinguished himself by his +amiable manners and personal accomplishments. He could ride, fence, dance, +sing, if we may credit his loyal biographer, better than any other +cavalier in the court; while his proficiency in music and poetry +recommended him most effectually to the favor of the monarch, who +professed to be a connoisseur in both. With these showy qualities, Alvaro +de Luna united others of a more dangerous complexion. His insinuating +address easily conciliated confidence, and enabled him to master the +motives of others, while his own were masked by consummate dissimulation. +He was as fearless in executing his ambitious schemes, as he was cautious +in devising them. He was indefatigable in his application to business, so +that John, whose aversion to it we have noticed, willingly reposed on him +the whole burden of government. The king, it was said, only signed, while +the constable dictated and executed. He was the only channel of promotion +to public office, whether secular or ecclesiastical. As his cupidity was +insatiable, he perverted the great trust confided to him to the +acquisition of the principal posts in the government for himself or his +kindred, and at his death is said to have left a larger amount of treasure +than was possessed by the whole nobility of the kingdom. He affected a +magnificence of state corresponding with his elevated rank. The most +considerable grandees in Castile contended for the honor of having their +sons, after the fashion of the time, educated in his family. When he rode +abroad, he was accompanied by a numerous retinue of knights and nobles, +which left his sovereign's court comparatively deserted; so that royalty +might be said on all occasions, whether of business or pleasure, to be +eclipsed by the superior splendors of its satellite. [3] The history of +this man may remind the English reader of that of Cardinal Wolsey, whom he +somewhat resembled in character, and still more in his extraordinary +fortunes. + +It may easily be believed, that the haughty aristocracy of Castile would +ill brook this exaltation of an individual so inferior to them in birth, +and who withal did not wear his honors with exemplary meekness. John's +blind partiality for his favorite is the key to all the troubles which +agitated the kingdom during the last thirty years of his reign. The +disgusted nobles organized confederacies for the purpose of deposing the +minister. The whole nation took sides in this unhappy struggle. The heats +of civil discord were still further heightened by the interference of the +royal house of Aragon, which, descended from a common stock with that of +Castile, was proprietor of large estates in the latter country. The +wretched monarch beheld even his own son Henry, the heir to the crown, +enlisted in the opposite faction, and saw himself reduced to the extremity +of shedding the blood of his subjects in the fatal battle of Olmedo. Still +the address, or the good fortune, of the constable enabled him to triumph +over his enemies; and, although he was obliged occasionally to yield to +the violence of the storm and withdraw a while from the court, he was soon +recalled and reinstated in all his former dignities. This melancholy +infatuation of the king is imputed by the writers of that age to sorcery +on the part of the favorite. [4] But the only witchcraft which he used, +was the ascendency of a strong mind over a weak one. + +During this long-protracted anarchy, the people lost whatever they had +gained in the two preceding reigns. By the advice of his minister, who +seems to have possessed a full measure of the insolence, so usual with +persons suddenly advanced from low to elevated station, the king not only +abandoned the constitutional policy of his predecessors in regard to the +commons, but entered on the most arbitrary and systematic violation of +their rights. Their deputies were excluded from the privy council, or lost +all influence in it. Attempts were made to impose taxes without the +legislative sanction. The municipal territories were alienated, and +lavished on the royal minions. The freedom of elections was invaded, and +delegates to cortes were frequently nominated by the crown; and, to +complete the iniquitous scheme of oppression, _pragmaticas_, or royal +proclamations, were issued, containing provisions repugnant to the +acknowledged law of the land, and affirming in the most unqualified terms +the right of the sovereign to legislate for his subjects. [5] The commons +indeed, when assembled in cortes, stoutly resisted the assumption of such +unconstitutional powers by the crown, and compelled the prince not only to +revoke his pretensions, but to accompany his revocation with the most +humiliating concessions. [6] They even ventured so far, during this reign, +as to regulate the expenses of the royal household; [7] and their language +to the throne on all these occasions, though temperate and loyal, breathed +a generous spirit of patriotism, evincing a perfect consciousness of their +own rights, and a steady determination to maintain them. [8] + +Alas! what could such resolution avail, in this season of misrule, against +the intrigues of a cunning and profligate minister, unsupported too, as +the commons were, by any sympathy or co-operation on the part of the +higher orders of the state! A scheme was devised for bringing the popular +branch of the legislature more effectually within the control of the +crown, by diminishing the number of its constituents. It has been already +remarked, in the Introduction, that a great irregularity prevailed in +Castile as to the number of cities which, at different times, exercised +the right of representation. During the fourteenth century, the deputation +from this order had been uncommonly full. The king, however, availing +himself of this indeterminateness, caused writs to be issued to a very +small proportion of the towns which had usually enjoyed the privilege. +Some of those that were excluded indignantly though ineffectually +remonstrated against this abuse. Others, previously despoiled of their +possessions by the rapacity of the crown, or impoverished by the +disastrous feuds into which the country had been thrown, acquiesced in the +measure from motives of economy. From the same mistaken policy several +cities, again, as Burgos, Toledo, and others, petitioned the sovereign to +defray the charges of their representatives from the royal treasury; a +most ill-advised parsimony, which suggested to the crown a plausible +pretext for the new system of exclusion. In this manner the Castilian +cortes, which, notwithstanding its occasional fluctuations, had exhibited +during the preceding century what might be regarded as a representation of +the whole commonwealth, was gradually reduced, during the reigns of John +the Second and his son Henry the Fourth, to the deputations of some +seventeen or eighteen cities. And to this number, with slight variation, +it has been restricted until the occurrence of the recent revolutionary +movements in that kingdom. [9] + +The non-represented were required to transmit their instructions to the +deputies of the privileged cities. Thus Salamanca appeared in behalf of +five hundred towns and fourteen hundred villages; and the populous +province of Galicia was represented by the little town of Zamora, which is +not even included within its geographical limits. [10] The privilege of a +_voice in cortes_, as it was called, came at length to be prized so +highly by the favored cities, that when, in 1506, some of those which were +excluded solicited the restitution of their ancient rights, their petition +was opposed by the former on the impudent pretence, that "the right of +deputation had been reserved by ancient law and usage to only eighteen +cities of the realm." [11] In this short-sighted and most unhappy policy, +we see the operation of those local jealousies and estrangements, to which +we have alluded in the Introduction. But, although the cortes, thus +reduced in numbers, necessarily lost much of its weight, it still +maintained a bold front against the usurpations of the crown. It does not +appear, indeed, that any attempt was made under John the Second, or his +successor, to corrupt its members, or to control the freedom of debate; +although such a proceeding is not improbable, as altogether conformable to +their ordinary policy, and as the natural result of their preliminary +measures. But, however true the deputies continued to themselves and to +those who sent them, it is evident that so limited and partial a selection +no longer afforded a representation of the interests of the whole country. +Their necessarily imperfect acquaintance with the principles or even +wishes of their widely scattered constituents, in an age when knowledge +was not circulated on the thousand wings of the press, as in our day, must +have left them oftentimes in painful uncertainty, and deprived them of the +cheering support of public opinion. The voice of remonstrance, which +derives such confidence from numbers, would hardly now be raised in their +deserted halls with the same frequency or energy as before; and, however +the representatives of that day might maintain their integrity +uncorrupted, yet, as every facility was afforded to the undue influence of +the crown, the time might come when venality would prove stronger than +principle, and the unworthy patriot be tempted to sacrifice his birthright +for a mess of pottage. Thus early was the fair dawn of freedom overcast, +which opened in Castile under more brilliant auspices, perhaps, than in +any other country in Europe. + +While the reign of John the Second is so deservedly odious in a political +view, in a literary, it may be inscribed with what Giovio calls "the +golden pen of history." It was an epoch in the Castilian, corresponding +with that of the reign of Francis the First in French literature, +distinguished not so much by any production of extraordinary genius, as by +the effort made for the introduction of an elegant culture, by conducting +it on more scientific principles than had been hitherto known. The early +literature of Castile could boast of the "Poem of the Cid," in some +respects the most remarkable performance of the middle ages. It was +enriched, moreover, with other elaborate compositions, displaying +occasional glimpses of a buoyant fancy, or of sensibility to external +beauty, to say nothing of those delightful romantic ballads, which seemed +to spring up spontaneously in every quarter of the country, like the +natural wild flowers of the soil. But the unaffected beauties of +sentiment, which seem rather the result of accident than design, were +dearly purchased, in the more extended pieces, at the expense of such a +crude mass of grotesque and undigested verse, as shows an entire ignorance +of the principles of the art. [12] + +The profession of letters itself was held in little repute by the higher +orders of the nation, who were altogether untinctured with liberal +learning. While the nobles of the sister kingdom of Aragon, assembled in +their poetic courts, in imitation of their Provençal neighbors, vied with +each other in lays of love and chivalry, those of Castile disdained these +effeminate pleasures as unworthy of the profession of arms, the only one +of any estimation in their eyes. The benignant influence of John was +perceptible in softening this ferocious temper. He was himself +sufficiently accomplished, for a king; and, notwithstanding his aversion +to business, manifested, as has been noticed, a lively relish for +intellectual enjoyment. He was fond of books, wrote and spoke Latin with +facility, composed verses, and condescended occasionally to correct those +of his loving subjects. [13] Whatever might be the value of his +criticisms, that of his example cannot be doubted. The courtiers, with the +quick scent for their own interest which distinguished the tribe in every +country, soon turned their attention to the same polite studies; [14] and +thus Castilian poetry received very early the courtly stamp, which +continued its prominent characteristic down to the age of its meridian +glory. + +Among the most eminent of these noble _savans_, was Henry, marquis of +Villena, descended from the royal houses of Castile and Aragon, [15] but +more illustrious, as one of his countrymen has observed, by his talents +and attainments, than by his birth. His whole life was consecrated to +letters, and especially to the study of natural science. I am not aware +that any specimen of his poetry, although much lauded by his +contemporaries, [16] has come down to us. [17] He translated Dante's +"Commedia" into prose, and is said to have given the first example of a +version of the AEneid into a modern language. [18] He labored assiduously +to introduce a more cultivated taste among his countrymen, and his little +treatise on the _gaya sciencia_, as the divine art was then called, +in which he gives an historical and critical view of the poetical +Consistory of Barcelona, is the first approximation, however faint, to an +Art of Poetry in the Castilian tongue. [19] The exclusiveness with which +he devoted himself to science, and especially astronomy, to the utter +neglect of his temporal concerns, led the wits of that day to remark, that +"he knew much of heaven, and nothing of earth." He paid the usual penalty +of such indifference to worldly weal, by seeing himself eventually +stripped of his lordly possessions, and reduced, at the close of life, to +extreme poverty. [20] His secluded habits brought on him the appalling +imputation of necromancy. A scene took place at his death, in 1434, which +is sufficiently characteristic of the age, and may possibly have suggested +a similar adventure to Cervantes. The king commissioned his son's +preceptor, Brother Lope de Barrientos, afterwards bishop of Cuença, to +examine the valuable library of the deceased; and the worthy ecclesiastic +consigned more than a hundred volumes of it to the flames, as savoring too +strongly of the black art. The Bachelor Cibdareal, the confidential +physician of John the Second, in a lively letter on this occurrence to the +poet John de Mena, remarks, that "some would fain get the reputation of +saints, by making others necromancers;" and requests his friend "to allow +him to solicit, in his behalf, some of the surviving volumes from the +king, that in this way the soul of Brother Lope might be saved from +further sin, and the spirit of the defunct marquis consoled by the +consciousness, that his books no longer rested on the shelves of the man +who had converted him into a conjuror." [21] John de Mena denounces this +_auto da fe_ of science in a similar, but graver tone of sarcasm, in +his "Laberinto." These liberal sentiments in the Spanish writers of the +fifteenth century may put to shame the more bigoted criticism of the +seventeenth. [22] + +Another of the illustrious wits of this reign was Iñigo Lopez de Mendoza, +marquis of Santillana, "the glory and delight of the Castilian nobility," +whose celebrity was such, that foreigners, it was said, journeyed to Spain +from distant parts of Europe to see him. Although passionately devoted to +letters, he did not, like his friend the marquis of Villena, neglect his +public or domestic duties for them. On the contrary, he discharged the +most important civil and military functions. He made his house an academy, +in which the young cavaliers of the court might practise the martial +exercises of the age; and he assembled around him at the same time men +eminent for genius and science, whom he munificently recompensed, and +encouraged by his example. [23] His own taste led him to poetry, of which +he has left some elaborate specimens. They are chiefly of a moral and +preceptive character; but, although replete with noble sentiment, and +finished in a style of literary excellence far more correct than that of +the preceding age, they are too much infected with mythology and +metaphorical affectations to suit the palate of the present day. He +possessed, however, the soul of a poet; and when he abandons himself to +his native _redondillas_, delivers his sentiments with a sweetness +and grace inimitable. To him is to be ascribed the glory, such as it is, +of having naturalized the Italian sonnet in Castile, which Boscan, many +years later, claimed for himself with no small degree of self- +congratulation. [24] His epistle on the primitive history of Spanish +verse, although containing notices sufficiently curious from the age and +the source whence they proceed, has perhaps done more service to letters +by the valuable illustrations it has called forth from its learned editor. +[25] + +This great man, who found so much leisure for the cultivation of letters +amidst the busy strife of politics, closed his career at the age of sixty, +in 1458. Though a conspicuous actor in the revolutionary scenes of the +period, he maintained a character for honor and purity of motive, +unimpeached even by his enemies. The king, notwithstanding his devotion to +the faction of his son Henry, conferred on him the dignities of count of +Real de Manzanares and marquis of Santillana; this being the oldest +creation of a marquis in Castile, with the exception of Villena. [26] His +eldest son was subsequently made duke of Infantado, by which title his +descendants have continued to be distinguished to the present day. + +But the most conspicuous, for his poetical talents, of the brilliant +circle which graced the court of John the Second, was John de Mena, a +native of fair Cordova, "the flower of science and of chivalry," [27] as +he fondly styles her. Although born in a middling condition of life, with +humble prospects, he was early smitten with a love of letters; and, after +passing through the usual course of discipline at Salamanca, he repaired +to Rome, where, in the study of those immortal masters whose writings had +but recently revealed the full capacities of a modern idiom, he imbibed +principles of taste, which gave a direction to his own genius, and, in +some degree, to that of his countrymen. On his return to Spain, his +literary merit soon attracted general admiration, and introduced him to +the patronage of the great, and above all to the friendship of the marquis +of Santillana. [28] He was admitted into the private circle of the +monarch, who, as his gossiping physician informs us, "used to have Mena's +verses lying on his table, as constantly as his prayer-book." The poet +repaid the debt of gratitude by administering a due quantity of honeyed +rhyme, for which the royal palate seems to have possessed a more than +ordinary relish. [29] He continued faithful to his master amidst all the +fluctuations of faction, and survived him less than two years. He died in +1456; and his friend, the marquis of Santillana, raised a sumptuous +monument over his remains, in commemoration of his virtues and of their +mutual affection. + +John de Mena is affirmed by some of the national critics to have given a +new aspect to Castilian poetry. [30] His great work was his "Laberinto," +the outlines of whose plan may faintly remind us of that portion of the +"Divina Commedia" where Dante resigns himself to the guidance of Beatrice. +In like manner the Spanish poet, under the escort of a beautiful +personification of Providence, witnesses the apparition of the most +eminent individuals, whether of history or fable; and, as they revolve on +the wheel of destiny, they give occasion to some animated portraiture, and +much dull, pedantic disquisition. In these delineations we now and then +meet with a touch of his pencil, which, from its simplicity and vigor, may +be called truly _Dantesque_. Indeed, the Castilian Muse never before +ventured on so bold a flight; and, notwithstanding the deformity of the +general plan, the obsolete barbarisms of the phraseology, its quaintness +and pedantry, notwithstanding the cantering dactylic measure in which it +is composed, and which to the ear of a foreigner can scarcely be made +tolerable, the work abounds in conceptions, nay in whole episodes, of such +mingled energy and beauty, as indicate genius of the highest order. In +some of his smaller pieces his style assumes a graceful flexibility, too +generally denied to his more strained and elaborate efforts. [31] + +It will not be necessary to bring under review the minor luminaries of +this period. Alfonso de Baena, a converted Jew, secretary of John the +Second, compiled the fugitive pieces of more than fifty of these ancient +troubadours into a _cancionero_, "for the disport and divertisement +of his highness the king, when he should find himself too sorely oppressed +with cares of state," a case we may imagine of no rare occurrence. The +original manuscript of Baena, transcribed in beautiful characters of the +fifteenth century, lies, or did lie until very lately, unheeded in the +cemetery of the Escurial, with the dust of many a better worthy. [32] The +extracts selected from it by Castro, although occasionally exhibiting some +fluent graces with considerable variety of versification, convey, on the +whole, no very high idea of taste or poetic talent. [33]. + +Indeed, this epoch, as before remarked, was not so much distinguished by +uncommon displays of genius, as by its general intellectual movement and +the enthusiasm kindled for liberal studies. Thus we find the corporation +of Seville granting a hundred _doblas_ of gold as the guerdon of a +poet who had celebrated in some score of verses the glories of their +native city; and appropriating the same sum as an annual premium for a +similar performance. [34] It is not often that the productions of a poet +laureate have been more liberally recompensed even by royal bounty. But +the gifted spirits of that day mistook the road to immortality. Disdaining +the untutored simplicity of their predecessors, they sought to rise above +them by an ostentation of learning, as well as by a more classical idiom. +In the latter particular they succeeded. They much improved the external +forms of poetry, and their compositions exhibit a high degree of literary +finish, compared with all that preceded them. But their happiest +sentiments are frequently involved in such a cloud of metaphor, as to +become nearly unintelligible; while they invoke the pagan deities with a +shameless prodigality that would scandalize even a French lyric. This +cheap display of school-boy erudition, however it may have appalled their +own age, has been a principal cause of their comparative oblivion with +posterity. How far superior is one touch of nature, as the "Finojosa" or +"Querella de Amor," for example, of the marquis of Santillana, to all this +farrago of metaphor and mythology! + +The impulse, given to Castilian poetry, extended to other departments of +elegant literature. Epistolary and historical composition were cultivated +with considerable success. The latter, especially, might admit of +advantageous comparison with that of any other country in Europe at the +same period; [35] and it is remarkable, that, after such early promise, +the modern Spaniards have not been more successful in perfecting a +classical prose style. + +Enough has been said to give an idea of the state of mental improvement in +Castile under John the Second. The Muses, who had found a shelter in his +court from the anarchy which reigned abroad, soon fled from its polluted +precincts under the reign of his successor Henry the Fourth, whose sordid +appetites were incapable of being elevated above the objects of the +senses. If we have dwelt somewhat long on a more pleasing picture, it is +because our road is now to lead us across a dreary waste exhibiting +scarcely a vestige of civilization. + +While a small portion of the higher orders of the nation was thus +endeavoring to forget the public calamities in the tranquillizing pursuit +of letters, and a much larger portion in the indulgence of pleasure, [36] +the popular aversion for the minister Luna had been gradually infusing +itself into the royal bosom. His too obvious assumption of superiority, +even over the monarch who had raised him from the dust, was probably the +real though secret cause of this disgust. But the habitual ascendency of +the favorite over his master prevented the latter from disclosing this +feeling until it was heightened by an occurrence which sets in a strong +light the imbecility of the one and the presumption of the other. John, on +the death of his wife, Maria of Aragon, had formed the design of +connecting himself with a daughter of the king of France. But the +constable, in the mean time, without even the privity of his master, +entered into negotiations for his marriage with the princess Isabella, +granddaughter of John the First of Portugal; and the monarch, with an +unprecedented degree of complaisance, acquiesced in an arrangement +professedly repugnant to his own inclinations. [37] By one of those +dispensations of Providence, however, which often confound the plans of +the wisest, as of the weakest, the column, which the minister had so +artfully raised for his support, served only to crush him. + +The new queen, disgusted with his haughty bearing, and probably not much +gratified with the subordinate situation to which he had reduced her +husband, entered heartily into the feelings of the latter, and indeed +contrived to extinguish whatever spark of latent affection for his ancient +favorite lurked within his breast. John, yet fearing the overgrown power +of the constable too much to encounter him openly, condescended to adopt +the dastardly policy of Tiberius on a similar occasion, by caressing the +man whom he designed to ruin, and he eventually obtained possession of his +person, only by a violation of the royal safe-conduct. The constable's +trial was referred to a commission of jurists and privy counsellors, who, +after a summary and informal investigation, pronounced on him the sentence +of death on a specification of charges either general and indeterminate, +or of the most trivial import. "If the king," says Garibay, "had dispensed +similar justice to all his nobles, who equally deserved it in those +turbulent times, he would have had but few to reign over." [38] + +The constable had supported his disgrace, from the first, with an +equanimity not to have been expected from his elation in prosperity; and +he now received the tidings of his fate with a similar fortitude. As he +rode along the streets to the place of execution, clad in the sable livery +of an ordinary criminal, and deserted by those who had been reared by his +bounty, the populace, who before called so loudly for his disgrace, struck +with this astonishing reverse of his brilliant fortunes, were melted into +tears. [39] They called to mind the numerous instances of his magnanimity. +They reflected, that the ambitious schemes of his rivals had been not a +whit less selfish, though less successful, than his own; and that, if his +cupidity appeared insatiable, he had dispensed the fruits of it in acts of +princely munificence. He himself maintained a serene and even cheerful +aspect. Meeting one of the domestics of Prince Henry, he bade him request +the prince "to reward the attachment of his servants with a different +guerdon from what his master had assigned to him." As he ascended the +scaffold, he surveyed the apparatus of death with composure, and calmly +submitted himself to the stroke of the executioner, who, in the savage +style of the executions of that day, plunged his knife into the throat of +his victim, and deliberately severed his head from his body. A basin, for +the reception of alms to defray the expenses of his interment, was placed +at one extremity of the scaffold; and his mutilated remains, after having +been exposed for several days to the gaze of the populace, were removed, +by the brethren of a charitable order, to a place called the hermitage of +St. Andrew, appropriated as the cemetery for malefactors. [40] + +Such was the tragical end of Alvaro de Luna; a man, who, for more than +thirty years, controlled the counsels of the sovereign, or, to speak more +properly, was himself the sovereign of Castile. His fate furnishes one of +the most memorable lessons in history. It was not lost on his +contemporaries; and the marquis of Santillana has made use of it to point +the moral of perhaps the most pleasing of his didactic compositions. [41] +John did not long survive his favorite's death, which he was seen +afterwards to lament even with tears. Indeed, during the whole of the +trial he had exhibited the most pitiable agitation, having twice issued +and recalled his orders countermanding the constable's execution; and, had +it not been for the superior constancy, or vindictive temper of the queen, +he would probably have yielded to these impulses of returning affection. +[42] + +So far from deriving a wholesome warning from experience, John confided +the entire direction of his kingdom to individuals not less interested, +but possessed of far less enlarged capacities, than the former minister. +Penetrated with remorse at the retrospect of his unprofitable life, and +filled with melancholy presages of the future, the unhappy prince lamented +to his faithful attendant Cibdareal, on his deathbed, that "he had not +been born the son of a mechanic, instead of king of Castile." He died July +21st, 1454, after a reign of eight and forty years, if reign it may be +called, which was more properly one protracted minority. John left one +child by his first wife, Henry, who succeeded him on the throne; and by +his second wife two others, Alfonso, then an infant, and Isabella, +afterwards queen of Castile, the subject of the present narrative. She had +scarcely reached her fourth year at the time of her father's decease, +having been born on the 22d of April, 1451, at Madrigal. The king +recommended his younger children to the especial care and protection of +their brother Henry, and assigned the town of Cuellar, with its territory +and a considerable sum of money, for the maintenance of the Infanta +Isabella. [43] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Sempere y Guarinos, Historia del Luxo, y de las Leyes Suntuarias de +España, (Madrid, 1788,) tom. i. p. 171. + +[2] Crónica de Enrique III., edicion de la Academia, (Madrid, 1780,) +passim.--Crónica de Juan II., (Valencia, 1779,) p. 6. + +[3] Crónica de Alvaro de Luna, edition de la Academia, (Madrid, 1784,) +tit. 3, 5, 68, 74.--Guzman, Generaciones y Semblanzas, (Madrid, 1775,) +cap. 33, 34.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, en Anales Históricos, (Madrid, +1682,) tom. i. fol. 227.--Crónica de Juan II., passim.--He possessed sixty +towns and fortresses, and kept three thousand lances constantly in pay. +Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. + +[4] Guzman, Generaciones, cap. 33.--Crónica de Don Juan II., p. 491, et +alibi. His complaisance for the favorite, indeed, must be admitted, if we +believe Guzman, to have been of a most extraordinary kind. "E lo que con +mayor maravilla se puede decir é oír, que aun en los autos naturales se +dió así á la ordenanza del condestable, que seyendo él mozo bien +complexionado, é teniendo á la reyna su muger moza y hermosa, si el +condestable se lo contradixiese, no iria á dormir á su cama della." Ubi +supra. + +[5] Marina, Teoría de las Cortes, (Madrid, 1813,) tom. i. cap. 20.--tom. +ii. pp. 216, 390, 391.--tom. iii. part. 2, no. 4.--Capmany, Práctica y +Estilo de Celebrar Cortes en Aragon, Cataluña y Valencia, (Madrid, 1821,) +pp. 234, 235.--Sempere, Histoire des Cortès d'Espagne, (Bordeaux, 1815,) +ch. 18, 24. + +[6] Several of this prince's laws for redressing the alleged grievances +are incorporated in the great code of Philip II., (Recopilacion de las +Leyes, (Madrid, 1640,) lib. 6, tit. 7, leyes 5, 7, 2,) which declares, in +the most unequivocal language, the right of the commons to be consulted on +all important matters. "Porque en los hechos arduos de nuestros reynos es +necessario consejo de nuestros subditos, y naturales, _especialmente de +los procuradores de las nuestras ciudades, villas, y lugares de los +nuestros reynos._" It was much easier to extort good laws from this +monarch, than to enforce them. + +[7] Mariana, Historia de España, (Madrid, 1780,) tom. ii. p. 299. + +[8] Marina, Teoría, ubi supra. + +[9] Capmany, Práctica y Estilo, p. 228.--Sempere, Hist. des Cortès, chap. +19.--Marina, Teoría, part. 1, cap. 16.--In 1656, the city of Palencia was +content to repurchase its ancient right of representation from the crown, +at an expense of 80,000 ducats. + +[10] Capmany, Práctica y Estilo, p. 230.--Sempere, Histoire des Cortès +d'Espagne, chap. 19. + +[11] Marina, Teoría, tom. i. p. 161. + +[12] See the ample collections of Sanchez, "Poesías Castellanas anteriores +al Siglo XV." 4 tom. Madrid, 1779-1790. + +[13] Guzman, Generaciones, cap. 33.--Gomez de Cibdareal, Centon +Epistolario, (Madrid, 1775,) epist. 20, 49.--Cibdareal has given us a +specimen of this royal criticism, which Juan de Mena, the subject of it, +was courtier enough to adopt. + +[14] Velazquez, Orígenes de la Poesía Castellana, (Málaga, 1797,) p. 45.-- +Sanchez, Poesías Castellanas, tom. i. p. 10.--"The Cancioneros Generales, +in print and in manuscript," says Sanchez, "show the great number of +dukes, counts, marquises, and other nobles, who cultivated this art." + +[15] He was the grandson, not, as Sanchez supposes (tom. i. p.15), the +son, of Alonso de Villena, the first marquis as well as constable created +in Castile, descended from James II. of Aragon. (See Dormer, Enmiendas y +Advertencias de Zurita, (Zaragoza, 1683,) pp. 371-376.) His mother was an +illegitimate daughter of Henry II., of Castile. Guzman, Generaciones, cap. +28.--Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquía de España, (Madrid, 1770,) tom. i. pp. +203, 339. + +[16] Guzman, Generaciones, cap. 28.--Juan de Mena introduces Villena into +his "Laberinto," in an agreeable stanza, which has something of the +mannerism of Dante. + + "Aquel claro padre aquel dulce fuente + aquel que en el castolo monte resuena + es don Enrique Señor de Villena + honrra de España y del siglo presente," etc. + Juan de Mena, Obras, (Alcalá, 1566,) fol. 138. + +[17] The recent Castilian translators of Bouterwek's History of Spanish +Literature have fallen into an error in imputing the beautiful +_cancion_ of the "Querella de Amor" to Villena. It was composed by +the Marquis of Santillana. (Bouterwek, Historia de la Literatura Española, +traducida por Cortina y Hugalde y Mollinedo, (Madrid, 1829,) p. 196, and +Sanchez, Poesías Castellanas, tom. i. pp. 38, 143.) + +[18] Velazquez, Orígenes de la Poesía Castellana, p. 45.--Bouterwek, +Literatura Española, trad. de Cortina y Mollinedo, nota S. + +[19] See an abstract of it in Mayans y Siscar, Orígines de la Lengua +Española, (Madrid, 1737,) tom. ii. pp. 321 et seq. + +[20] Zurita, Anales de la Corona de Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1669,) tom. iii. p. +227.--Guzman, Generaciones, cap. 28. + +[21] Centon Epistolario, epist. 66.--The bishop endeavored to transfer the +blame of the conflagration to the king. There can be little doubt, +however, that the good father infused the suspicions of necromancy into +his master's bosom. "The angels," he says in one of his works, "who +guarded Paradise, presented a treatise on magic to one of the posterity of +Adam, from a copy of which Villena derived his science." (See Juan de +Mena, Obras, fol. 139, glosa.) One would think that such an orthodox +source might have justified Villena in the use of it. + +[22] Comp. Juan de Mena, Obras, copl. 127, 128; and Nic. Antonio, +Bibliotheca Vetus, tom. ii. p. 220. + +[23] Pulgar, Claros Varones de Castilla, y Letras, (Madrid, 1755,) tit. +4.--Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, lib. 10, cap. 9.--Quincuagenas de +Gonzalo de Oviedo, MS., batalla 1, quinc. 1, dial. 8. + +[24] Garcilasso de la Vega, Obras, ed. de Herrera, (1580,) pp. 75, 76-- +Sanchez, Poesías Castellanas, tom. i. p. 21.--Boscan, Obras, (1543,) fol. +19.--It must be admitted, however, that the attempt was premature, and +that it required a riper stage of the language to give a permanent +character to the innovation. + +[25] See Sanchez, Poesías Castellanas, tom. i. pp. 1-119.--A copious +catalogue of the marquis de Santillana's writings is given in the same +volume, (pp. 33 et seq.) Several of his poetical pieces are collected in +the Cancionero General, (Anvers, 1573,) fol. 34 et seq. + +[26] Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 4.--Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquía, tom. +i. p. 218.--Idem, Orígen de las Dignidades Seglares de Castilla y Leon, +(Madrid, 1794,) p. 285.--Oviedo makes the marquis much older, seventy-five +years of age, when he died. He left, besides daughters, six sons, who all +became the founders of noble and powerful houses. See the whole genealogy, +in Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 8. + +[27] "Flor de saber y cabellería." El Laberinto, copla 114. + +[28] Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, tom. ii. pp. 265 et seq. + +[29] Cibdareal, Centon Epistolario, epist. 47, 49. + +[30] See Velazquez, Poesía Castellana, p. 49. + +[31] A collection of them is incorporated in the Cancionero General, fol. +41 et seq. + +[32] Castro, Biblioteca Española, (Madrid, 1781,) tom. i, pp. 266, 267.-- +This interesting document, the most primitive of all the Spanish +_cancioneros_, notwithstanding its local position in the library is +specified by Castro with great precision, eluded the search of the +industrious translators of Bouterwek, who think it may have disappeared +during the French invasion. Literatura Española, trad. de Cortina y +Mollinedo, p. 205, nota Hh. + +[33] See these collected in Castro, Biblioteca Española, tom. ii. p. 265 +et seq.--The veneration entertained for the poetic art in that day may be +conceived from Baena's whimsical prologue. "Poetry," he says, "or the gay +science, is a very subtile and delightsome composition. It demands in him, +who would hope to excel in it, a curious invention, a sane judgment, a +various scholarship, familiarity with courts and public affairs, high +birth and breeding, a temperate, courteous, and liberal disposition, and, +in fine, honey, sugar, salt, freedom, and hilarity in his discourse." p. +268. + +[34] Castro, Biblioteca Española, tom. i. p. 273. + +[35] Perhaps the most conspicuous of these historical compositions for +mere literary execution is the Chronicle of Alvaro de Luna, to which I +have had occasion to refer, edited in 1784, by Flores, the diligent +secretary of the Royal Academy of History. He justly commends it for the +purity and harmony of its diction. The loyalty of the chronicler seduces +him sometimes into a swell of panegyric, which may he thought to savor too +strongly of the current defect of Castilian prose; but it more frequently +imparts to his narrative a generous glow of sentiment, raising it far +above the lifeless details of ordinary history, and occasionally even to +positive eloquence. + +Nic. Antonio, in the tenth book of his great repository, has assembled the +biographical and bibliographical notices of the various Spanish authors of +the fifteenth century, whose labors diffused a glimmering of light over +their own age, which has become faint in the superior illumination of the +succeeding. + +[36] Sempere, in his Historia del Luxo, (tom. i. p. 177,) has published an +extract from an unprinted manuscript of the celebrated marquis of Villena, +entitled _Triunfo de las Doñas_, in which, adverting to the _petits- +maîtres_ of his time, he recapitulates the fashionable arts employed by +them for the embellishment of the person, with a degree of minuteness +which might edify a modern _dandy_. + +[37] Crónica de Juan II., p. 499.--Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, +(1679,) tom. ii. pp. 335, 372. + +[38] Crónica de Alvaro de Luna, tit. 128.--Crónica de Juan II., pp. 457, +460, 572.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 227, 228.--Garibay, +Compendio Historial de las Chrónicas de España, (Barcelona, 1628,) tom. +ii. p. 493. + +[39] Crónica de Alvaro de Luna, tit. 128.--What a contrast to all this is +afforded by the vivid portrait, sketched by John de Mena, of the constable +in the noontide of his glory. + + "Este caualga sobre la fortuna + y doma su cuello con asperas riendas + y aunque del tenga tan muchas de prendas + ella non le osa tocar de ninguna," etc. + Laberinto, coplas 235 et seq. + +[40] Cibdareal, Centon Epistolario, ep. 103.--Crónica de Juan II., p. +564.--Crónica de Alvaro de Luna, tit. 128, and Apend. p. 458. + +[41] Entitled "Doctrinal de Privados." See the Cancionero General, fol. 37 +et seq.--In the following stanza, the constable is made to moralize with +good effect on the instability of worldly grandeur. + + "Quo se hizo la moneda + que guarde para mis daños + tantos tiempos tantos años + plata joyas oro y seda + y de todo no me queda + sine este cadahalso; + mundo malo mundo falso + no ay quien contigo pueda." + +Manrique has the same sentiments in his exquisite "Coplas." I give +Longfellow's version, as spirited as it is literal. + + "Spain's haughty Constable,--the great + And gallant Master,--cruel fate + Stripped him of all. + Breathe not a whisper of his pride, + He on the gloomy scaffold died, + Ignoble fall! + The countless treasures of his care, + Hamlets and villas green and fair, + His mighty power,-- + What were they all but grief and shame, + Tears and a broken heart,--when came. + The parting hour!" + Stanza 21. + +[42] Cibdareal, Centon Epistolario, ep. 103.--Crónica de Alvaro de Luna, +tit. 128. + +[43] Crónica de Juan II., p. 576.--Cibdareal, Centon Epistolario, epist. +105. + +There has been considerable discrepancy, even among cotemporary writers, +both as to the place and the epoch of Isabella's birth, amounting, as +regards the latter, to nearly two years. I have adopted the conclusion of +Señor Clemencin, formed from a careful collation of the various +authorities, in the sixth volume of the Memorias de la Real Academia de +Historia, (Madrid, 1821,) Ilust. 1, pp. 56-60. Isabella was descended both +on the father's and mother's side from the famous John of Gaunt, duke of +Lancaster. See Florez, Memorias de las Reynas Cathólicas, (2d ed. Madrid, +1770,) tom. ii. pp. 743, 787. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +CONDITION OF ARAGON DURING THE MINORITY OF FERDINAND.--REIGN OF JOHN II., +OF ARAGON. + +1452-1472. + +John of Aragon.--Difficulties with his Son Carlos.--Birth of Ferdinand.-- +Insurrection of Catalonia.--Death of Carlos.--His Character.--Tragical +Story of Blanche.--Young Ferdinand besieged by the Catalans.--Treaty +between France and Aragon.--Distress and Embarrassments of John.--Siege +and Surrender of Barcelona. + + +We must now transport the reader to Aragon, in order to take a view of the +extraordinary circumstances, which opened the way for Ferdinand's +succession in that kingdom. The throne, which had become vacant by the +death of Martin, in 1410, was awarded by the committee of judges to whom +the nation had referred the great question of the succession, to +Ferdinand, regent of Castile during the minority of his nephew, John the +Second; and thus the sceptre, after having for more than two centuries +descended in the family of Barcelona, was transferred to the same bastard +branch of Trastamara, that ruled over the Castilian monarchy. [1] +Ferdinand the First was succeeded after a brief reign by his son Alfonso +the Fifth, whose personal history belongs less to Aragon than to Naples, +which kingdom he acquired by his own prowess, and where he established his +residence, attracted, no doubt, by the superior amenity of the climate and +the higher intellectual culture, as well as the pliant temper of the +people, far more grateful to the monarch than the sturdy independence of +his own countrymen. + +During his long absence, the government of his hereditary domains devolved +on his brother John, as his lieutenant-general in Aragon. [2] This prince +had married Blanche, widow of Martin, king of Sicily, and daughter of +Charles the Third, of Navarre. By her he had three children; Carlos, +prince of Viana; [3] Blanche, married to and afterwards repudiated by +Henry the Fourth, of Castile; [4] and Eleanor, who espoused a French +noble, Gaston, count of Foix. On the demise of the elder Blanche, the +crown of Navarre rightfully belonged to her son, the prince of Viana, +conformably to a stipulation in her marriage contract, that, on the event +of her death, the eldest heir male, and, in default of sons, female, +should inherit the kingdom, to the exclusion of her husband. [5] This +provision, which had been confirmed by her father, Charles the Third, in +his testament, was also recognized in her own, accompanied however with a +request, that her son Carlos, then twenty-one years of age, would, before +assuming the sovereignty, solicit "the good will and approbation of his +father." [6] Whether this approbation was withheld, or whether it was ever +solicited, does not appear. It seems probable, however, that Carlos, +perceiving no disposition in his father to relinquish the rank and nominal +title of king of Navarre, was willing he should retain them, so long as he +himself should be allowed to exercise the actual rights of sovereignty; +which indeed he did, as lieutenant-general or governor of the kingdom, at +the time of his mother's decease, and for some years after. [7] + +In 1447, John of Aragon contracted a second alliance with Joan Henriquez, +of the blood royal of Castile, and daughter of Don Frederic Henriquez, +admiral of that kingdom; [8] a woman considerably younger than himself, of +consummate address, intrepid spirit, and unprincipled ambition. Some years +after this union, John sent his wife into Navarre, with authority to +divide with his son Carlos the administration of the government there. +This encroachment on his rights, for such Carlos reasonably deemed it, was +not mitigated by the deportment of the young queen, who displayed all the +insolence of sudden elevation, and who from the first seems to have +regarded the prince with the malevolent eye of a step-mother. + +Navarre was at that time divided by two potent factions, styled, from +their ancient leaders, Beaumonts and Agramonts; whose hostility, +originating in a personal feud, had continued long after its original +cause had become extinct. [9] + +The prince of Viana was intimately connected with some of the principal +partisans of the Beaumont faction, who heightened by their suggestions the +indignation to which his naturally gentle temper had been roused by the +usurpation of Joan, and who even called on him to assume openly, and in +defiance of his father, the sovereignty which of right belonged to him. +The emissaries of Castile, too, eagerly seized this occasion of +retaliating on John his interference in the domestic concerns of that +monarchy, by fanning the spark of discord into a flame. The Agramonts, on +the other hand, induced rather by hostility to their political adversaries +than to the prince of Viana, vehemently espoused the cause of the queen. +In this revival of half-buried animosities, fresh causes of disgust were +multiplied, and matters soon came to the worst extremity. The queen, who +had retired to Estella, was besieged there by the forces of the prince. +The king, her husband, on receiving intelligence of this, instantly +marched to her relief; and the father and son confronted each other at the +head of their respective armies near the town of Aybar. [10] The unnatural +position, in which they thus found themselves, seems to have sobered their +minds, and to have opened the way to an accommodation, the terms of which +were actually arranged, when the long-smothered rancor of the ancient +factions of Navarre thus brought in martial array against each other, +refusing all control, precipitated them into an engagement. The royal +forces were inferior in number, but superior in discipline, to those of +the prince, who, after a well contested action, saw his own party entirely +discomfited, and himself a prisoner. [11] + +Some months before this event, Queen Joan had been delivered of a son, +afterwards so famous as Ferdinand the Catholic; whose humble prospects, at +the time of his birth, as a younger brother, afforded a striking contrast +with the splendid destiny which eventually awaited him. This auspicious +event occurred in the little town of Sos, in Aragon, on the 10th of March, +1452; and, as it was nearly contemporary with the capture of +Constantinople, is regarded by Garibay to have been providentially +assigned to this period, as affording, in a religious view, an ample +counterpoise to the loss of the capital of Christendom. [12] + +The demonstrations of satisfaction, exhibited by John and his court on +this occasion, contrasted strangely with the stern severity with which he +continued to visit the offences of his elder offspring. It was not till +after many months of captivity that the king, in deference to public +opinion rather than the movements of his own heart, was induced to release +his son, on conditions, however, so illiberal (his indisputable claim to +Navarre not being even touched upon) as to afford no reasonable basis of +reconciliation. The young prince accordingly, on his return to Navarre, +became again involved in the factions which desolated that unhappy +kingdom, and, after an ineffectual struggle against his enemies, resolved +to seek an asylum at the court of his uncle Alfonso the Fifth, of Naples, +and to refer to him the final arbitration of his differences with his +father. [13] + +On his passage through France and the various courts of Italy, he was +received with the attentions due to his rank, and still more to his +personal character and misfortunes. Nor was he disappointed in the +sympathy and favorable reception, which he had anticipated from his uncle. +Assured of protection from so high a quarter, Carlos might now reasonably +flatter himself with the restitution of his legitimate rights, when these +bright prospects were suddenly overcast by the death of Alfonso, who +expired at Naples of a fever in the month of May, 1458, bequeathing his +hereditary dominions of Spain, Sicily, and Sardinia to his brother John, +and his kingdom of Naples to his illegitimate son Ferdinand. [14] + +The frank and courteous manners of Carlos had won so powerfully on the +affections of the Neapolitans, who distrusted the dark, ambiguous +character of Ferdinand, Alfonso's heir, that a large party eagerly pressed +the prince to assert his title to the vacant throne, assuring him of a +general support from the people. But Carlos, from motives of prudence or +magnanimity, declined engaging in this new contest, [15] and passed over +to Sicily, whence he resolved to solicit a final reconciliation with his +father. He was received with much kindness by the Sicilians, who, +preserving a grateful recollection of the beneficent sway of his mother +Blanche, when queen of that island, readily transferred to the son their +ancient attachment to the parent. An assembly of the states voted a +liberal supply for his present exigencies, and even urged him, if we are +to credit the Catalan ambassador at the court of Castile, to assume the +sovereignty of the island. [16] Carlos, however, far from entertaining so +rash an ambition, seems to have been willing to seclude himself from +public observation. He passed the greater portion of his time at a convent +of Benedictine friars not far from Messina, where, in the society of +learned men, and with the facilities of an extensive library, he +endeavored to recall the happier hours of youth in the pursuit of his +favorite studies of philosophy and history. [17] + +In the mean while, John, now king of Aragon and its dependencies, alarmed +by the reports of his son's popularity in Sicily, became as solicitous for +the security of his authority there, as he had before been for it in +Navarre. He accordingly sought to soothe the mind of the prince by the +fairest professions, and to allure him back to Spain by the prospect of an +effectual reconciliation. Carlos, believing what he most earnestly wished, +in opposition to the advice of his Sicilian counsellors, embarked for +Majorca, and, after some preliminary negotiations, crossed over to the +coast of Barcelona. Postponing, for fear of giving offence to his father, +his entrance into that city, which, indignant at his persecution, had made +the most brilliant preparations for his reception, he proceeded to +Igualada, where an interview took place between him and the king and +queen, in which he conducted himself with unfeigned humility and +penitence, reciprocated on their part by the most consummate +dissimulation. [18] + +All parties now confided in the stability of a pacification so anxiously +desired, and effected with such apparent cordiality. It was expected that +John would hasten to acknowledge his son's title as heir apparent to the +crown of Aragon, and convene an assembly of the states to tender him the +customary oath of allegiance. But nothing was further from the monarch's +intention. He indeed summoned the Aragonese cortes at Fraga for the +purpose of receiving their homage to himself; but he expressly refused +their request touching a similar ceremony to the prince of Viana; and he +openly rebuked the Catalans for presuming to address him as the successor +to the crown. [19] + +In this unnatural procedure it was easy to discern the influence of the +queen. In addition to her original causes of aversion to Carlos, she +regarded him with hatred as the insuperable obstacle to her own child +Ferdinand's advancement. Even the affection of John seemed to be now +wholly transferred from the offspring of his first to that of his second +marriage; and, as the queen's influence over him was unbounded, she found +it easy by artful suggestions to put a dark construction on every action +of Carlos, and to close up every avenue of returning affection within his +bosom. + +Convinced at length of the hopeless alienation of his father, the prince +of Viana turned his attention to other quarters, whence he might obtain +support, and eagerly entered into a negotiation, which had been opened +with him on the part of Henry the Fourth, of Castile, for a union with his +sister the princess Isabella. This was coming in direct collision with the +favorite scheme of his parents. The marriage of Isabella with the young +Ferdinand, which indeed, from the parity of their ages, was a much more +suitable connection than that with Carlos, had long been the darling +object of their policy, and they resolved to effect it in the face of +every obstacle. In conformity with this purpose, John invited the prince +of Viana to attend him at Lerida, where he was then holding the cortes of +Catalonia. The latter fondly, and indeed foolishly, after his manifold +experience to the contrary, confiding in the relenting disposition of his +father, hastened to obey the summons, in expectation of being publicly +acknowledged as his heir in the assembly of the states. After a brief +interview he was arrested, and his person placed in strict confinement. +[20] + +The intelligence of this perfidious procedure diffused general +consternation among all classes. They understood too well the artifices of +the queen and the vindictive temper of the king, not to feel the most +serious apprehensions, not only for the liberty, but for the life of their +prisoner. The cortes of Lerida, which, though dissolved on that very day, +had not yet separated, sent an embassy to John, requesting to know the +nature of the crimes imputed to his son. The permanent deputation of +Aragon, and a delegation from the council of Barcelona, waited on him for +a similar purpose, remonstrating at the same time against any violent and +unconstitutional proceeding. To all these John returned a cold, evasive +answer, darkly intimating a suspicion of conspiracy by his son against his +life, and reserving to himself the punishment of the offense. [21] + +No sooner was the result of their mission communicated, than the whole +kingdom was thrown into a ferment. The high-spirited Catalans rose in +arms, almost to a man. The royal governor, after a fruitless attempt to +escape, was seized and imprisoned in Barcelona. Troops were levied, and +placed under the command of experienced officers of the highest rank. The +heated populace, outstripping the tardy movement of military operations, +marched forward to Lerida in order to get possession of the royal person. +The king, who had seasonable notice of this, displayed his wonted presence +of mind. He ordered supper to be prepared for him at the usual hour, but, +on the approach of night, made his escape on horseback with one or two +attendants only, on the road to Fraga, a town within the territory of +Aragon; while the mob, traversing the streets of Lerida, and finding +little resistance at the gate, burst into the palace and ransacked every +corner of it, piercing, in their fury, even the curtains and beds with +their swords and lances. [22] + +The Catalan army, ascertaining the route of the royal fugitive, marched +directly on Fraga, and arrived so promptly that John, with his wife, and +the deputies of the Aragonese cortes assembled there, had barely time to +make their escape on the road to Saragossa, while the insurgents poured +into the city from the opposite quarter. The person of Carlos, in the mean +time, was secured in the inaccessible fortress of Morella, situated in a +mountainous district on the confines of Valencia. John, on halting at +Saragossa, endeavored to assemble an Aragonese force capable of resisting +the Catalan rebels. But the flame of insurrection had spread throughout +Aragon, Valencia, and Navarre, and was speedily communicated to his +transmarine possessions of Sardinia and Sicily. The king of Castile +supported Carlos at the same time by an irruption into Navarre, and his +partisans, the Beaumonts, co-operated with these movements by a descent on +Aragon. [23] + +John, alarmed at the tempest which his precipitate conduct had roused, at +length saw the necessity of releasing his prisoner; and, as the queen had +incurred general odium as the chief instigator of his persecution, he +affected to do this in consequence of her interposition. As Carlos with +his mother-in-law traversed the country on their way to Barcelona, he was +everywhere greeted, by the inhabitants of the villages thronging out to +meet him, with the most touching enthusiasm. The queen, however, having +been informed by the magistrates that her presence would not be permitted +in the capital, deemed it prudent to remain at Villa Franca, about twenty +miles distant; while the prince, entering Barcelona, was welcomed with the +triumphant acclamation due to a conqueror returning from a campaign of +victories. [24] + +The conditions on which the Catalans proposed to resume their allegiance +to their sovereign were sufficiently humiliating. They insisted not only +on his public acknowledgment of Carlos as his rightful heir and successor, +with the office, conferred on him for life, of lieutenant-general of +Catalonia, but on an obligation on his own part, that he would never enter +the province without their express permission. Such was John's extremity, +that he not only accepted these unpalatable conditions, but did it with +affected cheerfulness. + +Fortune seemed now weary of persecution, and Carlos, happy in the +attachment of a brave and powerful people, appeared at length to have +reached a haven of permanent security. But at this crisis he fell ill of a +fever, or, as some historians insinuate, of a disorder occasioned by +poison administered during his imprisonment; a fact, which, although +unsupported by positive evidence, seems, notwithstanding its atrocity, to +be no wise improbable, considering the character of the parties +implicated. He expired on the 23d of September, 1461, in the forty-first +year of his age, bequeathing his title to the crown of Navarre, in +conformity with the original marriage contract of his parents, to his +sister Blanche and her posterity. [25] + +Thus in the prime of life, and at the moment when he seemed to have +triumphed over the malice of his enemies, died the prince of Viana, whose +character, conspicuous for many virtues, has become still more so for his +misfortunes. His first act of rebellion, if such, considering his +legitimate pretensions to the crown, it can be called, was severely +requited by his subsequent calamities; while the vindictive and +persecuting temper of his parents excited a very general commiseration in +his behalf, and brought him more effectual support, than could have been +derived from his own merits or the justice of his cause. The character of +Don Carlos has been portrayed by Lucio Marineo, who, as he wrote an +account of these transactions by the command of Ferdinand the Catholic, +cannot be suspected of any undue partiality in favor of the prince of +Viana. "Such," says he, "were his temperance and moderation, such the +excellence of his breeding, the purity of his life, his liberality and +munificence, and such the sweetness of his demeanor, that no one thing +seemed to be wanting in him which belongs to a true and perfect prince." +[26] He is described by another contemporary, as "in person somewhat above +the middle stature, having a thin visage, with a serene and modest +expression of countenance, and withal somewhat inclined to melancholy." +[27] He was a considerable proficient in music, painting, and several +mechanic arts. He frequently amused himself with poetical composition, and +was the intimate friend of some of the most eminent bards of his time. But +he was above all devoted to the study of philosophy and history. He made a +version of Aristotle's Ethics into the vernacular, which was first printed +nearly fifty years after his death, at Saragossa, in 1509. He compiled +also a Chronicle of Navarre from the earliest period to his own times, +which, although suffered to remain in manuscript, has been liberally used +and cited by the Spanish antiquaries, Garibay, Blancas, and others. [28] +His natural taste and his habits fitted him much better for the quiet +enjoyment of letters, than for the tumultuous scenes in which it was his +misfortune to be involved, and in which he was no match for enemies grown +gray in the field and in the intrigues of the cabinet. But, if his +devotion to learning, so rare in his own age, and so very rare among +princes in any age, was unpropitious to his success on the busy theatre on +which he was engaged, it must surely elevate his character in the +estimation of an enlightened posterity. + +The tragedy did not terminate with the death of Carlos. His sister +Blanche, notwithstanding the inoffensive gentleness of her demeanor, had +long been involved, by her adhesion to her unfortunate brother, in a +similar proscription with him. The succession to Navarre having now +devolved on her, she became tenfold an object of jealousy both to her +father, the present possessor of that kingdom, and to her sister Eleanor, +countess of Foix, to whom the reversion of it had been promised by John, +on his own decease. The son of this lady, Gaston de Foix, had lately +married a sister of Louis the Eleventh, of France; and, in a treaty +subsequently contracted between that monarch and the king of Aragon, it +was stipulated that Blanche should be delivered into the custody of the +countess of Foix, as surety for the succession of the latter, and of her +posterity, to the crown of Navarre. [29] + +Conformably to this provision, John endeavored to persuade the princess +Blanche to accompany him into France, under the pretext of forming an +alliance for her with Louis's brother, the duke of Berri. The unfortunate +lady, comprehending too well her father's real purpose, besought him with +the most piteous entreaties not to deliver her into the hands of her +enemies; but, closing his heart against all natural affection, he caused +her to be torn from her residence at Olit, in the heart of her own +dominions, and forcibly transported across the mountains into those of the +count of Foix. On arriving at St. Jean Pied de Port, a little town on the +French side of the Pyrenees, being convinced that she had nothing further +to hope from human succor, she made a formal renunciation of her right to +Navarre in favor of her cousin and former husband, Henry the Fourth, of +Castile, who had uniformly supported the cause of her brother Carlos. +Henry, though debased by sensual indulgence, was naturally of a gentle +disposition, and had never treated her personally with unkindness. In a +letter, which she now addressed to him, and which, says a Spanish +historian, cannot be read, after the lapse of so many years, without +affecting the most insensible heart, [30] she reminded him of the dawn of +happiness which she had enjoyed under his protection, of his early +engagements to her, and of her subsequent calamities; and, anticipating +the gloomy destiny which awaited her, she settled on him her inheritance +of Navarre, to the entire exclusion of her intended assassins, the count +and countess of Foix. [31] + +On the same day, the last of April, she was delivered over to one of their +emissaries, who conducted her to the castle of Ortes in Bearne, where, +after languishing in dreadful suspense for nearly two years, she was +poisoned by the command of her sister. [32] The retribution of Providence +not unfrequently overtakes the guilty even in this world. The countess +survived her father to reign in Navarre only three short weeks; while the +crown was ravished from her posterity for ever by that very Ferdinand, +whose elevation had been the object to his parents of so much solicitude +and so many crimes. + +Within a fortnight after the decease of Carlos, the customary oaths of +allegiance, so pertinaciously withheld from that unfortunate prince, were +tendered by the Aragonese deputation, at Calatayud, to his brother +Ferdinand, then only ten years of age, as heir apparent of the monarchy; +after which he was conducted by his mother into Catalonia, in order to +receive the more doubtful homage of that province. The extremities of +Catalonia at this time seemed to be in perfect repose, but the capital was +still agitated by secret discontent. The ghost of Carlos was seen stalking +by night through the streets of Barcelona, bewailing in piteous accents +his untimely end, and invoking vengeance on his unnatural murderers. The +manifold miracles wrought at his tomb soon gained him the reputation of a +saint, and his image received the devotional honors reserved for such as +have been duly canonized by the church. [33] + +The revolutionary spirit of the Barcelonians, kept alive by the +recollection of past injury, as well as by the apprehensions of future +vengeance, should John succeed in reestablishing his authority over them, +soon became so alarming, that the queen, whose consummate address, +however, had first accomplished the object of her visit, found it +advisable to withdraw from the capital; and she sought refuge, with her +son and such few adherents as still remained faithful to them, in the +fortified city of Gerona, about fifty miles north of Barcelona. + +Hither, however, she was speedily pursued by the Catalan militia, embodied +under the command of their ancient leader Roger, count of Pallas, and +eager to regain the prize which they had so inadvertently lost. The city +was quickly entered, but the queen, with her handful of followers, had +retreated to a tower belonging to the principal church in the place, +which, as was very frequent in Spain, in those wild times, was so strongly +fortified as to be capable of maintaining a formidable resistance. To +oppose this, a wooden fortress of the same height was constructed by the +assailants, and planted with lombards and other pieces of artillery then +in use, which kept up an unintermitting discharge of stone bullets on the +little garrison. [34] The Catalans also succeeded in running a mine +beneath the fortress, through which a considerable body of troops +penetrated into it, when, their premature cries of exultation having +discovered them to the besieged, they were repulsed, after a desperate +struggle, with great slaughter. The queen displayed the most intrepid +spirit in the midst of these alarming scenes; unappalled by the sense of +her own danger and that of her child, and by the dismal lamentations of +the females by whom she was surrounded, she visited every part of the +works in person, cheering her defenders by her presence and dauntless +resolution. Such were the stormy and disastrous scenes in which the +youthful Ferdinand commenced a career, whose subsequent prosperity was +destined to be checkered by scarcely a reverse of fortune. [35] + +In the mean while, John, having in vain attempted to penetrate through +Catalonia to the relief of his wife, effected this by the co-operation of +his French ally, Louis the Eleventh. That monarch, with his usual +insidious policy, had covertly despatched an envoy to Barcelona on the +death of Carlos, assuring the Catalans of his protection, should they +still continue averse to a reconciliation with their own sovereign. These +offers were but coldly received; and Louis found it more for his interest +to accept the propositions made to him by the king of Aragon himself, +which subsequently led to most important consequences. By three several +treaties, of the 3d, 21st, and 23d of May, 1462, it was stipulated, that +Louis should furnish his ally with seven hundred lances and a +proportionate number of archers and artillery during the war with +Barcelona, to be indemnified by the payment of two hundred thousand gold +crowns within one year after the reduction of that city; as security for +which the counties of Roussillon and Cerdagne were pledged by John, with +the cession of their revenues to the French king, until such time as the +original debt should be redeemed. In this transaction both monarchs +manifested their usual policy; Louis believing that this temporary +mortgage would become a permanent alienation, from John's inability to +discharge it; while the latter anticipated, as the event showed, with more +justice, that the aversion of the inhabitants to the dismemberment of +their country from the Aragonese monarchy would baffle every attempt on +the part of the French to occupy it permanently. [36] + +In pursuance of these arrangements, seven hundred French lances with a +considerable body of archers and artillery [37] crossed the mountains, +and, rapidly advancing on Gerona, compelled the insurgent army to raise +the siege, and to decamp with such precipitation as to leave their cannon +in the hands of the royalists. The Catalans now threw aside the thin veil, +with which they had hitherto covered their proceedings. The authorities of +the principality, established in Barcelona, publicly renounced their +allegiance to King John and his son Ferdinand, and proclaimed them enemies +of the republic. Writings at the same time were circulated, denouncing +from scriptural authority, as well as natural reason, the doctrine of +legitimacy in the broadest terms, and insisting that the Aragonese +monarchs, far from being absolute, might be lawfully deposed for an +infringement of the liberties of the nation. "The good of the +commonwealth," it was said, "must always be considered paramount to that +of the prince." Extraordinary doctrines these for the age in which they +were promulged, affording a still more extraordinary contrast with those +which have been since familiar in that unhappy country! [38] + +The government then enforced levies of all such as were above the age of +fourteen, and, distrusting the sufficiency of its own resources, offered +the sovereignty of the principality to Henry the Fourth, of Castile. The +court of Aragon, however, had so successfully insinuated its influence +into the council of this imbecile monarch, that he was not permitted to +afford the Catalans any effectual support; and, as he abandoned their +cause altogether before the expiration of the year, [39] the crown was +offered to Don Pedro, constable of Portugal, a descendant of the ancient +house of Barcelona. In the mean while, the old king of Aragon, attended by +his youthful son, had made himself master, with his characteristic +activity, of considerable acquisitions in the revolted territory, +successively reducing Lerida, [40] Cervera, Amposta, [41] Tortosa, and the +most important places in the south of Catalonia. Many of these places were +strongly fortified, and most of them defended with a resolution which cost +the conqueror a prodigious sacrifice of time and money. John, like Philip +of Macedon, made use of gold even more than arms, for the reduction of his +enemies; and, though he indulged in occasional acts of resentment, his +general treatment of those who submitted was as liberal as it was politic. +His competitor, Don Pedro, had brought little foreign aid to the support +of his enterprise; he had failed altogether in conciliating the attachment +of his new subjects; and, as the operations of the war had been conducted +on his part in the most languid manner, the whole of the principality +seemed destined soon to relapse under the dominion of its ancient master. +At this juncture the Portuguese prince fell ill of a fever, of which he +died on the 29th of June, 1466. This event, which seemed likely to lead to +a termination of the war, proved ultimately the cause of its protraction. +[42] + +It appeared, however, to present a favorable opportunity to John for +opening a negotiation with the insurgents. But, so resolute were they in +maintaining their independence, that the council of Barcelona condemned +two of the principal citizens, suspected of defection from the cause, to +be publicly executed; it refused moreover to admit an envoy from the +Aragonese cortes within the city, and caused the despatches, with which he +was intrusted by that body, to be torn in pieces before his face. + +The Catalans then proceeded to elect René le Bon, as he was styled, of +Anjou, to the vacant throne, brother of one of the original competitors +for the crown of Aragon on the demise of Martin; whose cognomen of "Good" +is indicative of a sway far more salutary to his subjects than the more +coveted and imposing title of Great. [43] This titular sovereign of half a +dozen empires, in which he did not actually possess a rood of land, was +too far advanced in years to assume this perilous enterprise himself; and +he accordingly intrusted it to his son John, duke of Calabria and +Lorraine, who, in his romantic expeditions in southern Italy, had acquired +a reputation for courtesy and knightly prowess, inferior to none other of +his time. [44] Crowds of adventurers flocked to the standard of a leader, +whose ample inheritance of pretensions had made him familiar with war from +his earliest boyhood; and he soon found himself at the head of eight +thousand effective troops. Louis the Eleventh, although not directly +aiding his enterprise with supplies of men or money, was willing so far to +countenance it, as to open a passage for him through the mountain +fastnesses of Roussillon, then in his keeping, and thus enable him to +descend with his whole army at once on the northern borders of Catalonia. +[45] + +The king of Aragon could oppose no force capable of resisting this +formidable army. His exchequer, always low, was completely exhausted by +the extraordinary efforts, which he had made in the late campaigns; and, +as the king of France, either disgusted with the long protraction of the +war, or from secret good-will to the enterprise of his feudal subject, +withheld from King John the stipulated subsidies, the latter monarch found +himself unable, with every expedient of loan and exaction, to raise +sufficient money to pay his troops, or to supply his magazines. In +addition to this, he was now involved in a dispute with the count and +countess of Foix, who, eager to anticipate the possession of Navarre, +which had been guaranteed to them on their father's decease, threatened a +similar rebellion, though on much less justifiable pretences, to that +which he had just experienced from Don Carlos. To crown the whole of +John's calamities, his eyesight, which had been impaired by exposure and +protracted sufferings during the winter siege of Amposta, now failed him +altogether. [46] + +In this extremity, his intrepid wife, putting herself at the head of such +forces as she could collect, passed by water to the eastern shores of +Catalonia, besieging Rosas in person, and checking the operations of the +enemy by the capture of several inferior places; while Prince Ferdinand, +effecting a junction with her before Gerona, compelled the duke of +Lorraine to abandon the siege of that important city. Ferdinand's ardor, +however, had nearly proved fatal to him; as, in an accidental encounter +with a more numerous party of the enemy, his jaded horse would infallibly +have betrayed him into their hands, had it not been for the devotion of +his officers, several of whom, throwing themselves between him and his +pursuers, enabled him to escape by the sacrifice of their own liberty. + +These ineffectual struggles could not turn the tide of fortune. The duke +of Lorraine succeeded in this and the two following campaigns in making +himself master of all the rich district of Ampurdan, northeast of +Barcelona. In the capital itself, his truly princely qualities and his +popular address secured him the most unbounded influence. Such was the +enthusiasm for his person, that, when he rode abroad, the people thronged +around him, embracing his knees, the trappings of his steed, and even the +animal himself, in their extravagance; while the ladies, it is said, +pawned their rings, necklaces, and other ornaments of their attire, in +order to defray the expenses of the war. [47] + +King John, in the mean while, was draining the cup of bitterness to the +dregs. In the winter of 1468, his queen, Joan Henriquez, fell a victim to +a painful disorder, which had been secretly corroding her constitution for +a number of years. In many respects, she was the most remarkable woman of +her time. She took an active part in the politics of her husband, and may +be even said to have given them a direction. She conducted several +important diplomatic negotiations to a happy issue, and, what was more +uncommon in her sex, displayed considerable capacity for military affairs. +Her persecution of her step-son, Carlos, has left a deep stain on her +memory. It was the cause of all her husband's subsequent misfortunes. Her +invincible spirit, however, and the resources of her genius, supplied him +with the best means of surmounting many of the difficulties in which she +had involved him, and her loss at this crisis seemed to leave him at once +without solace or support. [48] + +At this period, he was further embarrassed, as will appear in the ensuing +chapter, by negotiations for Ferdinand's marriage, which was to deprive +him, in a great measure, of his son's co-operation in the struggle with +his subjects, and which, as he lamented, while he had scarcely three +hundred _enríques_ in his coffers, called on him for additional +disbursements. + +As the darkest hour, however, is commonly said to precede the dawning, so +light now seemed to break upon the affairs of John. A physician in Lerida, +of the Hebrew race, which monopolized at that time almost all the medical +science in Spain, persuaded the king to submit to the then unusual +operation of couching, and succeeded in restoring sight to one of his +eyes. As the Jew, after the fashion of the Arabs, debased his real science +with astrology, he refused to operate on the other eye, since the planets, +he said, wore a malignant aspect. But John's rugged nature was insensible +to the timorous superstitions of his age, and he compelled the physician +to repeat his experiment, which in the end proved perfectly successful. +Thus restored to his natural faculties, the octogenarian chief, for such +he might now almost be called, regained his wonted elasticity, and +prepared to resume offensive operations against the enemy with all his +accustomed energy. [49] Heaven, too, as if taking compassion on his +accumulated misfortunes, now removed the principal obstacle to his success +by the death of the duke of Lorraine, who was summoned from the theatre of +his short-lived triumphs on the 16th of December, 1469. The Barcelonians +were thrown into the greatest consternation by his death, imputed, as +usual, though without apparent foundation, to poison; and their respect +for his memory was attested by the honors no less than royal, which they +paid to his remains. His body, sumptuously attired, with his victorious +sword by his side, was paraded in solemn procession through the +illuminated streets of the city, and, after lying nine days in state, was +deposited amid the lamentations of the people in the sepulchre of the +sovereigns of Catalonia. [50] + +As the father of the deceased prince was too old, and his children too +young, to give effectual aid to their cause, the Catalans might be now +said to be again without a leader. But their spirit was unbroken, and with +the same resolution in which they refused submission more than two +centuries after, in 1714, when the combined forces of France and Spain +were at the gates of the capital, they rejected the conciliatory advances +made them anew by John. That monarch, however, having succeeded by +extraordinary efforts in assembling a competent force, was proceeding with +his usual alacrity in the reduction of such places in the eastern quarter +of Catalonia as had revolted to the enemy, while at the same time he +instituted a rigorous blockade of Barcelona by sea and land. The +fortifications were strong, and the king was unwilling to expose so fair a +city to the devastating horrors of a storm. The inhabitants made one +vigorous effort in a sally against the royal forces; but the civic militia +were soon broken, and the loss of four thousand men, killed and prisoners, +admonished them of their inability to cope with the veterans of Aragon. +[51] + +At length, reduced to the last extremity, they consented to enter into +negotiations, which were concluded by a treaty equally honorable to both +parties. It was stipulated, that Barcelona should retain all its ancient +privileges and rights of jurisdiction, and, with some exceptions, its +large territorial possessions. A general amnesty was to be granted for +offences. The foreign mercenaries were to be allowed to depart in safety; +and such of the natives, as should refuse to renew their allegiance to +their ancient sovereign within a year, might have the liberty of removing +with their effects wherever they would. One provision may be thought +somewhat singular, after what had occurred; it was agreed that the king +should cause the Barcelonians to be publicly proclaimed, throughout all +his dominions, good, faithful, and loyal subjects; which was accordingly +done! + +The king, after the adjustment of the preliminaries, "declining," says a +contemporary, "the triumphal car which had been prepared for him, made his +entrance into the city by the gate of St. Anthony, mounted on a white +charger; and, as he rode along the principal streets, the sight of so many +pallid countenances and emaciated figures, bespeaking the extremity of +famine, smote his heart with sorrow." He then proceeded to the hall of the +great palace, and on the 22d of December, 1472, solemnly swore there to +respect the constitution and laws of Catalonia. [52] + +Thus ended this long, disastrous civil war, the fruit of parental +injustice and oppression, which had nearly cost the king of Aragon the +fairest portion of his dominions; which devoted to disquietude and +disappointment more than ten years of life, at a period when repose is +most grateful; and which opened the way to foreign wars, that continued to +hang like a dark cloud over the evening of his days. It was attended, +however, with one important result; that of establishing Ferdinand's +succession over the whole of the domains of his ancestors. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] The reader who may be curious in this matter will find the pedigree +exhibiting the titles of the several competitors to the crown given by Mr. +Hallam. (State of Europe during the Middle Ages, (2d ed. London, 1819,) +vol. ii. p. 60, note.) The claims of Ferdinand were certainly not derived +from the usual laws of descent. + +[2] The reader of Spanish history often experiences embarrassment from the +identity of names in the various princes of the Peninsula. Thus the John, +mentioned in the text, afterwards John II., might be easily confounded +with his namesake and contemporary, John II., of Castile. The genealogical +table, at the beginning of this History, will show their relationship to +each other. + +[3] His grandfather, Charles III., created this title in favor of Carlos, +appropriating it as the designation henceforth of the heir apparent.-- +Aleson, Anales del Reyno de Navarra, contin. de Moret, (Pamplona, 1766,) +tom. iv. p. 398.--Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquia, tom. ii. p. 331. + +[4] See Part I. Chap. 3, Note 5, of this History. + +[5] This fact, vaguely and variously reported by Spanish writers, is fully +established by Aleson, who cites the original instrument, contained in the +archives of the counts of Lerin. Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 354, 365. + +[6] See the reference to the original document in Aleson. (Tom. iv. pp. +365, 366.) This industrious writer has established the title of Prince +Carlos to Navarre, so frequently misunderstood or misrepresented by the +national historians, on an incontestable basis. + +[7] Ibid., tom. iv. p. 467. + +[8] See Part I. Chap. 3, of this work. + +[9] Gaillard errs in referring the origin of these factions to this epoch. +(Histoire de la Rivalité de France et de l'Espagne, (Paris, 1801,) tom. +iii. p. 227.) Aleson quotes a proclamation of John in relation to them in +the lifetime of Queen Blanche. Annales de Navarra, tom. iv. p. 494. + +[10] Zurita, Anales, tom. iii. fol. 278.--Lucio Marineo Siculo, Coronista +de sus Magestades, Las Cosas Memorables de España, (Alcalà de Henares, +1539,) fol. 104.--Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 494-498. + +[11] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 223.--Aleson, Anales de +Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 501-503.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 105. + +[12] Compendio, tom. iii. p. 419.--L. Marineo describes the heavens as +uncommonly serene at the moment of Ferdinand's birth. "The sun, which had +been obscured with clouds during the whole day, suddenly broke forth with +unwonted splendor. A crown was also beheld in the sky, composed of various +brilliant colors like those of a rainbow. All which appearances were +interpreted by the spectators as an omen, that the child then born would +be the most illustrious among men." (Cosas Memorables, fol. 153.) Garibay +postpones the nativity of Ferdinand to the year 1453, and L. Marineo, who +ascertains with curious precision even the date of his conception, fixes +his birth in 1450, (fol. 153.) But Alonso de Palencia in his History, +(Verdadera Corónica de Don Enrique IV., Rei de Castilla y Leon, y del Rei +Don Alonso su Hermano, MS.) and Andrés Bernaldez, Cura de Los Palacios, +(Historia de los Reyes Católicos, MS., c. 8,) both of them contemporaries, +refer this event to the period assigned in the text; and, as the same +epoch is adopted by the accurate Zurita, (Anales, tom. iv. fol. 9,) I have +given it the preference. + +[13] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 3-48.--Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. +iv. pp. 508-526.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 105. + +[14] Giannone, Istoria Civile del Regno di Napoli, (Milano, 1823,) lib. +26, c. 7.--Ferreras, Histoire Générale d'Espagne, trad. par D'Hermilly, +(Paris, 1751,) tom. vii. p. 60.--L'Histoire du Royaume de Navarre, par +l'un des Secrétaires Interprettes de sa Majesté, (Paris, 1596,) p. 468. + +[15] Compare the narrative of the Neapolitan historians, Summonte +(Historia della Città e Regno di Napoli, (Napoli, 1675,) lib. 5, c. 2) and +Giannone, (Istoria Civile, lib. 26, c. 7.--lib. 27. Introd.) with the +opposite statements of L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, (fol. 106,) himself a +contemporary, Aleson, (Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. p. 546,) and other +Spanish writers. + +[16] Enriquez del Castillo, Crónica de Enrique el Quarto, (Madrid, 1787,) +cap. 43. + +[17] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 97.--Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, +tom. ii. p. 282.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 106.--Abarca, Reyes +de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 250.--Carlos bargained with Pope Pius II. for a +transfer of this library, particularly rich in the ancient classics, to +Spain, which was eventually defeated by his death. Zurita, who visited the +monastery containing it nearly a century after this period, found its +inmates possessed of many traditionary anecdotes respecting the prince +during his seclusion among them. + +[18] Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 548-554.--Abarca, Reyes de +Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 251.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 60-69. + +[19] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, ubi supra.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. +70-75.--Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. p. 556. + +[20] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 108.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, +cap. 3.--Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 556, 557.--Castillo, +Crónica, cap. 27. + +[21] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 108, 109.--Abarca, Reyes de +Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 252.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, cap. 45.--Aleson, +Anales de Navarra, tom. ii. p. 357. + +[22] Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. ii. p. 358.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, +cap. 6.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 253.--L. Marineo, Cosas +Memorables, fol. 111. + +[23] Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, cap. 6.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. +111. + +[24] Castillo, Crónica, cap. 28.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, fol. 253, 254. +--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 111, 112.--Aleson, Anales de Navarra, +tom. iv. pp. 559, 560.--The inhabitants of Tarraca closed their gates upon +the queen, and rung the bells on her approach, the signal of alarm on the +appearance of an enemy, or for the pursuit of a malefactor. + +[25] Alonso de Palencia, Crónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 51.--L. Marineo, +Cosas Memorables, fol. 114.--Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 561- +563.--Zurita, Anales, cap. 19, 24. + +[26] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 106.--"Por quanto era la templança +y mesura de aquel principe; tan grande el concierto y su criança y +costumbres, la limpieza de su vida, su liberalidad y magnificencia, y +finalmente su dulce conversacion, que ninguna cosa en el faltava de +aquellas que pertenescen a recta vivir; y que arman el verdadero y +perfecto principe y señor." + +[27] Gundisalvus Garsias, apud Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, tom. ii. +p. 281. + +[28] Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, tom. ii. pp. 281, 282.--Mariana, +Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 434. + +[29] This treaty was signed at Olit in Navarre, April 12th, 1462.--Zurita, +Anales, lib. 17, cap. 38, 39.--Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iii. p. 235.-- +Gaillard confounds it with the subsequent one made in the month of May, +near the town of Salvatierra in Bearne. + +[30] Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom., vii. p. 110. + +[31] Hist. du Royaume de Navarre, p. 496.--Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. +iv. pp. 590-593.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 258, 259.-- +Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, cap. 38. + +[32] Lebrija, De Bello Navariensi, (Granatae, 1545,) lib. 1, cap. 1, fol. +74.--Aleson, Anales de Navarra, ubi supra.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, cap. +38.--The Spanish historians are not agreed as to the time or even mode of +Blanche's death. All concur, however, in attributing it to assassination, +and most of them, with the learned Antonio Lebrija, a contemporary, (loc. +cit.,) in imputing it to poison. The fact of her death, which Aleson, on I +know not what authority, refers to the 2d of December, 1464, was not +publicly disclosed till some months after its occurrence, when disclosure +became necessary in consequence of the proposed interposition of the +Navarrese cortes. + +[33] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 51.--Zurita, Anales, +tom. iv. fol. 98.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 256.--Aleson, +Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 563 et seq.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, +fol. 114.--According to Lanuza, who wrote nearly two centuries after the +death of Carlos, the flesh upon his right arm, which had been amputated +for the purpose of a more convenient application to the diseased members +of the pilgrims who visited his shrine, remained in his day in a perfectly +sound and healthful state! (Historias Ecclesiásticas y Seculares de +Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1622,) tom. i. p. 553.) Aleson wonders that any should +doubt the truth of miracles, attested by the monks of the very monastery +in which Carlos was interred. + +[34] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 116.--Alonso de Palencia, +Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 51.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 113. The +Spaniards, deriving the knowledge of artillery from the Arabs, had become +familiar with it before the other nations of Christendom. The affirmation +of Zurita, however, that 5000 balls were fired from the battery of the +besiegers at Gerona in one day, is perfectly absurd. So little was the +science of gunnery advanced in other parts of Europe at this period, and +indeed later, that it was usual for a field-piece not to be discharged +more than twice in the course of an action, if we may credit Machiavelli, +who, indeed, recommends dispensing with the use of artillery altogether. +Arte della Guerra, lib. 3. (Opere, Genova, 1798.) + +[35] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, c. 51.--L. Marineo, Cosas +Memorables, fol. 116.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 113.--Abarca, Reyes +de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 259. + +[36] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 111.--Another 100,000 crowns were to be +paid in case further assistance should be required from the French monarch +after the reduction of Barcelona. This treaty has been incorrectly +reported by most of the French and all the Spanish historians whom I have +consulted, save the accurate Zurita. An abstract from the original +documents, compiled by the Abbé Legrand, has been given by M. Petitot in +his recent edition of the Collection des Mémoires relatifs à l'Histoire de +France, (Paris, 1836,) tom. xi. Introd. p. 245. + +[37] A French lance, it may be stated, of that day, according to L. +Marineo, was accompanied by two horsemen; so that the whole contingent of +cavalry to be furnished on this occasion amounted to 2100. (Cosas +Memorables, fol. 117.) Nothing could be more indeterminate than the +complement of a lance in the Middle Ages. It is not unusual to find it +reckoned at five or six horsemen. + +[38] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 113-115.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, +MS., part. 2, cap. 1. + +[39] In conformity with the famous verdict given by Louis XI. at Bayonne, +April 23d, 1463, previously to the interview between him and Henry IV. on +the shores of the Bidassoa. See Part I. Chap. 3, of this History. + +[40] This was the battle-ground of Julius Caesar in his wars with Pompey. +See his ingenious military manoeuvre as simply narrated in his own +Commentaries, (De Bello Civili, tom. i. p. 54,) and by Lucan, (Pharsalia, +lib. 4,) with his usual swell of hyperbole. + +[41] The cold was so intense at the siege of Amposta, that serpents of an +enormous magnitude are reported by L. Marineo to have descended from the +mountains, and taken refuge in the camp of the besiegers. Portentous and +supernatural voices were frequently heard during the nights. Indeed, the +superstition of the soldiers appears to have been so lively as to have +prepared them for seeing and hearing anything. + +[42] Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. p. 390.--Alonso de +Palencia, MS., part. 2, cap. 60, 61--Castillo, Crónica, pp. 43, 44, 46, +49, 50, 54.--Zurita, Anales, tom. ii. fol. 116, 124, 127, 128, 130, 137, +147.--M. La Clède states, that "Don Pedro no sooner arrived in Catalonia, +than he was poisoned."(Histoire Générale de Portugal, (Paris, 1735,) tom. +iii. p. 245.) It must have been a very slow poison. He arrived January +21st, 1464, and died June 29th, 1466. + +[43] Sir Walter Scott, in his "Anne of Geierstein," has brought into full +relief the ridiculous side of René's character. The good king's fondness +for poetry and the arts, however, although showing itself occasionally in +puerile eccentricities, may compare advantageously with the coarse +appetites and mischievous activity of most of the contemporary princes. +After all, the best tribute to his worth was the earnest attachment of his +people. His biography has been well and diligently compiled by the +viscount of Villeneuve Bargemont, (Histoire de René d'Anjou, Paris, 1825,) +who has, however, indulged in greater detail than was perhaps to have been +desired by René, or his readers. + +[44] Comines says of him, "A tous alarmes c'estoit le premier homme armé, +et de toutes pièces, et son cheval tousjours bardé. Il portoit un +habillement que ces conducteurs portent en Italie, et sembloit bien prince +et chef de guerre; et y avoit d'obéissance autant que monseigneur de +Charolois, et luy obéissoit tout l'ost de meilleur coeur, car à la vérité +il estoit digne d'estre honoré." Philippe de Comines, Mémoires, apud +Petitot; (Paris, 1826,) liv. 1, chap. 11. + +[45] Villeneuve Bargemont, Hist. de René, tom. ii. pp. 168, 169.--Histoire +de Louys XI., autrement dicte La Chronique Scandaleuse, par un Greffier de +l'Hostel de Ville de Paris, (Paris, 1620,) p. 145.--Zurita, Anales, tom. +iv. fol. 150, 153.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 17.-- +Palencia swells the numbers of the French in the service of the duke of +Lorraine to 20,000. + +[46] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 139.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. +fol. 148, 149, 158.--Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 611-613.-- +Duclos, Hist. de Louis XI., (Amsterdam, 1746,) tom. ii. p. 114.--Mém. de +Comines, Introd., p. 258, apud Petitot. + +[47] Villeneuve Bargemont, Hist. de René, tom. ii. pp. 182, 183.--L. +Marineo, fol. 140.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 153-164.--Abarca, Reyes +de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 29, cap. 7. + +[48] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 88.--L. Marineo, +Cosas Memorables, fol. 143.--Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. p. 609.-- +The queen's death was said to have been caused by a cancer. According to +Aleson and some other Spanish writers, Joan was heard several times, in +her last illness, to exclaim, in allusion, as was supposed, to her +assassination of Carlos, "Alas! Ferdinand, how dear thou hast cost thy +mother!" I find no notice of this improbable confession in any +contemporary author. + +[49] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. pp. 459, 460.--L. Marineo, Cosas +Memorables, fol. 151.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 88. + +[50] Villeneuve Bargemont, Hist. de René, tom. ii. pp. 182,333, 334.--L. +Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 142.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, part. +2, cap. 39.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 178.--According to M. de +Villeneuve Bargemont, the princess Isabella's hand had been offered to the +duke of Lorraine, and the envoy despatched to notify his acceptance of it, +on arriving at the court of Castile, received from the lips of Henry IV. +the first tidings of his master's death, (tom. ii. p. 184.) He must have +learned too with no less surprise that Isabella had already been married +at that time more than a year! See the date of the official marriage +recorded in Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Apend. no. 4. + +[51] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 29, 45.--Zurita, +Anales, tom. iv. fol. 180-183.-Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, rey 29, cap. 29. + +[52] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 144, 147.--Zurita, Anales, tom. +iv. fol. 187, 188.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 1. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +REIGN OF HENRY IV., OF CASTILE--CIVIL WAR.--MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND +ISABELLA. + +1454-1469. + +Henry IV. disappoints Expectations.--Oppression of the People.--League of +the Nobles.--Extraordinary Scene at Avila.--Early Education of Isabella.-- +Death of her Brother Alfonso.--Intestine Anarchy.--The Crown offered to +Isabella.--She declines it.--Her Suitors.--She accepts Ferdinand of +Aragon.--Marriage Articles.--Critical Situation of Isabella.--Ferdinand +enters Castile.--Their Marriage. + + +While these stormy events were occurring in Aragon, the Infanta Isabella, +whose birth was mentioned at the close of the first chapter, was passing +her youth amidst scenes scarcely less tumultuous. At the date of her +birth, her prospect of succeeding to the throne of her ancestors was even +more remote than Ferdinand's prospect of inheriting that of his; and it is +interesting to observe through what trials, and by what a series of +remarkable events, Providence was pleased to bring about this result, and +through it the union, so long deferred, of the great Spanish monarchies. + +The accession of her elder brother, Henry the Fourth, was welcomed with an +enthusiasm, proportioned to the disgust which had been excited by the +long-protracted and imbecile reign of his predecessor. Some few, indeed, +who looked back to the time when he was arrayed in arms against his +father, distrusted the soundness either of his principles or of his +judgment. But far the larger portion of the nation was disposed to refer +this to inexperience, or the ebullition of youthful spirit, and indulged +the cheering anticipations which are usually entertained of a new reign +and a young monarch. [1] Henry was distinguished by a benign temper, and +by a condescension, which might be called familiarity, in his intercourse +with his inferiors, virtues peculiarly engaging in persons of his elevated +station; and as vices, which wear the gloss of youth, are not only +pardoned, but are oftentimes popular with the vulgar, the reckless +extravagance in which he indulged himself was favorably contrasted with +the severe parsimony of his father in his latter years, and gained him the +surname of "the Liberal." His treasurer having remonstrated with him on +the prodigality of his expenditure, he replied, "Kings, instead of +hoarding treasure like private persons, are bound to dispense it for the +happiness of their subjects. We must give to our enemies to make them +friends, and to our friends to keep them so." He suited the action so well +to the word, that, in a few years, there was scarcely a _mara-vedi_ +remaining in the royal coffers. [2] + +He maintained greater state than was usual with the monarchs of Castile, +keeping in pay a body-guard of thirty-six hundred lances, splendidly +equipped, and officered by the sons of the nobility. He proclaimed a +crusade against the Moors, a measure always popular in Castile; assuming +the pomegranate branch, the device of Granada, on his escutcheon, in token +of his intention to extirpate the Moslems from the Peninsula. He assembled +the chivalry of the remote provinces; and, in the early part of his reign, +scarce a year elapsed without one or more incursions into the hostile +territory, with armies of thirty or forty thousand men. The results did +not correspond with the magnificence of the apparatus; and these brilliant +expeditions too often evaporated in a mere border foray, or in an empty +gasconade under the walls of Granada. Orchards were cut down, harvests +plundered, villages burnt to the ground, and all the other modes of +annoyance peculiar to this barbarous warfare put in practice by the +invading armies as they swept over the face of the country; individual +feats of prowess, too, commemorated in the romantic ballads of the time, +were achieved; but no victory was gained, no important post acquired. The +king in vain excused his hasty retreats and abortive enterprises by +saying, "that he prized the life of one of his soldiers more than those of +a thousand Mussulmans." His troops murmured at this timorous policy, and +the people of the south, on whom the charges of the expeditions fell with +peculiar heaviness, from their neighborhood to the scene of operations, +complained that "the war was carried on against them, not against the +infidel." On one occasion an attempt was made to detain the king's person, +and thus prevent him from disbanding his forces. So soon had the royal +authority fallen into contempt! The king of Granada himself, when summoned +to pay tribute after a series of these ineffectual operations, replied +"that, in the first years of Henry's reign, he would have offered +anything, even his children, to preserve peace to his dominions; but now +he would give nothing." [3] + +The contempt, to which the king exposed himself by his public conduct, was +still further heightened by his domestic. With even a greater +indisposition to business, than was manifested by his father, [4] he +possessed none of the cultivated tastes, which were the redeeming +qualities of the latter. Having been addicted from his earliest youth to +debauchery, when he had lost the powers, he retained all the relish, for +the brutish pleasures of a voluptuary. He had repudiated his wife, Blanche +of Aragon, after a union of twelve years, on grounds sufficiently +ridiculous and humiliating. [5] In 1455, he espoused Joanna, a Portuguese +princess, sister of Alfonso the Fifth, the reigning monarch. This lady, +then in the bloom of youth, was possessed of personal graces, and a lively +wit, which, say the historians, made her the delight of the court of +Portugal. She was accompanied by a brilliant train of maidens, and her +entrance into Castile was greeted by the festivities and military +pageants, which belong to an age of chivalry. The light and lively manners +of the young queen, however, which seemed to defy the formal etiquette of +the Castilian court, gave occasion to the grossest suspicions. The tongue +of scandal indicated Beltran de la Cueva, one of the handsomest cavaliers +in the kingdom, and then newly risen in the royal graces, as the person to +whom she most liberally dispensed her favors. This knight defended a +passage of arms, in presence of the court, near Madrid, in which he +maintained the superior beauty of his mistress, against all comers. The +king was so much delighted with his prowess, that he commemorated the +event by the erection of a monastery dedicated to St. Jerome; a whimsical +origin for a religious institution. [6] + +The queen's levity might have sought some justification in the unveiled +licentiousness of her husband. One of the maids of honor, whom she brought +in her train, acquired an ascendency over Henry, which he did not attempt +to disguise; and the palace, after the exhibition of the most disgraceful +scenes, became divided by the factions of the hostile fair ones. The +archbishop of Seville did not blush to espouse the cause of the paramour, +who maintained a magnificence of state, which rivalled that of royalty +itself. The public were still more scandalized by Henry's sacrilegious +intrusion of another of his mistresses into the post of abbess of a +convent in Toledo, after the expulsion of her predecessor, a lady of noble +rank and irreproachable character. [7] + +The stream of corruption soon finds its way from the higher to the more +humble walks of life. The middling classes, imitating their superiors, +indulged in an excess of luxury equally demoralizing, and ruinous to their +fortunes. The contagion of example infected even the higher ecclesiastics; +and we find the archbishop of St. James hunted from his see by the +indignant populace in consequence of an outrage attempted on a youthful +bride, as she was returning from church, after the performance of the +nuptial ceremony. The rights of the people could be but little consulted, +or cared for, in a court thus abandoned to unbounded license. Accordingly +we find a repetition of most of the unconstitutional and oppressive acts +which occurred under John the Second, of Castile; attempts at arbitrary +taxation, interference in the freedom of elections, and in the right +exercised by the cities of nominating the commanders of such contingents +of troops as they might contribute to the public defence. Their +territories were repeatedly alienated, and, as well as the immense sums +raised by the sale of papal indulgences for the prosecution of the Moorish +war, were lavished on the royal satellites. [8] + +But, perhaps, the most crying evil of this period was the shameless +adulteration of the coin. Instead of five royal mints, which formerly +existed, there were now one hundred and fifty in the hands of authorized +individuals, who debased the coin to such a deplorable extent, that the +most common articles of life were enhanced in value three, four, and even +six fold. Those who owed debts eagerly anticipated the season of payment; +and, as the creditors refused to accept it in the depreciated currency, it +became a fruitful source of litigation and tumult, until the whole nation +seemed on the verge of bankruptcy. In this general license, the right of +the strongest was the only one which could make itself heard. The nobles, +converting their castles into dens of robbers, plundered the property of +the traveller, which was afterwards sold publicly in the cities. One of +these robber chieftains, who held an important command on the frontiers of +Murcia, was in the habit of carrying on an infamous traffic with the Moors +by selling to them as slaves the Christian prisoners of either sex whom he +had captured in his marauding expeditions. When subdued by Henry, after a +sturdy resistance, he was again received into favor, and reinstated in his +possessions. The pusillanimous monarch knew neither when to pardon, nor +when to punish. [9] + +But no part of Henry's conduct gave such umbrage to his nobles, as the +facility with which he resigned himself to the control of favorites, whom +he had created as it were from nothing, and whom he advanced over the +heads of the ancient aristocracy of the land. Among those especially +disgusted by this proceeding Were Juan Pacheco, marquis of Villena, and +Alfonso Carillo, archbishop of Toledo. These two personages exercised so +important an influence over the destinies of Henry, as to deserve more +particular notice. The former was of noble Portuguese extraction, and +originally a page in the service of the constable Alvaro de Luna, by whom +he had been introduced into the household of Prince Henry, during the +lifetime of John the Second. His polished and plausible address soon +acquired him a complete ascendency over the feeble mind of his master, who +was guided by his pernicious counsels, in his frequent dissensions with +his father. His invention was ever busy in devising intrigues, which he +recommended by his subtile, insinuating eloquence; and he seemed to prefer +the attainment of his purposes by a crooked rather than by a direct +policy, even when the latter might equally well have answered. He +sustained reverses with imperturbable composure; and, when his schemes +were most successful, he was willing to risk all for the excitement of a +new revolution. Although naturally humane, and without violent or +revengeful passions, his restless spirit was perpetually involving his +country in all the disasters of civil war. He was created marquis of +Villena, by John the Second; and his ample domains, lying on the confines +of Toledo, Murcia, and Valencia, and embracing an immense extent of +populous and well-fortified territory, made him the most powerful vassal +in the kingdom. [10] + +His uncle, the archbishop of Toledo, was of a sterner character. He was +one of those turbulent prelates, not unfrequent in a rude age, who seem +intended by nature for the camp rather than the church. He was fierce, +haughty, intractable; and he was supported in the execution of his +ambitious enterprises, no less by his undaunted resolution, than by the +extraordinary resources, which he enjoyed as primate of Spain. He was +capable of warm attachments, and of making great personal sacrifices for +his friends, from whom, in return, he exacted the most implicit deference; +and, as he was both easily offended and implacable in his resentments, he +seems to have been almost equally formidable as a friend and as an enemy. +[11] + +These early adherents of Henry, little satisfied with seeing their own +consequence eclipsed by the rising glories of the newly-created favorites, +began secretly to stir up cabals and confederacies among the nobles, until +the occurrence of other circumstances obviated the necessity, and indeed +the possibility, of further dissimulation. Henry had been persuaded to +take part in the internal dissensions which then agitated the kingdom of +Aragon, and had supported the Catalans in their opposition to their +sovereign by seasonable supplies of men and money. He had even made some +considerable conquests for himself, when he was induced, by the advice of +the marquis of Villena and the archbishop of Toledo, to refer the +arbitration of his differences with the king of Aragon to Louis the +Eleventh, of France; a monarch whose habitual policy allowed him to refuse +no opportunity of interference in the concerns of his neighbors. + +The conferences were conducted at Bayonne, and an interview was +subsequently agreed on between the kings of France and Castile, to be held +near that city, on the banks of the Bidassoa, which divides the dominions +of the respective monarchs. The contrast exhibited by the two princes at +this interview, in their style of dress and equipage, was sufficiently +striking to deserve notice. Louis, who was even worse attired than usual, +according to Comines, wore a coat of coarse woollen cloth cut short, a +fashion then deemed very unsuitable to persons of rank, with a doublet of +fustian, and a weather-beaten hat, surmounted by a little leaden image of +the Virgin. His imitative courtiers adopted a similar costume. The +Castilians, on the other hand, displayed uncommon magnificence. The barge +of the royal favorite, Beltran de la Cueva, was resplendent with sails of +cloth of gold, and his apparel glittered with a profusion of costly +jewels. Henry was escorted by his Moorish guard gorgeously equipped, and +the cavaliers of his train vied with each other in the sumptuous +decorations of dress and equipage. The two nations appear to have been +mutually disgusted with the contrast exhibited by their opposite +affectations. The French sneered at the ostentation of the Spaniards, and +the latter, in their turn, derided the sordid parsimony of their +neighbors; and thus the seeds of a national aversion were implanted, +which, under the influence of more important circumstances, ripened into +open hostility. [12] + +The monarchs seem to have separated with as little esteem for each other +as did their respective courtiers; and Comines profits by the occasion to +inculcate the inexpediency of such interviews between princes, who have +exchanged the careless jollity of youth for the cold and calculating +policy of riper years. The award of Louis dissatisfied all parties; a +tolerable proof of its impartiality. The Castilians, in particular, +complained, that the marquis of Villena and the archbishop of Toledo had +compromised the honor of the nation, by allowing their sovereign to cross +over to the French shore of the Bidassoa, and its interests, by the +cession of the conquered territory to Aragon. They loudly accused them of +being pensioners of Louis, a fact which does not appear improbable, +considering the usual policy of this prince, who, as is well known, +maintained an espionage over the councils of most of his neighbors. Henry +was so far convinced of the truth of these imputations, that he dismissed +the obnoxious ministers from their employments. [13] + +The disgraced nobles instantly set about the organization of one of those +formidable confederacies, which had so often shaken the monarchs of +Castile upon their throne, and which, although not authorized by positive +law, as in Aragon, seemed to have derived somewhat of a constitutional +sanction from ancient usage. Some of the members of this coalition were +doubtless influenced exclusively by personal jealousies; but many others +entered into it from disgust at the imbecile and arbitrary proceedings of +the crown. + +In 1462, the queen had been delivered of a daughter, who was named like +herself Joanna, but who, from her reputed father, Beltran de la Cueva, was +better known in the progress of her unfortunate history by the cognomen of +Beltraneja. Henry, however, had required the usual oath of allegiance to +be tendered to her as presumptive heir to the crown. The confederates, +assembled at Burgos, declared this oath of fealty a compulsory act, and +that many of them had privately protested against it at the time, from a +conviction of the illegitimacy of Joanna. In the bill of grievances, which +they now presented to the monarch, they required that he should deliver +his brother Alfonso into their hands, to be publicly acknowledged as his +successor; they enumerated the manifold abuses, which pervaded every +department of government, which they freely imputed to the unwholesome +influence exercised by the favorite, Beltran de la Cueva, over the royal +counsels, doubtless the true key to much of their patriotic sensibility; +and they entered into a covenant, sanctioned by all the solemnities of +religion usual on these occasions, not to re-enter the service of their +sovereign, or accept any favor from him until he had redressed their +wrongs. [14] + +The king, who by an efficient policy might perhaps have crushed these +revolutionary movements in their birth, was naturally averse to violent, +or even vigorous measures. He replied to the bishop of Cuença, his ancient +preceptor, who recommended these measures; "You priests, who are not +called to engage in the fight, are very liberal of the blood of others." +To which the prelate rejoined, with more warmth than breeding, "Since you +are not true to your own honor, at a time like this, I shall live to see +you the most degraded monarch in Spain; when you will repent too late this +unseasonable pusillanimity." [15] + +Henry, unmoved either by the entreaties or remonstrances of his adherents, +resorted to the milder method of negotiation. He consented to an interview +with the confederates, in which he was induced, by the plausible arguments +of the marquis of Villena, to comply with most of their demands. He +delivered his brother Alfonso into their hands, to be recognized as the +lawful heir to the crown, on condition of his subsequent union with +Joanna; and he agreed to nominate, in conjunction with his opponents, a +commission of five, who should deliberate on the state of the kingdom, and +provide an effectual reform of abuses. [16] The result of this +deliberation, however, proved so prejudicial to the royal authority, that +the feeble monarch was easily persuaded to disavow the proceedings of the +commissioners, on the ground of their secret collusion with his enemies, +and even to attempt the seizure of their persons. The confederates, +disgusted with this breach of faith, and in pursuance, perhaps, of their +original design, instantly decided on the execution of that bold measure, +which some writers denounce as a flagrant act of rebellion, and others +vindicate as a just and constitutional proceeding. + +In an open plain, not far from the city of Avila, they caused a scaffold +to be erected, of sufficient elevation to be easily seen from the +surrounding country. A chair of state was placed on it, and in this was +seated an effigy of King Henry, clad in sable robes and adorned with all +the insignia of royalty, a sword at its side, a sceptre in its hand, and a +crown upon its head. A manifesto was then read, exhibiting in glowing +colors the tyrannical conduct of the king, and the consequent +determination to depose him; and vindicating the proceeding by several +precedents drawn from the history of the monarchy. The archbishop of +Toledo, then ascending the platform, tore the diadem from the head of the +statue; the marquis of Villena removed the sceptre, the count of Placencia +the sword, the grand master of Alcantara and the counts of Benavente and +Paredes the rest of the regal insignia; when the image, thus despoiled of +its honors, was rolled in the dust, amid the mingled groans and clamors of +the spectators. The young prince Alfonso, at that time only eleven years +of age, was seated on the vacant throne, and the assembled grandees +severally kissed his hand in token of their homage; the trumpets announced +the completion of the ceremony, and the populace greeted with joyful +acclamations the accession of their new sovereign. [17] + +Such are the details of this extraordinary transaction, as recorded by the +two contemporary historians of the rival factions. The tidings were borne, +with the usual celerity of evil news, to the remotest parts of the +kingdom. The pulpit and the forum resounded with the debates of +disputants, who denied, or defended, the right of the subject to sit in +judgment on the conduct of his sovereign. Every man was compelled to +choose his side in this strange division of the kingdom. Henry received +intelligence of the defection, successively, of the capital cities of +Burgos, Toledo, Cordova, Seville, together with a large part of the +southern provinces, where lay the estates of some of the most powerful +partisans of the opposite faction. The unfortunate monarch, thus deserted +by his subjects, abandoned himself to despair, and expressed the extremity +of his anguish in the strong language of Job: "Naked came I from my +mother's womb, and naked must I go down to the earth!" [18] + +A large, probably the larger part of the nation, however, disapproved of +the tumultuous proceedings of the confederates. However much they +contemned the person of the monarch, they were not prepared to see the +royal authority thus openly degraded. They indulged, too, some compassion +for a prince, whose political vices, at least, were imputable to mental +incapacity, and to evil counsellors, rather than to any natural turpitude +of heart. Among the nobles who adhered to him, the most conspicuous were +"the good count of Haro," and the powerful family of Mendoza, the worthy +scions of an illustrious stock. The estates of the marquis of Santillana, +the head of this house, lay chiefly in the Asturias, and gave him a +considerable influence in the northern provinces, [19] the majority of +whose inhabitants remained constant in their attachment to the royal +cause. + +When Henry's summons, therefore, was issued for the attendance of all his +loyal subjects capable of bearing arms, it was answered by a formidable +array of numbers, that must have greatly exceeded that of his rival, and +which is swelled by his biographer to seventy thousand foot and fourteen +thousand horse; a much smaller force, under the direction of an efficient +leader, would doubtless have sufficed to extinguish the rising spirit of +revolt. But Henry's temper led him to adopt a more conciliatory policy, +and to try what could be effected by negotiation, before resorting to +arms. In the former, however, he was no match for the confederates, or +rather the marquis of Villena, their representative on these occasions. +This nobleman, who had so zealously co-operated with his party in +conferring the title of king on Alfonso, had intended to reserve the +authority to himself. He probably found more difficulty in controlling the +operations of the jealous and aspiring aristocracy, with whom he was +associated, than he had imagined; and he was willing to aid the opposite +party in maintaining a sufficient degree of strength to form a +counterpoise to that of the confederates, and thus, while he made his own +services the more necessary to the latter, to provide a safe retreat for +himself, in case of the shipwreck of their fortunes. [20] + +In conformity with this dubious policy, he had, soon after the occurrence +at Avila, opened a secret correspondence with his former master, and +suggested to him the idea of terminating their differences by some +amicable adjustment. In consequence of these intimations, Henry consented +to enter into a negotiation with the confederates; and it was agreed, that +the forces on both sides should be disbanded, and that a suspension of +hostilities for six months should take place, during which some definitive +and permanent scheme of reconciliation might be devised. Henry, in +compliance with this arrangement, instantly disbanded his levies; they +retired overwhelmed with indignation at the conduct of their sovereign, +who so readily relinquished the only means of redress that he possessed, +and whom they now saw it would be unavailing to assist, since he was so +ready to desert himself. [21] + +It would be an unprofitable task to attempt to unravel all the fine-spun +intrigues, by which the marquis of Villena contrived to defeat every +attempt at an ultimate accommodation between the parties, until he was +very generally execrated as the real source of the disturbances in the +kingdom. In the mean while, the singular spectacle was exhibited of two +monarchs presiding over one nation, surrounded by their respective courts, +administering the laws, convoking cortes, and in fine assuming the state +and exercising all the functions of sovereignty. It was apparent that this +state of things could not last long; and that the political ferment, which +now agitated the minds of men from one extremity of the kingdom to the +other, and which occasionally displayed itself in tumults and acts of +violence, would soon burst forth with all the horrors of a civil war. + +At this juncture, a proposition was made to Henry for detaching the +powerful family of Pacheco from the interests of the confederates, by the +marriage of his sister Isabella with the brother of the marquis of +Villena, Don Pedro Giron, grand master of the order of Calatrava, a +nobleman of aspiring views, and one of the most active partisans of his +faction. The archbishop of Toledo would naturally follow the fortunes of +his nephew, and thus the league, deprived of its principal supports, must +soon crumble to pieces. Instead of resenting this proposal as an affront +upon his honor, the abject mind of Henry was content to purchase repose +even by the most humiliating sacrifice. He acceded to the conditions; +application was made to Rome for a dispensation from the vows of celibacy +imposed on the grand master as the companion of a religious order; and +splendid preparations were instantly commenced for the approaching +nuptials. [22] + +Isabella was then in her sixteenth year. On her father's death, she +retired with her mother to the little town of Arevalo, where, in +seclusion, and far from the voice of flattery and falsehood, she had been +permitted to unfold the natural graces of mind and person, which might +have been blighted in the pestilent atmosphere of a court. Here, under the +maternal eye, she was carefully instructed in those lessons of practical +piety, and in the deep reverence for religion, which distinguished her +maturer years. On the birth of the princess Joanna, she was removed, +together with her brother Alfonso, by Henry to the royal palace, in order +more effectually to discourage the formation of any faction adverse to the +interests of his supposed daughter. In this abode of pleasure, surrounded +by all the seductions most dazzling to youth, she did not forget the early +lessons that she had imbibed; and the blameless purity of her conduct +shone with additional lustre amid the scenes of levity and licentiousness +by which she was surrounded. [23] + +The near connection of Isabella with the crown, as well as her personal +character, invited the application of numerous suitors. Her hand was first +solicited for that very Ferdinand, who was destined to be her future +husband, though not till after the intervention of many inauspicious +circumstances. She was next betrothed to his elder brother, Carlos; and +some years after his decease, when thirteen years of age, was promised by +Henry to Alfonso, of Portugal. Isabella was present with her brother at a +personal interview with that monarch in 1464, but neither threats nor +entreaties could induce her to accede to a union so unsuitable from the +disparity of their years; and with her characteristic discretion, even at +this early age, she rested her refusal on the ground, that "the infantas +of Castile could not be disposed of in marriage, without the consent of +the nobles of the realm." [25] + +When Isabella understood in what manner she was now to be sacrificed to +the selfish policy of her brother, in the prosecution of which, compulsory +measures if necessary were to be employed, she was filled with the +liveliest emotions of grief and resentment. The master of Calatrava was +well known as a fierce and turbulent leader of faction, and his private +life was stained with most of the licentious vices of the age. He was even +accused of having invaded the privacy of the queen dowager, Isabella's +mother, by proposals of the most degrading nature, an outrage which the +king had either not the power, or the inclination, to resent. [26] With +this person, then, so inferior to her in birth, and so much more unworthy +of her in every other point of view, Isabella was now to be united. On +receiving the intelligence, she confined herself to her apartment, +abstaining from all nourishment and sleep for a day and night, says a +contemporary writer, and imploring Heaven, in the most piteous manner, to +save her from this dishonor, by her own death or that of her enemy. As she +was bewailing her hard fate to her faithful friend, Beatriz de Bobadilla, +"God will not permit it," exclaimed the high-spirited lady, "neither will +I;" then drawing forth a dagger from her bosom, which she kept there for +the purpose, she solemnly vowed to plunge it in the heart of the master of +Calatrava, as soon as he appeared! [27] + +Happily her loyalty was not put to so severe a test. No sooner had the +grand master received the bull of dispensation from the pope, than, +resigning his dignities in his military order, he set about such sumptuous +preparations for his wedding, as were due to the rank of his intended +bride. When these were completed, he began his journey from his residence +at Almagro to Madrid, where the nuptial ceremony was to be performed, +attended by a splendid retinue of friends and followers. But, on the very +first evening after his departure, he was attacked by an acute disorder +while at Villarubia, a village not far from Ciudad Real, which terminated +his life in four days. He died, says Palencia, with imprecations on his +lips, because his life had not been spared some few weeks longer. [28] His +death was attributed by many to poison, administered to him by some of the +nobles, who were envious of his good fortune. But, notwithstanding the +seasonableness of the event, and the familiarity of the crime in that age, +no shadow of imputation was ever cast on the pure fame of Isabella. [29] + +The death of the grand master dissipated, at a blow, all the fine schemes +of the marquis of Villena, as well as every hope of reconciliation between +the parties. The passions, which had been only smothered, now burst forth +into open hostility; and it was resolved to refer the decision of the +question to the issue of a battle. The two armies met on the plains of +Olmedo, where, two and twenty years before, John, the father of Henry, had +been in like manner confronted by his insurgent subjects. The royal army +was considerably the larger; but the deficiency of numbers in the other +was amply supplied by the intrepid spirit of its leaders. The archbishop +of Toledo appeared at the head of its squadrons, conspicuous by a rich +scarlet mantle, embroidered with a white cross, thrown over his armor. The +young prince Alfonso, scarcely fourteen years of age, rode by his side, +clad like him in complete mail. Before the action commenced, the +archbishop sent a message to Beltran de la Cueva, then raised to the title +of duke of Albuquerque, cautioning him not to venture in the field, as no +less than forty cavaliers had sworn his death. The gallant nobleman, who, +on this as on some other occasions, displayed a magnanimity which in some +degree excused the partiality of his master, returned by the envoy a +particular description of the dress he intended to wear; a chivalrous +defiance, which wellnigh cost him his life. Henry did not care to expose +his person in the engagement, and, on receiving erroneous intelligence of +the discomfiture of his party, retreated precipitately with some thirty or +forty horsemen to the shelter of a neighboring village. The action lasted +three hours, until the combatants were separated by the shades of evening, +without either party having decidedly the advantage, although that of +Henry retained possession of the field of battle. The archbishop of Toledo +and Prince Alfonso were the last to retire; and the former was seen +repeatedly to rally his broken squadrons, notwithstanding his arm had been +pierced through with a lance early in the engagement. The king and the +prelate may be thought to have exchanged characters in this tragedy. [30] + +The battle was attended with no result, except that of inspiring +appetites, which had tasted of blood, with a relish for more unlicensed +carnage. The most frightful anarchy now prevailed throughout the kingdom, +dismembered by factions, which the extreme youth of one monarch and the +imbecility of the other made it impossible to control. In vain did the +papal legate, who had received a commission to that effect from his +master, interpose his mediation, and even fulminate sentence of +excommunication against the confederates. The independent barons plainly +told him, that "those who advised the pope that he had a right to +interfere in the temporal concerns of Castile deceived him; and that they +had a perfect right to depose their monarch on sufficient grounds, and +should exercise it." [31] + +Every city, nay, almost every family, became now divided within itself. In +Seville and in Cordova, the inhabitants of one street carried on open war +against those in another. The churches, which were fortified, and occupied +with bodies of armed men, were many of them sacked and burnt to the +ground. In Toledo no less than four thousand dwellings were consumed in +one general conflagration. The ancient family feuds, as those between the +great houses of Guzman and Ponce de Leon in Andalusia, being revived, +carried new division into the cities, whose streets literally ran with +blood. [32] In the country, the nobles and gentry, issuing from their +castles, captured the defenceless traveller, who was obliged to redeem his +liberty by the payment of a heavier ransom than was exacted even by the +Mahometans. All communication on the high roads was suspended, and no man, +says a contemporary, dared move abroad beyond the walls of his city, +unless attended by an armed escort. The organization of one of those +popular confederacies, known under the name of _Hermandad_, in 1465, +which continued in operation during the remainder of this gloomy period, +brought some mitigation to these evils by the fearlessness with which it +exercised its functions, even against offenders of the highest rank, some +of whose castles were razed to the ground by its orders. But this relief +was only partial; and the successful opposition, which the Hermandad +sometimes encountered on these occasions, served to aggravate the horrors +of the scene. Meanwhile, fearful omens, the usual accompaniments of such +troubled times, were witnessed; the heated imagination interpreted the +ordinary operations of nature as signs of celestial wrath; [33] and the +minds of men were filled with dismal bodings of some inevitable evil, like +that which overwhelmed the monarchy in the days of their Gothic ancestors. +[34] + +At this crisis, a circumstance occurred, which gave a new face to affairs, +and totally disconcerted the operations of the confederates. This was the +loss of their young leader, Alfonso; who was found dead in his bed, on the +5th of July, 1468, at the village of Cardeñosa, about two leagues from +Avila, which had so recently been the theatre of his glory. His sudden +death was imputed, in the usual suspicious temper of that corrupt age, to +poison, supposed to have been conveyed to him in a trout, on which he +dined the day preceding. Others attributed it to the plague, which had +followed in the train of evils, that desolated this unhappy country. Thus +at the age of fifteen, and after a brief reign, if reign it may be called, +of three years, perished this young prince, who, under happier auspices +and in maturer life, might have ruled over his country with a wisdom equal +to that of any of its monarchs. Even in the disadvantageous position, in +which he had been placed, he gave clear indications of future excellence. +A short time before his death, he was heard to remark, on witnessing the +oppressive acts of some of the nobles, "I must endure this patiently, +until I am a little older." On another occasion, being solicited by the +citizens of Toledo to approve of some act of extortion which they had +committed, he replied, "God forbid I should countenance such injustice!" +And on being told that the city in that case would probably transfer its +allegiance to Henry, he added, "Much as I love power, I am not willing to +purchase it at such a price." Noble sentiments, but not at all palatable +to the grandees of his party, who saw with alarm that the young lion, when +he had reached his strength, would be likely to burst the bonds with which +they had enthralled him. [35] + +It is not easy to consider the reign of Alfonso in any other light, than +that of a usurpation; although some Spanish writers, and among the rest +Marina, a competent critic when not blinded by prejudice, regard him as a +rightful sovereign, and as such to be enrolled among the monarchs of +Castile. [36] Marina, indeed, admits the ceremony at Avila to have been +originally the work of a faction, and in itself informal and +unconstitutional; but he considers it to have received a legitimate +sanction from its subsequent recognition by the people. But I do not find, +that the deposition of Henry the Fourth was ever confirmed by an act of +cortes. He still continued to reign with the consent of a large portion, +probably the majority, of his subjects; and it is evident that +proceedings, so irregular as those at Avila, could have no pretence to +constitutional validity, without a very general expression of approbation +on the part of the nation. + +The leaders of the confederates were thrown into consternation by an +event, which threatened to dissolve their league, and to leave them +exposed to the resentment of an offended sovereign. In this conjuncture, +they naturally turned their eyes on Isabella, whose dignified and +commanding character might counterbalance the disadvantages arising from +the unsuitableness of her sex for so perilous a situation, and justify her +election in the eyes of the people. She had continued in the family of +Henry during the greater part of the civil war; until the occupation of +Segovia by the insurgents, after the battle of Olmedo, enabled her to seek +the protection of her younger brother Alfonso, to which she was the more +inclined by her disgust with the license of a court, where the love of +pleasure scorned even the veil of hypocrisy. On the death of her brother, +she withdrew to a monastery at Avila, where she was visited by the +archbishop of Toledo, who, in behalf of the confederates, requested her to +occupy the station lately filled by Alfonso, and allow herself to be +proclaimed queen of Castile. [37] + +Isabella discerned too clearly, however, the path of duty and probably of +interest. She unhesitatingly refused the seductive proffer, and replied, +that, "while her brother Henry lived, none other had a right to the crown; +that the country had been divided long enough under the rule of two +contending monarchs; and that the death of Alfonso might perhaps be +interpreted into an indication from Heaven of its disapprobation of their +cause." She expressed herself desirous of establishing a reconciliation +between the parties, and offered heartily to co-operate with her brother +in the reformation of existing abuses. Neither the eloquence nor +entreaties of the primate could move her from her purpose; and, when a +deputation from Seville announced to her that that city, in common with +the rest of Andalusia, had unfurled its standards in her name and +proclaimed her sovereign of Castile, she still persisted in the same wise +and temperate policy. [38] + +The confederates were not prepared for this magnanimous act from one so +young, and in opposition to the advice of her most venerated counsellors. +No alternative remained, however, but that of negotiating an accommodation +on the best terms possible with Henry, whose facility of temper and love +of repose naturally disposed him to an amicable adjustment of his +differences. With these dispositions, a reconciliation was effected +between the parties on the following conditions; namely, that a general +amnesty should be granted by the king for all past offences; that the +queen, whose dissolute conduct was admitted to be matter of notoriety, +should be divorced from her husband, and sent back to Portugal; that +Isabella should have the principality of the Asturias (the usual demesne +of the heir apparent to the crown) settled on her, together with a +specific provision suitable to her rank; that she should be immediately +recognized heir to the crowns of Castile and Leon; that a cortes should be +convoked within forty days for the purpose of bestowing a legal sanction +on her title, as well as of reforming the various abuses of government; +and finally, that Isabella should not be constrained to marry in +opposition to her own wishes, nor should she do so without the consent of +her brother. [39] + +In pursuance of these arrangements, an interview took place between Henry +and Isabella, each attended by a brilliant _cortège_ of cavaliers and +nobles, at a place called Toros de Guisando, in New Castile. [40] The +monarch embraced his sister with the tenderest marks of affection, and +then proceeded solemnly to recognize her as his future and rightful heir. +An oath of allegiance was repeated by the attendant nobles, who concluded +the ceremony by kissing the hand of the princess in token of their homage. +In due time the representatives of the nation, convened in cortes at +Ocaña, unanimously concurred in their approbation of these preliminary +proceedings, and thus Isabella was announced to the world as the lawful +successor to the crowns of Castile and Leon. [41] + +It can hardly be believed, that Henry was sincere in subscribing +conditions so humiliating; nor can his easy and lethargic temper account +for his so readily relinquishing the pretensions of the Princess Joanna, +whom, notwithstanding the popular imputations on her birth, he seems +always to have cherished as his own offspring. He was accused, even while +actually signing the treaty, of a secret collusion with the marquis of +Villena for the purpose of evading it; an accusation, which derives a +plausible coloring from subsequent events. + +The new and legitimate basis, on which the pretensions of Isabella to the +throne now rested, drew the attention of neighboring princes, who +contended with each other for the honor of her hand. Among these suitors, +was a brother of Edward the Fourth, of England, not improbably Richard, +duke of Gloucester, since Clarence was then engaged in his intrigues with +the earl of Warwick, which led a few months later to his marriage with the +daughter of that nobleman. Had she listened to his proposals, the duke +would in all likelihood have exchanged his residence in England for +Castile, where his ambition, satisfied with the certain reversion of a +crown, might have been spared the commission of the catalogue of crimes +which blacken his memory. [42] + +Another suitor was the duke of Guienne, the unfortunate brother of Louis +the Eleventh, and at that time the presumptive heir of the French +monarchy. Although the ancient intimacy, which subsisted between the royal +families of France and Castile, in some measure favored his pretensions, +the disadvantages resulting from such a union were too obvious to escape +attention. The two countries were too remote from each other, [43] and +their inhabitants too dissimiliar in character and institutions, to permit +the idea of their ever cordially coalescing as one people under a common +sovereign. Should the duke of Guienne fail in the inheritance of the +crown, it was argued, he would be every way an unequal match for the +heiress of Castile; should he succeed to it, it might be feared, that, in +case of a union, the smaller kingdom would be considered only as an +appendage, and sacrificed to the interests of the larger. [44] + +The person on whom Isabella turned the most favorable eye was her kinsman +Ferdinand of Aragon. The superior advantages of a connection, which should +be the means of uniting the people of Aragon and Castile into one nation, +were indeed manifest. They were the descendants of one common stock, +speaking one language, and living under the influence of similar +institutions, which had moulded them into a common resemblance of +character and manners. From their geographical position, too, they seemed +destined by nature to be one nation; and, while separately they were +condemned to the rank of petty and subordinate states, they might hope, +when consolidated into one monarchy, to rise at once to the first class of +European powers. While arguments of this public nature pressed on the mind +of Isabella, she was not insensible to those which most powerfully affect +the female heart. Ferdinand was then in the bloom of life, and +distinguished for the comeliness of his person. In the busy scenes, in +which he had been engaged from his boyhood, he had displayed a chivalrous +valor, combined with maturity of judgment far above his years. Indeed, he +was decidedly superior to his rivals in personal merit and attractions. +[45] But, while private inclinations thus happily coincided with +considerations of expediency for inclining her to prefer the Aragonese +match, a scheme was devised in another quarter for the express purpose of +defeating it. + +A fraction of the royal party, with the family of Mendoza at their head, +had retired in disgust with the convention of Toros de Guisando, and +openly espoused the cause of the princess Joanna. They even instructed her +to institute an appeal before the tribunal of the supreme pontiff, and +caused a placard, exhibiting a protest against the validity of the late +proceedings, to be nailed secretly in the night to the gate of Isabella's +mansion. [46] Thus were sown the seeds of new dissensions, before the old +were completely eradicated. With this disaffected party the marquis of +Villena, who, since his reconciliation, had resumed his ancient ascendency +over Henry, now associated himself. Nothing, in the opinion of this +nobleman, could be more repugnant to his interests, than the projected +union between the houses of Castile and Aragon; to the latter of which, as +already noticed, [47] once belonged the ample domains of his own +marquisate, which he imagined would be held by a very precarious tenure +should any of this family obtain a footing in Castile. + +In the hope of counteracting this project, he endeavored to revive the +obsolete pretensions of Alfonso, king of Portugal; and, the more +effectually to secure the co-operation of Henry, he connected with his +scheme a proposition for marrying his daughter Joanna with the son and +heir of the Portuguese monarch; and thus this unfortunate princess might +be enabled to assume at once a station suitable to her birth, and at some +future opportunity assert with success her claim to the Castilian crown. +In furtherance of this complicated intrigue, Alfonso was invited to renew +his addresses to Isabella in a more public manner than he had hitherto +done; and a pompous embassy, with the archbishop of Lisbon at its head, +appeared at Ocaña, where Isabella was then residing, bearing the proposals +of their master. The princess returned, as before, a decided though +temperate refusal. [48] Henry, or rather the marquis of Villena, piqued at +this opposition to his wishes, resolved to intimidate her into compliance; +and menaced her with imprisonment in the royal fortress at Madrid. Neither +her tears nor entreaties would have availed against this tyrannical +proceeding; and the marquis was only deterred from putting it in execution +by his fear of the inhabitants of Ocaña, who openly espoused the cause of +Isabella. Indeed, the common people of Castile very generally supported +her in her preference of the Aragonese match. Boys paraded the streets, +bearing banners emblazoned with the arms of Aragon, and singing verses +prophetic of the glories of the auspicious union. They even assembled +round the palace gates, and insulted the ears of Henry and his minister by +the repetition of satirical stanzas, which contrasted Alfonso's years with +the youthful graces of Ferdinand. [49] Notwithstanding this popular +expression of opinion, however, the constancy of Isabella might at length +have yielded to the importunity of her persecutors, had she not been +encouraged by her friend, the archbishop of Toledo, who had warmly entered +into the interests of Aragon, and who promised, should matters come to +extremity, to march in person to her relief at the head of a sufficient +force to insure it. + +Isabella, indignant at the oppressive treatment, which she experienced +from her brother, as well as at his notorious infraction of almost every +article in the treaty of Toros de Guisando, felt herself released from her +corresponding engagements, and determined to conclude the negotiations +relative to her marriage, without any further deference to his opinion. +Before taking any decisive step, however, she was desirous of obtaining +the concurrence of the leading nobles of her party. This was effected +without difficulty, through the intervention of the archbishop of Toledo, +and of Don Frederic Henriquez, admiral of Castile, and the maternal +grandfather of Ferdinand; a person of high consideration, both from his +rank and character, and connected by blood with the principal families in +the kingdom. [50] Fortified by their approbation, Isabella dismissed the +Aragonese envoy with a favorable answer to his master's suit. [51] + +Her reply was received with almost as much satisfaction by the old king of +Aragon, John the Second, as by his son. This monarch, who was one of the +shrewdest princes of his time, had always been deeply sensible of the +importance of consolidating the scattered monarchies of Spain under one +head. He had solicited the hand of Isabella for his son, when she +possessed only a contingent reversion of the crown. But, when her +succession had been settled on a more secure basis, he lost no time in +effecting this favorite object of his policy. With the consent of the +states, he had transferred to his son the title of king of Sicily, and +associated him with himself in the government at home, in order to give +him greater consequence in the eyes of his mistress. He then despatched a +confidential agent into Castile, with instructions to gain over to his +interests all who exercised any influence on the mind of the princess; +furnishing him for this purpose with _cartes blanches_, signed by +himself and Ferdinand, which he was empowered to fill at his discretion. +[52] + +Between parties thus favorably disposed, there was no unnecessary delay. +The marriage articles were signed, and sworn to by Ferdinand at Cervera, +on the 7th of January. He promised faithfully to respect the laws and +usages of Castile; to fix his residence in that kingdom, and not to quit +it without the consent of Isabella; to alienate no property belonging to +the crown; to prefer no foreigners to municipal offices, and indeed to +make no appointments of a civil or military nature, without her consent +and approbation; and to resign to her exclusively the right of nomination +to ecclesiastical benefices. All ordinances of a public nature were to be +subscribed equally by both. Ferdinand engaged, moreover, to prosecute the +war against the Moors; to respect King Henry; to suffer every noble to +remain unmolested in the possession of his dignities, and not to demand +restitution of the domains formerly owned by his father in Castile. The +treaty concluded with a specification of a magnificent dower to be settled +on Isabella, far more ample than that usually assigned to the queens of +Aragon. [53] The circumspection of the framers of this instrument is +apparent from the various provisions introduced into it solely to calm the +apprehensions and to conciliate the good will of the party disaffected to +the marriage; while the national partialities of the Castilians in general +were gratified by the jealous restrictions imposed on Ferdinand, and the +relinquishment of all the essential rights of sovereignty to his consort. + +While these affairs were in progress, Isabella's situation was becoming +extremely critical. She had availed herself of the absence of her brother +and the marquis of Villena in the south, whither they had gone for the +purpose of suppressing the still lingering spark of insurrection, to +transfer her residence from Ocaña to Madrigal, where, under the protection +of her mother, she intended to abide the issue of the pending negotiations +with Aragon. Far, however, from escaping the vigilant eye of the marquis +of Villena by this movement, she laid herself more open to it. She found +the bishop of Burgos, the nephew of the marquis, stationed at Madrigal, +who now served as an effectual spy upon her actions. Her most confidential +servants were corrupted, and conveyed intelligence of her proceedings to +her enemy. Alarmed at the actual progress made in the negotiations for her +marriage, the marquis was now convinced that he could only hope to defeat +them by resorting to the coercive system, which he had before abandoned. +He accordingly instructed the archbishop of Seville to march at once to +Madrigal with a sufficient force to secure Isabella's person; and letters +were at the same time addressed by Henry to the citizens of that place, +menacing them with his resentment, if they should presume to interpose in +her behalf. The timid inhabitants disclosed the purport of the mandate to +Isabella, and besought her to provide for her own safety. This was perhaps +the most critical period in her life. Betrayed by her own domestics, +deserted even by those friends of her own sex who might have afforded her +sympathy and counsel, but who fled affrighted from the scene of danger, +and on the eve of falling into the snares of her enemies, she beheld the +sudden extinction of those hopes, which she had so long and so fondly +cherished. [54] + +In this exigency, she contrived to convey a knowledge of her situation to +Admiral Henriquez, and the archbishop of Toledo. The active prelate, on +receiving the summons, collected a body of horse, and, reinforced by the +admiral's troops, advanced with such expedition to Madrigal, that he +succeeded in anticipating the arrival of the enemy. Isabella received her +friends with unfeigned satisfaction; and, bidding adieu to her dismayed +guardian, the bishop of Burgos, and his attendants, she was borne off by +her little army in a sort of military triumph to the friendly city of +Valladolid, where she was welcomed by the citizens with a general burst of +enthusiasm. [55] + +In the mean time Gutierre de Cardenas, one of the household of the +princess, [56] and Alfonso de Palencia, the faithful chronicler of these +events, were despatched into Aragon in order to quicken Ferdinand's +operations, during the auspicious interval afforded by the absence of +Henry in Andalusia. On arriving at the frontier town of Osma, they were +dismayed to find that the bishop of that place, together with the duke of +Medina Celi, on whose active co-operation they had relied for the safe +introduction of Ferdinand into Castile, had been gained over to the +interests of the marquis of Villena. [57] The envoys, however, adroitly +concealing the real object of their mission, were permitted to pass +unmolested to Saragossa, where Ferdinand was then residing. They could not +have arrived at a more inopportune season. The old king of Aragon was in +the very heat of the war against the insurgent Catalans, headed by the +victorious John of Anjou. Although so sorely pressed, his forces were on +the eve of disbanding for want of the requisite funds to maintain them. +His exhausted treasury did not contain more than three hundred enriques. +[58] In this exigency he was agitated by the most distressing doubts. As +he could spare neither the funds nor the force necessary for covering his +son's entrance into Castile, he must either send him unprotected into a +hostile country, already aware of his intended enterprise and in arms to +defeat it, or abandon the long-cherished object of his policy, at the +moment when his plans were ripe for execution. Unable to extricate himself +from this dilemma, he referred the whole matter to Ferdinand and his +council. [59] + +It was at length determined, that the prince should undertake the journey, +accompanied by half a dozen attendants only, in the disguise of merchants, +by the direct route from Saragossa; while another party, in order to +divert the attention of the Castilians, should proceed in a different +direction, with all the ostentation of a public embassy from the king of +Aragon to Henry the Fourth. The distance was not great, which Ferdinand +and his suite were to travel before reaching a place of safety; but this +intervening country was patrolled by squadrons of cavalry for the purpose +of intercepting their progress; and the whole extent of the frontier, from +Almazan to Guadalajara, was defended by a line of fortified castles in the +hands of the family of Mendoza. [60] The greatest circumspection therefore +was necessary. The party journeyed chiefly in the night; Ferdinand assumed +the disguise of a servant, and, when they halted on the road, took care of +the mules, and served his companions at table. In this guise, with no +other disaster except that of leaving at an inn the purse which contained +the funds for the expedition, they arrived, late on the second night, at a +little place called the Burgo or Borough, of Osma, which the count of +Treviño, one of the partisans of Isabella, had occupied with a +considerable body of men-at-arms. On knocking at the gate, cold and faint +with travelling, during which the prince had allowed himself to take no +repose, they were saluted by a large stone discharged by a sentinel from +the battlements, which, glancing near Ferdinand's head, had wellnigh +brought his romantic enterprise to a tragical conclusion; when his voice +was recognized by his friends within, and, the trumpets proclaiming his +arrival, he was received with great joy and festivity by the count and his +followers. The remainder of his journey, which he commenced before dawn, +was performed under the convoy of a numerous and well-armed escort; and on +the 9th of October he reached Dueñas in the kingdom of Leon, where the +Castilian nobles and cavaliers of his party eagerly thronged to render him +the homage due to his rank. [61] + +The intelligence of Ferdinand's arrival diffused universal joy in the +little court of Isabella at Valladolid. Her first step was to transmit a +letter to her brother Henry, in which she informed him of the presence of +the prince in his dominions, and of their intended marriage. She excused +the course she had taken by the embarrassments, in which she had been +involved by the malice of her enemies. She represented the political +advantages of the connection, and the sanction it had received from the +Castilian nobles; and she concluded with soliciting his approbation of it, +giving him at the same time affectionate assurances of the most dutiful +submission both on the part of Ferdinand and of herself. [62] Arrangements +were then made for an interview between the royal pair, in which some +courtly parasites would fain have persuaded their mistress to require some +act of homage from Ferdinand; in token of the inferiority of the crown of +Aragon to that of Castile; a proposition which she rejected with her usual +discretion. [63] + +Agreeably to these arrangements, Ferdinand, on the evening of the 15th of +October, passed privately from Dueñas, accompanied only by four +attendants, to the neighboring city of Valladolid, where he was received +by the archbishop of Toledo, and conducted to the apartment of his +mistress. [64] Ferdinand was at this time in the eighteenth year of his +age. His complexion was fair, though somewhat bronzed by constant exposure +to the sun; his eye quick and cheerful; his forehead ample, and +approaching to baldness. His muscular and well-proportioned frame was +invigorated by the toils of war, and by the chivalrous exercises in which +he delighted. He was one of the best horsemen in his court, and excelled +in field sports of every kind. His voice was somewhat sharp, but he +possessed a fluent eloquence; and, when he had a point to carry, his +address was courteous and even insinuating. He secured his health by +extreme temperance in his diet, and by such habits of activity, that it +was said he seemed to find repose in business. [65] Isabella was a year +older than her lover. In stature she was somewhat above the middle size. +Her complexion was fair; her hair of a bright chestnut color, inclining to +red; and her mild blue eye beamed with intelligence and sensibility. She +was exceedingly beautiful; "the handsomest lady," says one of her +household, "whom I ever beheld, and the most gracious in her manners." +[66] The portrait still existing of her in the royal palace, is +conspicuous for an open symmetry of features, indicative of the natural +serenity of temper, and that beautiful harmony of intellectual and moral +qualities, which most distinguished her. She was dignified in her +demeanor, and modest even to a degree of reserve. She spoke the Castilian +language with more than usual elegance; and early imbibed a relish for +letters, in which she was superior to Ferdinand, whose education in this +particular seems to have been neglected. [67] It is not easy to obtain a +dispassionate portrait of Isabella. The Spaniards, who revert to her +glorious reign, are so smitten with her moral perfections, that even in +depicting her personal, they borrow somewhat of the exaggerated coloring +of romance. + +The interview lasted more than two hours, when Ferdinand retired to his +quarters at Dueñas, as privately as he came. The preliminaries of the +marriage, however, were first adjusted; but so great was the poverty of +the parties, that it was found necessary to borrow money to defray the +expenses of the ceremony. [68] Such were the humiliating circumstances +attending the commencement of a union destined to open the way to the +highest prosperity and grandeur of the Spanish monarchy! + +The marriage between Ferdinand and Isabella was publicly celebrated, on +the morning of the 19th of October, in the palace of John de Vivero, the +temporary residence of the princess, and subsequently appropriated to the +chancery of Valladolid. The nuptials were solemnized in the presence of +Ferdinand's grandfather, the admiral of Castile, of the archbishop of +Toledo, and a multitude of persons of rank, as well as of inferior +condition, amounting in all to no less than two thousand. [69] A papal +bull of dispensation was produced by the archbishop, relieving the parties +from the impediment incurred by their falling within the prohibited +degrees of consanguinity. This spurious document was afterwards discovered +to have been devised by the old king of Aragon, Ferdinand, and the +archbishop, who were deterred from applying to the court of Rome by the +zeal with which it openly espoused the interests of Henry, and who knew +that Isabella would never consent to a union repugnant to the canons of +the established church, and one which involved such heavy ecclesiastical +censures. A genuine bull of dispensation was obtained, some years later, +from Sixtus the Fourth; but Isabella, whose honest mind abhorred +everything like artifice, was filled with no little uneasiness and +mortification at the discovery of the imposition. [70] The ensuing week +was consumed in the usual festivities of this joyous season; at the +expiration of which, the new-married pair attended publicly the +celebration of mass, agreeably to the usage of the time, in the collegiate +church of Sante Maria. [71] + +An embassy was despatched by Ferdinand and Isabella to Henry, to acquaint +him with their proceedings, and again request his approbation of them. +They repeated their assurances of loyal submission, and accompanied the +message with a copious extract from such of the articles of marriage, as, +by their import, would be most likely to conciliate his favorable +disposition. Henry coldly replied, that "he must advise with his +ministers." [72] + + * * * * * + +Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdés, author of the "Quincuagenas" +frequently cited in this History, was born at Madrid, in 1478. He was of +noble Asturian descent. Indeed, every peasant in the Asturias claims +nobility as his birthright. At the age of twelve he was introduced into +the royal palace, as one of the pages of Prince John. He continued with +the court several years, and was present, though a boy, in the closing +campaigns of the Moorish war. In 1514, according to his own statement, he +embarked for the Indies, where, although he revisited his native country +several times, he continued during the remainder of his long life. The +time of his death is uncertain. + +Oviedo occupied several important posts under the government, and he was +appointed to one of a literary nature, for which he was well qualified by +his long residence abroad; that of historiographer of the Indies. It was +in this capacity that he produced his principal work, "Historia General de +las Indias," in fifty books. Las Casas denounces the book as a wholesale +fabrication, "as full of lies, almost, as pages." (Oeuvres, trad. de +Llorente, tom. i. p. 382.) But Las Casas entertained too hearty an +aversion for the man, whom he publicly accused of rapacity and cruelty, +and was too decidedly opposed to his ideas on the government of the +Indies, to be a fair critic. Oviedo, though somewhat loose and rambling, +possessed extensive stores of information, by which those who have had +occasion to follow in his track have liberally profited. + +The work with which we are concerned is his Quincuagenas. It is entitled +"Las Quincuagenas de los generosos é ilustres é no menos famosos Reyes, +Príncipes, Duques, Marqueses y Condes et Caballeros, et Personas notables +de España, que escribió el Capitan Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdez, +Alcáide de sus Magestades de la Fortaleza de la Cibdad é Puerto de Sancto +Domingo de la Isla Españiola, Coronista de las Indias," etc. At the close +of the third volume is this record of the octogenarian author; "Acabé de +escribir de mi mano este famoso tractado de la nobleza de España, domingo +1730; dia de Páscua de Pentecostes XXIII. de mayo de 1556 años. Laus +Deo. Y de mi edad 79 años." This very curious work is in the form of +dialogues, in which the author is the chief interlocutor. It contains a +very full, and, indeed, prolix notice of the principal persons in Spain, +their lineage, revenues, and arms, with an inexhaustible fund of private +anecdote. The author, who was well acquainted with most of the individuals +of note in his time, amused himself, during his absence in the New World, +with keeping alive the images of home by this minute record of early +reminiscences. In this mass of gossip, there is a good deal, indeed, of +very little value. It contains, however, much for the illustration of +domestic manners, and copious particulars, as I have intimated, respecting +the characters and habits of eminent personages, which could have been +known only to one familiar with them. On all topics of descent and +heraldry, he is uncommonly full; and one would think his services in this +department alone might have secured him, in a land where these are so much +respected, the honors of the press. His book, however, still remains in +manuscript, apparently little known, and less used, by Castilian scholars. +Besides the three folio volumes in the Royal Library at Madrid, from which +the transcript in my possession was obtained, Clemencin, whose +commendations of this work, as illustrative of Isabella's reign, are +unqualified. (Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 10,) enumerates +three others, two in the king's private library, and one in that of the +Academy. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] + "Nil pudet assuetos sceptris: mitissima sors est + Regnorum sub rege novo." Lucan, Pharsalia, lib. 8. + +[2] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 8.--Rodericus +Sanctius, Historia Hispanica, cap. 38, 39.--Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. +1.--Castillo, Crónica, i. 20.--Guzman, Generaciones, cap. 33.--Although +Henry's lavish expenditure, particularly on works of architecture, gained +him in early life the appellation of "the Liberal," he is better known on +the roll of Castilian sovereigns by the less flattering title of "the +Impotent." + +[3] Zuñiga, Anales Eclesiasticos y Seculares de Sevilla, (Madrid, 1667,) +p. 344.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 20.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. +pp. 415, 419.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 14 et +seq.--The surprise of Gibraltar, the unhappy source of feud between the +families of Guzman and Ponce de Leon, did not occur till a later period, +1462. + +[4] Such was his apathy, says Mariana, that he would subscribe his name to +public ordinances, without taking the trouble to acquaint himself with +their contents. Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 423. + +[5] Pulgar, Crónica de los Reyes Católicos, (Valencia, 1780,) cap. 2.-- +Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 4.--Aleson, Anales de +Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 519, 520.--The marriage between Blanche and Henry +was publicly declared void by the bishop of Segovia, confirmed by the +archbishop of Toledo, "por impotencia respectiva, owing to some malign +influence"! + +[6] La Clède, Hist. de. Portugal, tom. iii. pp. 325, 345.--Florez, Reynas +Cathólicas, tom. ii. pp. 763, 766.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., +part. 1, cap. 20, 21.--It does not appear, however, whom Beltran de la +Cueva indicated as the lady of his love on this occasion. (See Castillo, +Crónica, cap. 23, 24.) Two anecdotes may he mentioned as characteristic of +the gallantry of the times. The archbishop of Seville concluded a superb +_fête_, given in honor of the royal nuptials, by introducing on the +table two vases filled with rings garnished with precious stones, to be +distributed among his female guests. At a ball given on another occasion, +the young queen having condescended to dance with the French ambassador, +the latter made a solemn vow, in commemoration of so distinguished an +honor, never to dance with any other woman. + +[7] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 42, 47.--Castillo, Crónica, +cap. 23. + +[8] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 35.--Sempere, Hist. del. Luxo, +tom. i. p. 183.--Idem, Hist. des Cortès, ch. 19.--Marina, Teoría, part. 1, +cap. 20.--part. 2, pp. 390, 391.--Zuñiga, Anales de Sevilla, pp. 346, +349.--The papal bulls of crusade issued on these occasions, says Palencia, +contained among other indulgences an exemption from the pains and +penalties of purgatory, assuring to the soul of the purchaser, after +death, an immediate translation into a state of glory. Some of the more +orthodox casuists doubted the validity of such a bull. But it was decided, +after due examination, that, as the holy father possessed plenary power of +absolution of all offenses committed upon earth, and as purgatory is +situated upon earth, it properly fell within his jurisdiction, (cap. 32.) +Bulls of crusade were sold at the rate of 200 maravedies each; and it is +computed by the same historian, that no less than 4,000,000 maravedies +were amassed by this traffic in Castile, in the space of four years! + +[9] Saez, Monedas de Enrique IV., (Madrid, 1805,) pp. 2-5.--Alonso de +Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 36, 39.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 19. + +[10] Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 6.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 15.-- +Mendoza, Monarquía de España, tom. i. p. 328.--The ancient marquisate of +Villena, having been incorporated into the crown of Castile, devolved to +Prince Henry of Aragon, on his marriage with the daughter of John II. It +was subsequently confiscated by that monarch, in consequence of the +repeated rebellions of Prince Henry; and the title, together with a large +proportion of the domains originally attached to it, was conferred on Don +Juan Pacheco, by whom it was transmitted to his son, afterwards raised to +the rank of duke of Escalona, in the reign of Isabella. Salazar de +Mendoza, Dignidades de Castilla y Leon, (Madrid, 1794,) lib. 3, cap. 12, +17. + +[11] Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 20.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., +cap. 10, 11. + +[12] At least these are the important consequences imputed to this +interview by the French writers. See Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iii. pp. +241-243.--Comines, Mémoires, liv. 3, chap. 8.--Also Castillo, Crónica, +cap. 48, 49.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, cap. 50. + +[13] Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. ii. p. 122.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, +cap. 56.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 51, 52, 58.--The queen of Aragon, who +was as skilful a diplomatist as her husband, John I., assailed the vanity +of Villena, quite as much as his interest. On one of his missions to her +court, she invited him to dine with her _tête-à-tête_ at her own table, +while during the repast they were served by the ladies of the palace. +Ibid., cap. 40. + +[14] See the memorial presented to the king, cited at length in Marina, +Teoría, tom. iii. Apend. no. 7.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 58, 64.--Zurita, +Anales, lib. 17, cap. 56.--Lebrija, Hispanarum Rerum Ferdinando Rege et +Elisabe Reginâ Gestarum Decades, (apud Granatam, 1545,) lib. 1, cap. 1, +2.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 6.--Bernaldez, Reyes +Católicos, MS., cap. 9. + +[15] Castillo, Crónica, cap. 65. + +[16] See copies from the original instruments, which are still preserved +in the archives of the house of Villena, in Marina, Teoría, tom. iii. +part. 2, Ap. 6, 8.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 66, 67.--Alonso de Palencia, +Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 57. + +[17] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 62.--Castillo, +Crónica, cap. 68, 69, 74. + +[18] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 63, 70.--Castillo, +Crónica, cap. 75, 76. + +[19] The celebrated marquis of Santillana died in 1458, at the age of +sixty. (Sanchez, Poesías Castellanas, tom. i. p. 23.) The title descended +to his eldest son, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, who is represented by his +contemporaries to have been worthy of his sire. Like him, he was imbued +with a love of letters; he was conspicuous for his magnanimity and +chivalrous honor, his moderation, constancy, and uniform loyalty to his +sovereign, virtues of rare worth in those rapacious and turbulent times. +(Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 9.) Ferdinand and Isabella created him duke +del Infantado. This domain derives its name from its having been once the +patrimony of the _infantes_ of Castile. See Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquía, +tom. i. p. 219,--and Dignidades de Castilla, lib. 3, cap. 17.--Oviedo, +Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 8. + +[20] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 64.--Castillo, +Crónica, cap. 78. + +[21] Castillo, Crónica, cap. 80, 82. + +[22] Rades y Andrada, Chrónica de Las Tres Ordenes y Cavallerías, (Toledo, +1572,) fol. 76.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 85.--Alonso de Palencia, +Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 73. + +[24] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 154.-Florez, Reynas Cathólicas, +tom. ii. p. 789.-Castillo, Crónica, cap. 37. + +[25] Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 561, 562.--Zurita, Anales, +lib. 16, cap. 46, lib. 17, cap. 3.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 31, 57.-- +Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 55. + +[26] Decad. de Palencia, apud Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. p. 65, +nota. + +[27] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 73.--Mariana, Hist. de +España, tom. ii. p. 450.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. p. 532. + +This lady, Doña Beatriz Fernandez de Bobadilla, the most intimate personal +friend of Isabella, will appear often in the course of our narrative. +Gonzalo de Oviedo, who knew her well, describes her as "illustrating her +generous lineage by her conduct, which was wise, virtuous, and valiant." +(Quincuagenas, MS., dial. de Cabrera.) The last epithet, rather singular +for a female character, was not unmerited. + +[28] Palencia imputes his death to an attack of the quinsy. Corónica, MS., +cap. 73. + +[29] Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, fol. 77.--Caro de Torres, Historia +de las Ordenes Militares de Santiago, Calatrava, y Alcantara, (Madrid, +1629,) lib. 2, cap. 59.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 85.--Alonso de Palencia, +Corónica, MS., cap. 73.--Gaillard remarks on this event, "Chacun crut sur +cette mort ce qu'il voulut." And again in a few pages after, speaking of +Isabella, he says, "On remarqua que tons ceux qui pouvoient faire obstacle +à la satisfaction ou à la fortune d'Isabelle, mouroient toujours à propos +pour elle." (Rivalité, tom. iii. pp. 280, 286.) This ingenious writer is +fond of seasoning his style with those piquant sarcasms, in which +oftentimes more is meant than meets the ear, and which Voltaire rendered +fashionable in history. I doubt, however, if, amid all the heats of +controversy and faction, there is a single Spanish writer of that age, or +indeed of any subsequent one, who has ventured to impute to the +contrivance of Isabella any one of the fortunate coincidences, to which +the author alludes. + +[30] Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, lib. 1, cap. 2--Zurita, Anales, lib. +18, cap. 10--Castillo, Cronies, cap. 93, 97.--Alonso de Palencia, +Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap 80. + +[31] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica MS., cap. 82. + +[32] Zuñiga, Anales de Sevilla, pp. 851, 352.--Carta del Levantamiento de +Toledo, apud Castillo, Crónica, p. 109.--The historian of Seville has +quoted an animated apostrophe addressed to the citizens by one of their +number in this season of discord: + + "Mezquina Sevilla en la sangre bañada + de los tus fijos, i tus cavalleros, + que fado enemigo te tiene minguada," etc. + +The poem concludes with a summons to throw off the yoke of their +oppressors: + + "Despierta Sevilla e sacude el imperio, + que faze a tus nobles tanto vituperio." + +See Anales, p. 359. + +[33] "Quod in pace fore, sen natura, tune fatum et ira dei vocabatur;" +says Tacitus, (Historiae, lib. 4, cap. 26,) adverting to a similar state +of excitement. + +[34] Saez quotes a MS. letter of a contemporary, exhibiting a frightful +picture of these disorders. (Monedas de Enrique IV., p. 1, not.--Castillo, +Crónica, cap. 83, 87, et passim.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. +451.--Marina, Teoría, tom. ii. p. 487.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., +part. 1, cap. 69.) The active force kept on duty by the Hermandad amounted +to 3000 horse. Ibid., cap. 89, 90. + +[35] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 87, 92.--Castillo, Crónica, +cap. 94.--Garibay, Compendio, lib. 17, cap. 20. + +[36] Marina, Teoría, part. 2, cap. 88. + +[37] Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decad., lib. 1, cap. 3.--Alonso de Palencia, +Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 92.--Florez, Reynas Cathólicas, tom. ii. p. +790. + +[38] Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decad., lib. 1, cap. 3.--Ferreras, Hist. +d'Espagne, tom. vii. p. 218.-Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, part. 1, cap. +92.--part. 2, cap. 5. + +[39] See a copy of the original compact cited at length by Marina, Teoría, +Apend. no. 11.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 1, cap. 2. + +[40] So called from four bulls, sculptured in stone, discovered there, +with Latin inscriptions thereon, indicating it to have been the site of +one of Julius Caesar's victories during the civil war. (Estrada, Poblacion +General de España, (Madrid, 1748,) tom. i. p. 306.)--Galindez de Carbaja, +a +contemporary, fixes the date of this convention in August. Apales del Rey +Fernando el Católico, MS., año 1468. + +[41] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 4.--Castillo, +Crónica, cap. 18.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. pp. 461, 462.-- +Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 1, cap. 2.--Castillo affirms that Henry, +incensed by his sister's refusal of the king of Portugal, dissolved the +cortes at Ocaña, before it had taken the oath of allegiance to her. +(Crónica, cap. 127.) This assertion, however, is counterbalanced by the +opposite one of Pulgar, a contemporary writer, like himself. (Reyes +Católicos, cap. 5.) And as Ferdinand and Isabella, in a letter addressed, +after their marriage, to Henry IV., transcribed also by Castillo, allude +incidentally to such a recognition as to a well-known fact, the balance of +testimony must be admitted to be in favor of it. See Castillo, Crónica, +cap. 114. + +[42] Isabella, who in a letter to Henry IV., dated Oct. 12th, 1469, +adverts to these proposals of the English prince, as being under +consideration at the time of the convention of Toros de Guisando, does not +specify which of the brothers of Edward IV. was intended. (Castillo, +Crónica, cap. 136.) + +Mr. Turner, in his History of England during the Middle Ages, (London, +1825,) quotes part of the address delivered by the Spanish envoy to +Richard III., in 1483, in which the orator speaks of "the unkindness, +which his queen Isabella had conceived for Edward IV., for his refusal of +her, and his taking instead to wife a widow of England." (Vol. iii. p. +274.) The old chronicler Hall, on the other hand, mentions, that it was +currently reported, although he does not appear to credit it, that the +earl of Warwick had been despatched into Spain in order to request the +hand of the princess Isabella for his master Edward IV., in 1463. (See his +Chronicle of England, (London, 1809,) pp. 263, 264.)--I find nothing in +the Spanish accounts of that period, which throws any light on these +obvious contradictions. + +[43] The territories of France and Castile touched, indeed, on one point +(Guipuscoa), but were separated along the whole remaining line of frontier +by the kingdoms of Aragon and Navarre. + +[44] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 8.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., +part. 2, cap. 10. + +[45] Isabella, in order to acquaint herself more intimately with the +personal qualities of her respective suitors, had privately despatched her +confidential chaplain, Alonso de Coca, to the courts of France and of +Aragon, and his report on his return was altogether favorable to +Ferdinand. The duke of Guienne he represented as "a feeble, effeminate +prince, with limbs so emaciated as to be almost deformed, and with eyes so +weak and watery as to incapacitate him for the ordinary exercises of +chivalry. While Ferdinand, on the other hand, was possessed of a comely, +symmetrical figure, a graceful demeanor, and a spirit that was up to +anything;" _mui dispuesto para toda coga que hacer ginsiese_. It is +not improbable that the queen of Aragon condescended to practise some of +those agreeable arts on the worthy chaplain, which made so sensible an +impression on the marquis of Villena. + +[46] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 5. + +[47] See ante, note 10. + +[48] Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. p. 391.--Castillo, +Crónica, cap. 121, 127.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. +7.--Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decad., lib. 1, cap. 7. + +[49] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 7.--Alonso de Palencia, +Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 7. + +[50] Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 2. + +[51] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 154.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. +fol. 162.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 7.--Pulgar, +Reyes Católicos, cap. 9. + +[52] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 157, 163. + +[53] See the copy of the original marriage contract, as it exists in the +archives of Simancas, extracted in tom. vi. of Memorias de la Acad. de +Hist., Apend. no. 1.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 18, cap. 21.--Ferreras, Hist. +d'Espagne, tom. vii. p. 236. + +[54] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 12.--Castillo, +Crónica, cap. 128, 131, 136.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 162.--Beatrice +de Bobadilla and Mencia de la Torre, the two ladies most in her +confidence, had escaped to the neighboring town of Coca. + +[55] Castillo, Crónica, cap. 136.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., +part. 2, cap. 12.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 69. + +[56] This cavalier, who was of an ancient and honorable family in Castile, +was introduced to the princess's service by the archbishop of Toledo. He +is represented by Gonzalo de Oviedo as a man of much sagacity and +knowledge of the world, qualities with which he united a steady devotion +to the interests of his mistress. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, +quinc. 2, dial. 1. + +[57] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 14.-The bishop told Palencia, +that "if his own servants deserted him, he would oppose the entrance of +Ferdinand into the kingdom." + +[58] Zurita, Anales, lib. 18, cap. 26.--The enrique was a gold coin, so +denominated from Henry II. + +[59] Zurita, Anales, lib. 18, cap. 26.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. +p. 273. + +[60] Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. p. 78, Ilust. 2. + +[61] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 14.--Zurita, Anales, +loc. cit. + +[62] This letter, dated October 12th, is cited at length by Castillo, +Crónica, cap. 136. + +[63] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 15. + +[64] Gutierre de Cardenas was the first who pointed him out to the +princess, exclaiming at the same time, "_Ese es, ese es_," "This is he;" +in commemoration of which he was permitted to place on his escutcheon +the letters SS, whose pronunciation in Spanish resembles that of the +exclamation which he had uttered. Ibid., part. 2, cap. 15.--Oviedo, +Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 1. + +[65] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 182.--Garibay, Compendio, lib. 18, +cap. 1.--"Tan amigo de los negocios," says Mariana, "que parecia con el +trabajo descansaba." Hist. de España, lib. 25, cap. 18. + +[66] "En hermosura, puestas delante S. A. todas las mugeres que yo he +visto, ninguna vi tan graciosa, ni tanto de ver corao su persona, ni de +tal manera e sanctidad honestísíma." Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. + +[67] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 201.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, +tom. ii. p. 362.--Garibay, Compendío, lib. 18, cap. 1. + +[68] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 465. + +[69] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1469.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., +part. 2, cap. 16.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 18, cap. 26.--See a copy of the +official record of the marriage, Mem. de la Acad., tom. vi. Apend. 4. See +also the Ilust. 2. + +[70] The intricacies of this affair, at once the scandal and the +stumbling-block of the Spanish historians, have been unravelled by Señor +Clemencin, with his usual perspicuity. See Mem. de la Acad., tom. vi. pp. +105-116, Ilust. 2. + +[71] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 16.--A lively +narrative of the adventures of Prince Ferdinand, detailed in this chapter, +may be found in Cushing's Reminiscences of Spain, (Boston, 1833,) vol. i. +pp. 225-255. + +[72] Castillo, Crónica, cap. 137.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., +part. 2, cap. 16. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +FACTIONS IN CASTILE.--WAR BETWEEN FRANCE AND ARAGON.--DEATH OF HENRY IV., +OF CASTILE. + +1469-1474. + +Factions in Castile.--Ferdinand and Isabella.--Gallant Defence of +Perpignan against the French.--Ferdinand Raises the Siege.--Isabella's +Party gains Strength.--Interview between King Henry IV. and Isabella.--The +French Invade Roussillon.--Ferdinand's Summary Justice.--Death of Henry +IV., of Castile.--Influence of his Reign. + + +The marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella disconcerted the operations of the +marquis of Villena, or, as he should be styled, the grand master of St. +James, since he had resigned his marquisate to his elder son, on his +appointment to the command of the military order above mentioned, a +dignity inferior only to the primacy in importance. It was determined, +however, in the councils of Henry to oppose at once the pretensions of the +princess Joanna to those of Isabella; and an embassy was gladly received +from the king of France, offering to the former lady the hand of his +brother the duke of Guienne, the rejected suitor of Isabella. Louis the +Eleventh was willing to engage his relative in the unsettled politics of a +distant state, in order to relieve himself from his pretensions at home. +[1] + +An interview took place between Henry the Fourth and the French +ambassadors in a little village in the vale of Lozoya, in October, 1470. A +proclamation was read, in which Henry declared his sister to have +forfeited whatever claims she had derived from the treaty of Toros de +Guisando, by marrying contrary to his approbation. He then with his queen +swore to the legitimacy of the princess Joanna, and announced her as his +true and lawful successor. The attendant nobles took the usual oaths of +allegiance, and the ceremony was concluded by affiancing the princess, +then in the ninth year of her age, with the formalities ordinarily +practised on such occasions, to the count of Boulogne, the representative +of the duke of Guienne. [2] + +This farce, in which many of the actors were the same persons who +performed the principal parts at the convention of Toros de Guisando, had +on the whole an unfavorable influence on Isabella's cause. It exhibited +her rival to the world as one whose claims were to be supported by the +whole authority of the court of Castile, with the probable co-operation of +France. Many of the most considerable families in the kingdom, as the +Pachecos, [3] the Mendozas in all their extensive ramifications, [4] the +Zuñigas, the Velascos, [5] the Pimentels, [6] unmindful of the homage so +recently rendered to Isabella, now openly testified their adhesion to her +niece. + +Ferdinand and his consort, who held their little court at Dueñas, [8] were +so poor as to be scarcely capable of defraying the ordinary charges of +their table. The northern provinces of Biscay and Guipuscoa had, however, +loudly declared against the French match; and the populous province of +Andalusia, with the house of Medina Sidonia at its head, still maintained +its loyalty to Isabella unshaken. But her principal reliance was on the +archbishop of Toledo, whose elevated station in the church and ample +revenues gave him perhaps less real influence, than his commanding and +resolute character, which had enabled him to triumph over every obstacle +devised by his more crafty adversary, the grand master of St. James. The +prelate, however, with all his generous self-devotion, was far from being +a comfortable ally. He would willingly have raised Isabella to the throne, +but he would have her indebted for her elevation exclusively to himself. +He looked with a jealous eye on her most intimate friends, and complained +that neither she nor her husband deferred sufficiently to his counsel. The +princess could not always conceal her disgust at these humors, and +Ferdinand, on one occasion, plainly told him that "he was not to be put in +leading-strings, like so many of the sovereigns of Castile." The old king +of Aragon, alarmed at the consequences of a rupture with so indispensable +an ally, wrote in the most earnest manner to his son, representing the +necessity of propitiating the offended prelate. But Ferdinand, although +educated in the school of dissimulation, had not yet acquired that self- +command, which enabled him in after-life to sacrifice his passions, and +sometimes indeed his principles, to his interests. [9] + +The most frightful anarchy at this period prevailed throughout Castile. +While the court was abandoned to corrupt or frivolous pleasure, the +administration of justice was neglected, until crimes were committed with +a frequency and on a scale, which menaced the very foundations of society. +The nobles conducted their personal feuds with an array of numbers which +might compete with those of powerful princes. The duke of Infantado, the +head of the house of Mendoza, [10] could bring into the field, at four and +twenty hours' notice one thousand lances and ten thousand foot. The +battles, far from assuming the character of those waged by the Italian +_condottieri_ at this period, were of the most sanguinary and destructive +kind. Andalusia was in particular the theatre of this savage warfare. The +whole of that extensive district was divided by the factions of the +Guzmans and Ponces de Leon. The chiefs of these ancient houses having +recently died, the inheritance descended to young men, whose hot blood +soon revived the feuds, which had been permitted to cool under the +temperate sway of their fathers. One of these fiery cavaliers was Rodrigo +Ponce de Leon, so deservedly celebrated afterwards in the wars of Granada +as the marquis of Cadiz. He was an illegitimate and younger son of the +count of Arcos, but was preferred by his father to his other children in +consequence of the extraordinary qualities which he evinced at a very +early period. He served his apprenticeship to the art of war in the +campaigns against the Moors, displaying on several occasions an uncommon +degree of enterprise and personal heroism. On succeeding to his paternal +honors, his haughty spirit, impatient of a rival, led him to revive the +old feud with the duke of Medina Sidonia, the head of the Guzmans, who, +though the most powerful nobleman in Andalusia, was far his inferior in +capacity and military science. [11] + +On one occasion the duke of Medina Sidonia mustered an army of twenty +thousand men against his antagonist; on another, no less than fifteen +hundred houses of the Ponce faction were burnt to the ground in Seville. +Such were the potent engines employed by these petty sovereigns in their +conflicts with one another, and such the havoc which they brought on the +fairest portion of the Peninsula. The husbandman, stripped of his harvest +and driven from his fields, abandoned himself to idleness, or sought +subsistence by plunder. A scarcity ensued in the years 1472 and 1473, in +which the prices of the most necessary commodities rose to such an +exorbitant height, as put them beyond the reach of any but the affluent. +But it would be wearisome to go into all the loathsome details of +wretchedness and crime brought on this unhappy country by an imbecile +government and a disputed succession, and which are portrayed with lively +fidelity in the chronicles, the letters, and the satires of the time. [12] + +While Ferdinand's presence was more than ever necessary to support the +drooping spirits of his party in Castile, he was unexpectedly summoned +into Aragon to the assistance of his father. No sooner had Barcelona +submitted to King John, as mentioned in a preceding chapter, [13] than the +inhabitants of Roussillon and Cerdagne, which provinces, it will be +remembered, were placed in the custody of France, as a guaranty for the +king of Aragon's engagements, oppressed by the grievous exactions of their +new rulers, determined to break the yoke, and to put themselves again +under the protection of their ancient master, provided they could obtain +his support. The opportunity was favorable. A large part of the garrisons +in the principal cities had been withdrawn by Louis the Eleventh, to cover +the frontier on the side of Burgundy and Brittany. John, therefore, gladly +embraced the proposal, and on a concerted day a simultaneous insurrection +took place throughout the provinces, when such of the French, in the +principal towns, as had not the good fortune to escape into the citadels, +were indiscriminately massacred. Of all the country, Salces, Collioure, +and the castle of Perpignan alone remained in the hands of the French. +John then threw himself into the last-named city with a small body of +forces, and instantly set about the construction of works to protect the +inhabitants against the fire of the French garrison in the castle, as well +as from the army which might soon be expected to besiege them from +without. [14] + +Louis the Eleventh, deeply incensed at the defection of his new subjects, +ordered the most formidable preparations for the siege of their capital. +John's officers, alarmed at these preparations, besought him not to expose +his person at his advanced age to the perils of a siege and of captivity. +But the lion-hearted monarch saw the necessity of animating the spirits of +the besieged by his own presence; and, assembling the inhabitants in one +of the churches of the city, he exhorted them resolutely to stand to their +defence, and made a solemn oath to abide the issue with them to the last. + +Louis, in the mean while, had convoked the _ban_ and _arrière-ban_ of the +contiguous French provinces, and mustered an array of chivalry and feudal +militia amounting, according to the Spanish historians, to thirty thousand +men. With these ample forces, his lieutenant-general, the duke of Savoy, +closely invested Perpignan; and, as he was provided with a numerous train +of battering artillery, instantly opened a heavy fire on the inhabitants. +John, thus exposed to the double fire of the fortress and the besiegers, +was in a very critical situation. Far from being disheartened, however, he +was seen, armed cap-a-pie, on horseback from dawn till evening, rallying +the spirits of his troops, and always present at the point of danger. He +succeeded perfectly in communicating his own enthusiasm to the soldiers. +The French garrison were defeated in several sorties, and their governor +taken prisoner; while supplies were introduced into the city in the very +face of the blockading army. [15] + +Ferdinand, on receiving intelligence of his father's perilous situation, +instantly resolved, by Isabella's advice, to march to his relief. Putting +himself at the head of a body of Castilian horse, generously furnished him +by the archbishop of Toledo and his friends, he passed into Aragon, where +he was speedily joined by the principal nobility of the kingdom, and an +army amounting in all to thirteen hundred lances and seven thousand +infantry. With this corps he rapidly descended the Pyrenees, by the way of +Mançanara, in the face of a driving tempest, which concealed him for some +time from the view of the enemy. The latter, during their protracted +operations, for nearly three months, had sustained a serious diminution of +numbers in their repeated skirmishes with the besieged, and still more +from an epidemic which broke out in their camp. They also began to suffer +not a little from want of provisions. At this crisis, the apparition of +this new army, thus unexpectedly descending on their rear, filled them +with such consternation, that they raised the siege at once, setting fire +to their tents, and retreating with such precipitation as to leave most of +the sick and wounded a prey to the devouring element. John marched out, +with colors flying and music playing, at the head of his little band, to +greet his deliverers; and, after an affecting interview in the presence of +the two armies, the father and son returned in triumph into Perpignan. +[16] + +The French army, reinforced by command of Louis, made a second ineffectual +attempt (their own writers call it only a feint) upon the city; and the +campaign was finally concluded by a treaty between the two monarchs, in +which it was arranged, that the king of Aragon should disburse within the +year the sum originally stipulated for the services rendered him by Louis +in his late war with his Catalan subjects; and that, in case of failure, +the provinces of Roussillon and Cerdagne should be permanently ceded to +the French crown. The commanders of the fortified places in the contested +territory, selected by one monarch from the nominations of the other, were +excused during the interim from obedience to the mandates of either; at +least so far as they might contravene their reciprocal engagements. [17] + +There is little reason to believe that this singular compact was +subscribed in good faith by either party. John, notwithstanding the +temporary succor which he had received from Louis at the commencement of +his difficulties with the Catalans, might justly complain of the +infraction of his engagements, at a subsequent period of the war; when he +not only withheld the stipulated aid, but indirectly gave every facility +in his power to the invasion of the duke of Lorraine. Neither was the king +of Aragon in a situation, had he been disposed, to make the requisite +disbursements. Louis, on the other hand, as the event soon proved, had no +other object in view but to gain time to reorganize his army, and to lull +his adversary into security, while he took effectual measures for +recovering the prize which had so unexpectedly eluded him. + +During these occurrences Isabella's prospects were daily brightening in +Castile. The duke of Guienne, the destined spouse of her rival Joanna, had +died in France; but not until he had testified his contempt of his +engagements with the Castilian princess by openly soliciting the hand of +the heiress of Burgundy. [18] Subsequent negotiations for her marriage +with two other princes had entirely failed. The doubts which hung over her +birth, and which the public protestations of Henry and his queen, far from +dispelling, served only to augment, by the necessity which they implied +for such an extraordinary proceeding, were sufficient to deter any one +from a connection which must involve the party in all the disasters of a +civil war. [19] + +Isabella's own character, moreover, contributed essentially to strengthen +her cause. Her sedate conduct, and the decorum maintained in her court, +formed a strong contrast with the frivolity and license which disgraced +that of Henry and his consort. Thinking men were led to conclude that the +sagacious administration of Isabella must eventually secure to her the +ascendency over her rival; while all, who sincerely loved their country, +could not but prognosticate for it, under her beneficent sway, a degree of +prosperity, which it could never reach under the rapacious and profligate +ministers who directed the councils of Henry, and most probably would +continue to direct those of his daughter. + +Among the persons whose opinions experienced a decided revolution from +these considerations was Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza, archbishop of Seville +and cardinal of Spain; a prelate, whose lofty station in the church was +supported by talents of the highest order; and whose restless ambition led +him, like many of the churchmen of the time, to take an active interest in +politics, for which he was admirably adapted by his knowledge of affairs +and discernment of character. Without deserting his former master, he +privately entered into a correspondence with Isabella; and a service, +which Ferdinand, on his return from Aragon, had an opportunity of +rendering the duke of Infantado, the head of the Mendozas, [20] secured +the attachment of the other members of this powerful family. [21] + +A circumstance occurred at this time, which seemed to promise an +accommodation between the adverse factions, or at least between Henry and +his sister. The government of Segovia, whose impregnable citadel had been +made the depository of the royal treasure, was intrusted to Andres de +Cabrera, an officer of the king's household. This cavalier, influenced in +part by personal pique to the grand master of St. James, and still more +perhaps by the importunities of his wife, Beatriz de Bobadilla, the early +friend and companion of Isabella, entered into a correspondence with the +princess, and sought to open the way for her permanent reconciliation with +her brother. He accordingly invited her to Segovia, where Henry +occasionally resided, and, to dispel any suspicions which she might +entertain of his sincerity, despatched his wife secretly by night, +disguised in the garb of a peasant, to Aranda, where Isabella then held +her court. The latter, confirmed by the assurances of her friend, did not +hesitate to comply with the invitation, and, accompanied by the archbishop +of Toledo, proceeded to Segovia, where an interview took place between her +and Henry the Fourth, in which she vindicated her past conduct, and +endeavored to obtain her brother's sanction to her union with Ferdinand. +Henry, who was naturally of a placable temper, received her communication +with complacency, and, in order to give public demonstration of the good +understanding now subsisting between him and his sister, condescended to +walk by her side, holding the bridle of her palfrey, as she rode along the +streets of the city. Ferdinand, on his return into Castile, hastened to +Segovia, where he was welcomed by the monarch with every appearance of +satisfaction. A succession of and splendid entertainments, at which both +parties assisted, seemed to announce an entire oblivion of all past +animosities, and the nation welcomed with satisfaction these symptoms of +repose after the vexatious struggle by which it had been so long agitated. +[22] + +The repose, however, was of no great duration. The slavish mind of Henry +gradually relapsed under its ancient bondage; and the grand master of St. +James succeeded, in consequence of an illness with which the monarch was +suddenly seized after an entertainment given by Cabrera, in infusing into +his mind suspicions of an attempt at assassination. Henry was so far +incensed or alarmed by the suggestion, that he concerted a scheme for +privately seizing the person of his sister, which was defeated by her own +prudence and the vigilance of her friends. [23]--But, if the visit to +Segovia failed in its destined purpose of a reconciliation with Henry, it +was attended with the important consequence of securing to Isabella a +faithful partisan in Cabrera, who, from the control which his situation +gave him over the royal coffers, proved a most seasonable ally in her +subsequent struggle with Joanna. + +Not long after this event, Ferdinand received another summons from his +father to attend him in Aragon, where the storm of war, which had been for +some time gathering in the distance, now burst with pitiless fury. In the +beginning of February, 1474, an embassy consisting of two of his principal +nobles, accompanied by a brilliant train of cavaliers and attendants, had +been deputed by John to the court of Louis XI., for the ostensible purpose +of settling the preliminaries of the marriage, previously agreed on, +between the dauphin and the infanta Isabella, daughter of Ferdinand and +Isabella, then little more than three years of age. [24] The real object +of the mission was to effect some definitive adjustment or compromise of +the differences relating to the contested territories of Roussillon and +Cerdagne. The king of France, who, notwithstanding his late convention +with John, was making active preparations for the forcible occupation of +these provinces, determined to gain time by amusing the ambassadors with a +show of negotiation, and interposing every obstacle which his ingenuity +could devise to their progress through his dominions. He succeeded so well +in this latter part of his scheme, that the embassy did not reach Paris +until the close of Lent. Louis, who seldom resided in his capital, took +good care to be absent at this season. The ambassadors in the interim were +entertained with balls, military reviews, and whatever else might divert +them from the real objects of their mission. All communication was cut off +with their own government, as their couriers were stopped and their +despatches intercepted, so that John knew as little of his envoys or their +proceedings, as if they had been in Siberia or Japan. In the mean time, +formidable preparations were making in the south of France for a descent +on Roussillon; and when the ambassadors, after a fruitless attempt at +negotiation, which evaporated in mutual crimination and recrimination, set +out on their return to Aragon, they were twice detained, at Lyons and +Montpelier, from an extreme solicitude, as the French government expressed +it, to ascertain the safest route through a country intersected by hostile +armies; and all this, notwithstanding their repeated protestations against +this obliging disposition, which held them prisoners, in opposition to +their own will and the law of nations. The prince who descended to such +petty trickery passed for the wisest of his time. [25] + +In the mean while, the Seigneur du Lude had invaded Roussillon at the head +of nine hundred French lances and ten thousand infantry, supported by a +powerful train of artillery, while a fleet of Genoese transports, laden +with supplies, accompanied the army along the coast. Elna surrendered +after a sturdy resistance; the governor and some of the principal +prisoners were shamefully beheaded as traitors; and the French then +proceeded to invest Perpignan. The king of Aragon was so much impoverished +by the incessant wars in which he had been engaged, that he was not only +unable to recruit his army, but was even obliged to pawn the robe of +costly fur, which he wore to defend his person against the inclemencies of +the season, in order to defray the expense of transporting his baggage. In +this extremity, finding himself disappointed in the cooperation, on which +he had reckoned, of his ancient allies the dukes of Burgundy and Brittany, +he again summoned Ferdinand to his assistance, who, after a brief +interview with his father in Barcelona, proceeded to Saragossa, to solicit +aid from the estates of Aragon. + +An incident occurred on this visit of the prince worth noticing, as +strongly characteristic of the lawless habits of the age. A citizen of +Saragossa, named Ximenes Gordo, of noble family, but who had relinquished +the privileges of his rank in order to qualify himself for municipal +office, had acquired such ascendency over his townsmen, as to engross the +most considerable posts in the city for himself and his creatures. This +authority he abused in a shameless manner, making use of it not only for +the perversion of justice, but for the perpetration of the most flagrant +crimes. Although these facts were notorious, yet such were his power and +popularity with the lower classes, that Ferdinand, despairing of bringing +him to justice in the ordinary way, determined on a more summary process. +As Gordo occasionally visited the palace to pay his respects to the +prince, the latter affected to regard him with more than usual favor, +showing him such courtesy as might dissipate any distrust he had conceived +of him. Gordo, thus assured, was invited at one of those interviews to +withdraw into a retired apartment, where the prince wished to confer with +him on business of moment. On entering the chamber he was surprised by the +sight of the public executioner, the hangman of the city, whose presence, +together with that of a priest, and the apparatus of death with which the +apartment was garnished, revealed at once the dreadful nature of his +destiny. + +He was then charged with the manifold crimes of which he had been guilty, +and sentence of death was pronounced on him. In vain did he appeal to +Ferdinand, pleading the services which he had rendered on more than one +occasion to his father. Ferdinand assured him that these should be +gratefully remembered in the protection of his children, and then, bidding +him unburden his conscience to his confessor, consigned him to the hand of +the executioner. His body was exposed that very day in the market-place of +the city, to the dismay of his friends and adherents, most of whom paid +the penalty of their crimes in the ordinary course of justice. This +extraordinary proceeding is highly characteristic of the unsettled times +in which it occurred; when acts of violence often superseded the regular +operation of the law, even in those countries, whose forms of government +approached the nearest to a determinate constitution. It will doubtless +remind the reader of the similar proceeding imputed to Louis the Eleventh, +in the admirable sketch given us of that monarch in "Quentin Durward." +[26] + +The supplies furnished by the Aragonese cortes were inadequate to King +John's necessities, and he was compelled, while hovering with his little +force on the confines of Roussillon, to witness the gradual reduction of +its capital, without being able to strike a blow in its defence. The +inhabitants, indeed, who fought with a resolution worthy of ancient +Numantia or Saguntum, were reduced to the last extremity of famine, +supporting life by feeding on the most loathsome offal, on cats, dogs, the +corpses of their enemies, and even on such of their own dead as had fallen +in battle! And when at length an honorable capitulation was granted them +on the 14th of March, 1475, the garrison who evacuated the city, reduced +to the number of four hundred, were obliged to march on foot to Barcelona, +as they had consumed their horses during the siege. [27] + +The terms of capitulation, which permitted every inhabitant to evacuate, +or reside unmolested in the city, at his option, were too liberal to +satisfy the vindictive temper of the king of France. He instantly wrote to +his generals, instructing them to depart from their engagements, to keep +the city so short of supplies as to compel an emigration of its original +inhabitants, and to confiscate for their own use the estates of the +principal nobility; and after delineating in detail the perfidious policy +which they were to pursue, he concluded with the assurance, "that, by the +blessing of God and our Lady, and Monsieur St. Martin, he would be with +them before the winter, in order to aid them in its execution." [28] Such +was the miserable medley of hypocrisy and superstition, which +characterized the politics of the European courts in this corrupt age, and +which dimmed the lustre of names, most conspicuous on the page of history. + +The occupation of Roussillon was followed by a truce of six months between +the belligerent parties. The regular course of the narrative has been +somewhat anticipated, in order to conclude that portion of it relating to +the war with Prance, before again reverting to the affairs of Castile, +where Henry the Fourth, pining under an incurable malady, was gradually +approaching the termination of his disastrous reign. + +This event, which, from the momentous consequences it involved, was +contemplated with the deepest solicitude, not only by those who had an +immediate and personal interest at stake, but by the whole nation, took +place on the night of the 11th of December, 1474. [29] It was precipitated +by the death of the grand master of St. James, on whom the feeble mind of +Henry had been long accustomed to rest for its support, and who was cut +off by an acute disorder but a few months previous, in the full prime of +his ambitious schemes. The king, notwithstanding the lingering nature of +his disease gave him ample time for preparation, expired without a will, +or even, as generally asserted, the designation of a successor. This was +the more remarkable, not only as being contrary to established usage, but +as occurring at a period when the succession had been so long and hotly +debated. [30] The testaments of the Castilian sovereigns, though never +esteemed positively binding, and occasionally, indeed, set aside, when +deemed unconstitutional or even inexpedient by the legislature, [31] were +always allowed to have great weight with the nation. + +With Henry the Fourth terminated the male line of the house of Trastamara, +who had kept possession of the throne for more than a century, and in the +course of only four generations had exhibited every gradation of character +from the bold and chivalrous enterprise of the first Henry of that name, +down to the drivelling imbecility of the last. + +The character of Henry the Fourth has been sufficiently delineated in that +of his reign. He was not without certain amiable qualities, and may be +considered as a weak, rather than a wicked prince. In persons, however, +intrusted with the degree of power exercised by sovereigns of even the +most limited monarchies of this period, a weak man may be deemed more +mischievous to the state over which he presides than a wicked one. The +latter, feeling himself responsible in the eyes of the nation for his +actions, is more likely to consult appearances, and, where his own +passions or interests are not immediately involved, to legislate with +reference to the general interests of his subjects. The former, on the +contrary, is too often a mere tool in the hands of favorites, who, finding +themselves screened by the interposition of royal authority from the +consequences of measures for which they should be justly responsible, +sacrifice without remorse the public weal to the advancement of their +private fortunes. Thus the state, made to minister to the voracious +appetites of many tyrants, suffers incalculably more than it would from +one. So fared it with Castile under Henry the Fourth; dismembered by +faction, her revenues squandered on worthless parasites, the grossest +violations of justice unredressed, public faith become a jest, the +treasury bankrupt, the court a brothel, and private morals too loose and +audacious to seek even the veil of hypocrisy! Never had the fortunes of +the kingdom reached so low an ebb since the great Saracen invasion. + + * * * * * + +The historian cannot complain of a want of authentic materials for the +reign of Henry IV. Two of the chroniclers of that period, Alonso de +Palencia and Enriquez del Castillo, were eye-witnesses and conspicuous +actors in the scenes which they recorded, and connected with opposite +factions. The former of these writers, Alonso de Palencia, was born, as +appears from his work, "De Synonymis," cited by Pellicer, (Bibliotheca de +Traductores, p. 7,) in 1423. Nic. Antonio has fallen into the error of +dating his birth nine years later. (Bibliotheca Vetus, tom. ii. p. 331.) +At the age of seventeen, he became page to Alfonso of Carthagena, bishop +of Burgos, and, in the family of that estimable prelate, acquired a taste +for letters, which never deserted him during a busy political career. He +afterwards visited Italy, where he became acquainted with Cardinal +Bessarion, and through him with the learned George of Trebizond, whose +lectures on philosophy and rhetoric he attended. On his return to his +native country, he was raised to the dignity of royal historiographer by +Alfonso, younger brother of Henry IV., and competitor with him for the +crown. He attached himself to the fortunes of Isabella after Alfonso's +death, and was employed by the archbishop of Toledo in many delicate +negotiations, particularly in arranging the marriage of the princess with +Ferdinand, for which purpose he made a secret journey into Aragon. On the +accession of Isabella, he was confirmed in the office of national +chronicler, and passed the remainder of his life in the composition of +philological and historical works and translations from the ancient +classics. The time of his death is uncertain. He lived to a good old age, +however, since it appears from his own statement, (see Mendez, Typographia +Española, (Madrid, 1796,) p. 190,) that his version of Josephus was not +completed till the year 1492. + +The most popular of Palencia's writings are his "Chronicle of Henry IV.," +and his Latin "Decades," continuing the reign of Isabella down to the +capture of Baza, in 1489. His historical style, far from scholastic +pedantry, exhibits the business-like manner of a man of the world. His +Chronicle, which, being composed in the Castilian, was probably intended +for popular use, is conducted with little artifice, and indeed with a +prolixity and minuteness of detail, arising no doubt from the deep +interest which as an actor he took in the scenes he describes. His +sentiments are expressed with boldness, and sometimes with the acerbity of +party feeling. He has been much commended by the best Spanish writers, +such as Zurita, Zuñiga, Marina, Clemencin, for his veracity. The internal +evidence of this is sufficiently strong in his delineation of those scenes +in which he was personally engaged; in his account of others, it will not +be difficult to find examples of negligence and inaccuracy. His Latin +"Decades" were probably composed with more care, as addressed to a learned +class of readers; and they are lauded by Nic. Antonio as an elegant +commentary, worthy to be assiduously studied by all who would acquaint +themselves with the history of their country. The art of printing has done +less perhaps for Spain than for any other country in Europe; and these two +valuable histories are still permitted to swell the rich treasure of +manuscripts with which her libraries are overloaded. + +Enriquez del Castillo, a native of Segovia, was the chaplain and +historiographer of King Henry IV., and a member of his privy council. His +situation not only made him acquainted with the policy and intrigues of +the court, but with the personal feelings of the monarch, who reposed +entire confidence in him, which Castillo repaid with uniform loyalty. He +appears very early to have commenced his Chronicle of Henry's reign. On +the occupation of Segovia by the young Alfonso, after the battle of +Olmedo, in 1467, the chronicler, together with the portion of his history +then complied, was unfortunate enough to fall into the enemy's hands. The +author was soon summoned to the presence of Alfonso and his counsellors, +to hear and justify, as he could, certain passages of what they termed his +"false and frivolous narrative." Castillo, hoping little from a defence +before such a prejudiced tribunal, resolutely kept his peace; and it might +have gone hard with him, had it not been for his ecclesiastical +profession. He subsequently escaped, but never recovered his manuscripts, +which were probably destroyed; and, in the introduction to his Chronicle, +he laments, that he has been obliged to rewrite the first half of his +master's reign. + +Notwithstanding Castillo's familiarity with public affairs, his work is +not written in the business-like style of Palencia's. The sentiments +exhibit a moral sensibility scarcely to have been expected, even from a +minister of religion, in the corrupt court of Henry IV.; and the honest +indignation of the writer, at the abuses which he witnessed, sometimes +breaks forth in a strain of considerable eloquence. The spirit of his +work, notwithstanding its abundant loyalty, may be also commended for its +candor in relation to the partisans of Isabella; which has led some +critics to suppose that it underwent a _rifacimento_ after the accession +of that princess to the throne. + +Castillo's Chronicle, more fortunate than that of his rival, has been +published in a handsome form under the care of Don Jose Miguel de Flores, +Secretary of the Spanish Academy of History, to whose learned labors in +this way Castilian literature is so much indebted. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 21.--Gaillard, +Rivalité, tom. iii. p. 284.--Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, fol. 65.-- +Caro de Torres, Ordenes Militares, fol. 43. + +[2] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 23.--Castillo, +Crónica, p. 298.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 24.-- +Henry, well knowing how little all this would avail without the +constitutional sanction of the cortes, twice issued his summons in 1470 +for the convocation of the deputies, to obtain a recognition of the title +of Joanna. But without effect. In the letters of convocation issued for a +third assembly of the states, in 1471, this purpose was prudently omitted, +and thus the claims of Joanna failed to receive the countenance of the +only body which could give them validity. See the copies of the original +writs, addressed to the cities of Toledo and Segovia, cited by Marina, +Teoría, tom. ii. pp. 87-89. + +[3] The grand master of St. James, and his son, the marquis of Villena, +afterwards duke of Escalona. The rents of the former nobleman, whose +avarice was as insatiable as his influence over the feeble mind of Henry +IV. was unlimited, exceeded those of any other grandee in the kingdom. See +Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 6. + +[4] The marquis of Santillana, first duke of Infantado, and his brothers, +the counts of Coruña, and of Tendilla, and above all Pedro Gonzalez de +Mendoza, afterwards cardinal of Spain, and archbishop of Toledo, who was +indebted for the highest dignities in the church less to his birth than +his abilities. See Claros Varones, tit. 4, 9.--Salazar de Mendoza, +Dignidades, lib. 3, cap. 17. + +[5] Alvaro de Zuñiga, count of Palencia, and created by Henry IV., duke of +Arevalo.--Pedro Fernandez de Velasco, count of Haro, was raised to the +post of constable of Castile in 1473, and the office continued to be +hereditary in the family from that period. Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. +3.--Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 3, cap. 21. + +[6] The Pimentels, counts of Benavente, had estates which gave them 60,000 +ducats a year; a very large income for that period, and far exceeding that +of any other grandee of similar rank in the kingdom. L. Marineo, Cosas +Memorables, fol. 25. + +[8] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 70. + +[9] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 170.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., +cap. 45. + +[10] This nobleman, Diego Hurtado, "muy gentil caballero y gran señor," as +Oviedo calls him, was at this time only marquis of Santillana, and was not +raised to the title of duke of Infantado till the reign of Isabella, +(Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 8.) To avoid confusion, +however, I have given him the title by which he is usually recognized by +Castilian writers. + +[11] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 3.--Salazar de Mendoza, Crónica +de el Gran Cardenal de España, Don Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza, (Toledo, +1625,) pp. 138, 150.--Zuñiga, Anales de Sevilla, p. 362. + +[12] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 4, 5, 7.--Zuñiga, Anales de +Sevilla, pp. 363, 364.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. +35, 38, 39, 42.--Saez, Monedas de Enrique IV., pp. 1-5.--Pulgar, in an +epistle addressed, in the autumn of 1473, to the bishop of Coria, adverts +to several circumstances which set in a strong light the anarchical state +of the kingdom and the total deficiency of police. The celebrated +satirical eclogue, also, entitled "Mingo Revulgo," exposes, with coarse +but cutting sarcasm, the license of the court, the corruption of the +clergy, and the prevalent depravity of the people. In one of its stanzas +it boldly ventures to promise another and a better sovereign to the +country. This performance, even more interesting to the antiquarian than +to the historian, has been attributed by some to Pulgar, (see Mariana, +Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 475,) and by others to Rodrigo Cota, (see +Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Veins, tom. ii p. 264,) but without satisfactory +evidence in favor of either. Bouterwek is much mistaken in asserting it to +have been aimed at the government of John II. The gloss of Pulgar, whose +authority as a contemporary must be considered decisive, plainly proves it +to have been directed against Henry IV. + +[13] See Chap. II. + +[14] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 56.--Mariana, Hist. de +España, tom. ii. p. 481.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 191.--Barante, +Histoire des Ducs de Bourgogne, (Paris, 1825,) tom. ix. pp. 101-106. + +[15] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 70.--Mariana, Hist. de +España, tom. ii. p. 482.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 148.--Zurita, +Anales, tom. iv. fol. 195.--Anquetil, Histoire de France, (Paris, 1805,) +tom. v. pp. 60, 61. + +[16] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 196.--Barante, Hist. des Ducs de +Bourgogne, tom. x. pp. 105, 106.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 149. +--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 70, 71, 72. + +[17] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 200.--Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iii. p. +266.--See the articles of the treaty cited by Duclos, Hist. de Louis XI., +tom. ii. pp. 99, 101.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 73. + +[18] Louis XI. is supposed with much probability to have assassinated this +brother. M. de Barante sums up his examination of the evidence with this +remark: "Le roi Louis XI. ne fit peut-être pas mourir son frère, mais +personne ne pensa qu'il en fut incapable." Hist. des Ducs de Bourgogne, +tom. ix. p. 433. + +[19] The two princes alluded to were the duke of Segorbe, a cousin of +Ferdinand, and the king of Portugal. The former, on his entrance into +Castile, assumed such sovereign state, (giving his hand, for instance, to +the grandees to kiss,) as disgusted these haughty nobles, and was +eventually the occasion of breaking off his match. Alonso de Palencia, +Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 62.--Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. +ii. p. 392. + +[20] Oviedo assigns another reason for this change; the disgust occasioned +by Henry IV.'s transferring the custody of his daughter from the family of +Mendoza to the Pachecos. Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 8. + +[21] Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. del Gran Cardenal, p. 133.--Alonso de +Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 46, 92.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. +163.--The influence of these new allies, especially of the cardinal, over +Isabella's councils, was an additional ground of umbrage to the archbishop +of Toledo, who, in a communication with the king of Aragon, declared +himself, though friendly to their cause, to be released from all further +obligations to serve it. See Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. lib. 46, cap. 19. + +[22] Carbajal, Anales, MS., años 73, 74.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 27. +--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 164.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. +2, cap. 75.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 23. + +[23] Mendoza, Crón. del Gran Cardenal, pp. 141, 142.--Castillo, Crónica, +cap. 164.--Oviedo has given a full account of this cavalier, who was +allied to an ancient Catalan family, but who raised himself to such pre- +eminence by his own deserts, says that writer, that he may well be +considered the founder of his house. Loc. cit. + +[24] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 70.--This was the eldest child of +Ferdinand and Isabella, born Oct. 1st, 1470; afterwards queen of Portugal. + +[25] Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iii. pp. 267-276.--Duclos, Hist. de Louis +XI., tom. ii. pp. 113, 115.--Chronique Scandaleuse, ed. Petitot, tom. +xiii. pp. 443, 444. + +[26] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 83.--Ferreras, Hist. +d'Espagne, tom. vii. p. 400.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. lib. 19, cap. 12. + +[27] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 150.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. +lib. 19, cap. 13.--Chronique Scandaleuse, ed. Petitot, tom. xiii. p. 456. +--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 91. + +[28] Of the original letters, as given by M. Barante, in his History of +the Dukes of Burgundy, in which the author has so happily seized the tone +and picturesque coloring of the ancient chronicle; tom. x. pp. 289, 298. + +[29] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 10.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año +74.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 148. + +[30] This topic is involved in no little obscurity, and has been reported +with much discrepancy as well as inaccuracy by the modern Spanish +historians. Among the ancient, Castillo, the historiographer of Henry IV., +mentions certain "testamentary executors," without, however, noticing in +any more direct way the existence of a will. (Crón. c. 168.) The Curate of +Los Palacios refers to a clause reported, he says, to have existed in the +testament of Henry IV., in which he declares Joanna his daughter and heir; +(Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 10.) Alonso de Palencia states positively that +there was no such instrument, and that Henry, on being asked who was to +succeed him, referred to his secretary Juan Gonzalez for a knowledge of +his intention. (Crón. c. 92.) L. Marineo also states that the king, "with +his usual improvidence," left no will. (Cosas Memorables, fol. 155.) +Pulgar, another contemporary, expressly declares that he executed no will, +and quotes the words dictated by him to his secretary, in which he simply +designates two of the grandees as "executors of his soul," (_albuceas de +su anima_,) and four others in conjunction with them as the guardians +of his daughter Joanna. (Reyes Cat. p. 31.) It seems not improbable that +the existence of this document has been confounded with that of a +testament, and that with reference to it, the phrase above quoted of +Castillo, as well as the passage of Bernaldez, is to be interpreted. +Carbajal's wild story of the existence of a will, of its secretion for +more than thirty years, and its final suppression by Ferdinand, is too +naked of testimony to deserve the least weight with the historian. (See +his Anales, MS., año 74.) It should be remembered, however, that most of +the above-mentioned writers compiled their works after the accession of +Isabella, and that none, save Castillo, were the partisans of her rival. +It should also be added that in the letters addressed by the princess +Joanna to the different cities of the kingdom, on her assuming the title +of queen of Castile, (bearing date May, 1475,) it is expressly stated that +Henry IV., on his deathbed, solemnly affirmed her to be his only daughter +and lawful heir. These letters were drafted by John de Oviedo, (Juan +Gonzalez,) the confidential secretary of Henry IV. See Zurita, Anales, +tom. iv. fol. 235-239. + +[31] As was the case with the testaments of Alfonso of Leon and Alfonso +the Wise, in the thirteenth century, and with that of Peter the Cruel, in +the fourteenth. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ACCESSION OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.--WAR OF THE SUCCESSION.--BATTLE OF +TORO. + +1474-1476. + +Isabella proclaimed Queen.--Settlement of the Crown.--Alfonso of Portugal +supports Joanna.--Invades Castile.--Retreat of the Castilians.-- +Appropriation of the Church Plate.--Reorganization of the Army.--Battle of +Toro.--Submission of the whole Kingdom.--Peace with France and Portugal.-- +Joanna takes the Veil.--Death of John II., of Aragon. + + +Most of the contemporary writers are content to derive Isabella's title to +the crown of Castile from the illegitimacy of her rival Joanna. But, as +this fact, whatever probability it may receive from the avowed +licentiousness of the queen, and some other collateral circumstances, was +never established by legal evidence, or even made the subject of legal +inquiry, it cannot reasonably be adduced as affording in itself a +satisfactory basis for the pretensions of Isabella. [1] + +These are to be derived from the will of the nation as expressed by its +representatives in cortes. The power of this body to interpret the laws +regulating the succession, and to determine the succession itself, in the +most absolute manner, is incontrovertible, having been established by +repeated precedents from a very ancient period. [2] In the present +instance, the legislature, soon after the birth of Joanna, tendered the +usual oaths of allegiance to her as heir apparent to the monarchy. On a +subsequent occasion, however, the cortes, for reasons deemed sufficient by +itself, and under a conviction that its consent to the preceding measure +had been obtained through an undue influence on the part of the crown, +reversed its former acts, and did homage to Isabella as the only true and +lawful successor. [3] In this disposition the legislature continued so +resolute, that, notwithstanding Henry twice convoked the states for the +express purpose of renewing their allegiance to Joanna, they refused to +comply with the summons; [4] and thus Isabella, at the time of her +brother's death, possessed a title to the crown unimpaired, and derived +from the sole authority which could give it a constitutional validity. It +may be added that the princess was so well aware of the real basis of her +pretensions, that in her several manifestoes, although she adverts to the +popular notion of her rival's illegitimacy, she rests the strength of her +cause on the sanction of the cortes. + +On learning Henry's death, Isabella signified to the inhabitants of +Segovia, where she then resided, her desire of being proclaimed queen in +that city, with the solemnities usual on such occasions. [5] Accordingly, +on the following morning, being the 13th of December, 1474, a numerous +assembly, consisting of the nobles, clergy, and public magistrates in +their robes of office, waited on her at the alcazar or castle, and, +receiving her under a canopy of rich brocade, escorted her in solemn +procession to the principal square of the city, where a broad platform or +scaffold had been erected for the performance of the ceremony. Isabella, +royally attired, rode on a Spanish jennet whose bridle was held by two of +the civic functionaries, while an officer of her court preceded her on +horseback, bearing aloft a naked sword, the symbol of sovereignty. On +arriving at the square she alighted from her palfrey, and, ascending the +platform, seated herself on a throne which had been prepared for her. A +herald with a loud voice proclaimed, "Castile, Castile for the king Don +Ferdinand and his consort Doña Isabella, queen proprietor (_reina +proprietaria_) of these kingdoms!" The royal standards were then +unfurled, while the peal of bells and the discharge of ordnance from the +castle publicly announced the accession of the new sovereign. Isabella, +after receiving the homage of her subjects, and swearing to maintain +inviolate the liberties of the realm, descended from the platform, and, +attended by the same _cortège_, moved slowly towards the cathedral +church; where, after Te Deum had been chanted, she prostrated herself +before the principal altar, and, returning thanks to the Almighty for the +protection hitherto vouchsafed her, implored him to enlighten her future +counsels, so that she might discharge the high trust reposed in her, with +equity and wisdom. Such were the simple forms, that attended the +coronation of the monarchs of Castile, previously to the sixteenth +century. [6] + +The cities favorable to Isabella's cause, comprehending far the most +populous and wealthy throughout the kingdom, followed the example of +Segovia, and raised the royal standard for their new sovereign. The +principal grandees, as well as most of the inferior nobility, soon +presented themselves from all quarters, in order to tender the customary +oaths of allegiance; and an assembly of the estates, convened for the +ensuing month of February at Segovia, imparted, by a similar ceremony, a +constitutional sanction to these proceedings. [7] + +On Ferdinand's arrival from Aragon, where he was staying at the time of +Henry's death, occupied with the war of Roussillon, a disagreeable +discussion took place in regard to the respective authority to be enjoyed +by the husband and wife in the administration of the government. +Ferdinand's relatives, with the admiral Henriquez at their head, contended +that the crown of Castile, and of course the exclusive sovereignty, was +limited to him as the nearest male representative of the house of +Trastamara. Isabella's friends, on the other hand, insisted that these +rights devolved solely on her, as the lawful heir and proprietor of the +kingdom. The affair was finally referred to the arbitration of the +cardinal of Spain and the archbishop of Toledo, who, after careful +examination, established by undoubted precedent, that the exclusion of +females from the succession did not obtain in Castile and Leon, as was the +case in Aragon; [8] that Isabella was consequently sole heir of these +dominions; and that whatever authority Ferdinand might possess, could only +be derived through her. A settlement was then made on the basis of the +original marriage contract. [9] All municipal appointments, and collation +to ecclesiastical benefices, were to be made in the name of both with the +advice and consent of the queen. All fiscal nominations, and issues from +the treasury, were to be subject to her order. The commanders of the +fortified places were to render homage to her alone. Justice was to be +administered by both conjointly, when residing in the same place, and by +each independently, when separate. Proclamations and letters patent were +to be subscribed with the signatures of both; their images were to be +stamped on the public coin, and the united arms of Castile and Aragon +emblazoned on a common seal. [10] + +Ferdinand, it is said, was so much dissatisfied with an arrangement which +vested the essential rights of sovereignty in his consort, that he +threatened to return to Aragon; but Isabella reminded him, that this +distribution of power was rather nominal than real; that their interests +were indivisible; that his will would be hers; and that the principle of +the exclusion of females from the succession, if now established, would +operate to the disqualification of their only child, who was a daughter. +By these and similar arguments the queen succeeded in soothing her +offended husband, without compromising the prerogatives of her crown. + +Although the principal body of the nobility, as has been stated, supported +Isabella's cause, there were a few families, and some of them the most +potent in Castile, who seemed determined to abide the fortunes of her +rival. Among these was the marquis of Villena, who, inferior to his father +in talent for intrigue, was of an intrepid spirit, and is commended by one +of the Spanish historians as "the best lance in the kingdom." His immense +estates, stretching from Toledo to Murcia, gave him an extensive influence +over the southern regions of New Castile. The duke of Arevalo possessed a +similar interest in the frontier province of Estremadura. With these were +combined the grand master of Calatrava and his brother, together with the +young marquis of Cadiz, and, as it soon appeared, the archbishop of +Toledo. This latter dignitary, whose heart had long swelled with secret +jealousy at the rising fortunes of the cardinal Mendoza, could no longer +brook the ascendency which that prelate's consummate sagacity and +insinuating address had given him over the counsels of his young +sovereigns. After some awkward excuses, he abruptly withdrew to his own +estates; nor could the most conciliatory advances on the part of the +queen, nor the deprecatory letters of the old king of Aragon, soften his +inflexible temper, or induce him to resume his station at the court; until +it soon became apparent from his correspondence with Isabella's enemies, +that he was busy in undermining the fortunes of the very individual, whom +he had so zealously labored to elevate. [11] + +Under the auspices of this coalition, propositions were made to Alfonso +the Fifth, king of Portugal, to vindicate the title of his niece Joanna to +the throne of Castile, and, by espousing her, to secure to himself the +same rich inheritance. An exaggerated estimate was, at the same time, +exhibited of the resources of the confederates, which, when combined with +those of Portugal, would readily enable them to crush the usurpers, +unsupported, as the latter must be, by the co-operation of Aragon, whose +arms already found sufficient occupation with the French. + +Alfonso, whose victories over the Barbary Moors had given him the cognomen +of "the African," was precisely of a character to be dazzled by the nature +of this enterprise. The protection of an injured princess, his near +relative, was congenial with the spirit of chivalry; while the conquest of +an opulent territory, adjacent to his own, would not only satisfy his +dreams of glory, but the more solid cravings of avarice. In this +disposition he was confirmed by his son, Prince John, whose hot and +enterprising temper found a nobler scope for ambition in such a war, than +in the conquest of a horde of African savages. [12] + +Still, there were a few among Alfonso's counsellors possessed of +sufficient coolness to discern the difficulties of the undertaking. They +reminded him that the Castilian nobles on whom he principally relied were +the very persons who had formerly been most instrumental in defeating the +claims of Joanna, and securing the succession to her rival; that Ferdinand +was connected by blood with the most powerful families of Castile; that +the great body of the people, the middle as well as the lower classes, +were fully penetrated not only with a conviction of the legality of +Isabella's title, but with a deep attachment to her person; while, on the +other hand, their proverbial hatred of Portugal would make them too +impatient of interference from that quarter, to admit the prospect of +permanent success. [13] + +These objections, sound as they were, were overruled by John's +impetuosity, and the ambition or avarice of his father. War was +accordingly resolved on; and Alfonso, after a vaunting, and, as may be +supposed, ineffectual summons to the Castilian sovereigns to resign their +crown in favor of Joanna, prepared for the immediate invasion of the +kingdom at the head of an army amounting, according to the Portuguese +historians, to five thousand six hundred horse and fourteen thousand foot. +This force, though numerically not so formidable as might have been +expected, comprised the flower of the Portuguese chivalry, burning with +the hope of reaping similar laurels to those won of old by their fathers +on the plains of Aljubarrotta; while its deficiency in numbers was to be +amply compensated by recruits from the disaffected party in Castile, who +would eagerly flock to its banners, on its advance across the borders. At +the same time negotiations were entered into with the king of France, who +was invited to make a descent upon Biscay, by a promise, somewhat +premature, of a cession of the conquered territory. + +Early in May, the king of Portugal put his army in motion, and, entering +Castile by the way of Estremadura, held a northerly course towards +Placencia, where he was met by the duke of Arevalo and the marquis of +Villena, and by the latter nobleman presented to the princess Joanna, his +destined bride. On the 12th of the month he was affianced with all +becoming pomp to this lady, then scarcely thirteen years of age; and a +messenger was despatched to the court of Rome, to solicit a dispensation +for their marriage, rendered necessary by the consanguinity of the +parties. The royal pair were then proclaimed, with the usual solemnities, +sovereigns of Castile; and circulars were transmitted to the different +cities, setting forth Joanna's title and requiring their allegiance. [14] + +After some days given to festivity, the army resumed its march, still in a +northerly direction, upon Arevalo, where Alfonso determined to await the +arrival of the reinforcements which he expected from his Castilian allies. +Had he struck at once into the southern districts of Castile, where most +of those friendly to his cause were to be found, and immediately commenced +active operations with the aid of the marquis of Cadiz, who it was +understood was prepared to support him in that quarter, it is difficult to +say what might have been the result. Ferdinand and Isabella were so wholly +unprepared at the time of Alfonso's invasion, that it is said they could +scarcely bring five hundred horse to oppose it. By this opportune delay at +Arevalo, they obtained space for preparation. Both of them were +indefatigable in their efforts. Isabella, we are told, was frequently +engaged through the whole night in dictating despatches to her +secretaries. She visited in person such of the garrisoned towns as +required to be confirmed in their allegiance, performing long and painful +journeys on horseback with surprising celerity, and enduring fatigues, +which, as she was at that time in delicate health, wellnigh proved fatal +to her constitution. [15] On an excursion to Toledo, she determined to +make one effort more to regain the confidence of her ancient minister the +archbishop. She accordingly sent an envoy to inform him of her intention +to wait on him in person at his residence in Alcalá de Henares. But as the +surly prelate, far from being moved by this condescension, returned for +answer, that, "if the queen entered by one door, he would go out at the +other," she did not choose to compromise her dignity by any further +advances. + +By Isabella's extraordinary exertions, as well as those of her husband, +the latter found himself, in the beginning of July, at the head of a force +amounting in all to four thousand men-at-arms, eight thousand light horse, +and thirty thousand foot, an ill-disciplined militia, chiefly drawn from +the mountainous districts of the north, which manifested peculiar devotion +to his cause; his partisans in the south being preoccupied with +suppressing domestic revolt, and with incursions on the frontiers of +Portugal. [16] + +Meanwhile Alfonso, after an unprofitable detention of nearly two months at +Arevalo, marched on Toro, which, by a preconcerted agreement, was +delivered into his hands by the governor of the city, although the +fortress, under the conduct of a woman, continued to maintain a gallant +defence. While occupied with its reduction, Alfonso was invited to receive +the submission of the adjacent city and castle of Zamora. The defection of +these places, two of the most considerable in the province of Leon, and +peculiarly important to the king of Portugal from their vicinity to his +dominions, was severely felt by Ferdinand, who determined to advance at +once against his rival, and bring their quarrel to the issue of a battle; +in this, acting in opposition to the more cautious counsel of his father, +who recommended the policy, usually judged most prudent for an invaded +country, of acting on the defensive, instead of risking all on the chances +of a single action. + +Ferdinand arrived before Toro on the 19th of July, and immediately drew up +his army, before its walls, in order of battle. As the king of Portugal, +however, still kept within his defences, Ferdinand sent a herald into his +camp, to defy him to a fair field of fight with his whole army, or, if he +declined this, to invite him to decide their differences by personal +combat. Alfonso accepted the latter alternative; but, a dispute arising +respecting the guaranty for the performance of the engagements on either +side, the whole affair evaporated, as usual, in an empty vaunt of +chivalry. + +The Castilian army, from the haste with which it had been mustered, was +wholly deficient in battering artillery, and in other means for annoying a +fortified city; and, as its communications were cut off, in consequence of +the neighboring fortresses being in possession of the enemy, it soon +became straitened for provisions. It was accordingly decided in a council +of war to retreat without further delay. No sooner was this determination +known, than it excited general dissatisfaction throughout the camp. The +soldiers loudly complained that the king was betrayed by his nobles; and a +party of over-loyal Biscayans, inflamed by the suspicions of a conspiracy +against his person, actually broke into the church where Ferdinand was +conferring with his officers, and bore him off in their arms from the +midst of them to his own tent, notwithstanding his reiterated explanations +and remonstrances. The ensuing retreat was conducted in so disorderly a +manner by the mutinous soldiery, that Alfonso, says a contemporary, had he +but sallied with two thousand horse, might have routed and perhaps +annihilated the whole army. Some of the troops were detached to reinforce +the garrisons of the loyal cities, but most of them dispersed again among +their native mountains. The citadel of Toro soon afterwards capitulated. +The archbishop of Toledo, considering these events as decisive of the +fortunes of the war, now openly joined the king of Portugal at the head of +five hundred lances, boasting at the same time, that "he had raised +Isabella from the distaff, and would soon send her back to it again." [17] + +So disastrous an introduction to the campaign might indeed well fill +Isabella's bosom with anxiety. The revolutionary movements, which had so +long agitated Castile, had so far unsettled every man's political +principles, and the allegiance of even the most loyal hung so loosely +about them, that it was difficult to estimate how far it might be shaken +by such a blow occurring at this crisis. [18] Fortunately, Alfonso was in +no condition to profit by his success. His Castilian allies had +experienced the greatest difficulty in enlisting their vassals in the +Portuguese cause; and, far from furnishing him with the contingents which +he had expected, found sufficient occupation in the defence of their own +territories against the loyal partisans of Isabella. At the same time, +numerous squadrons of light cavalry from Estremadura and Andalusia, +penetrating into Portugal, carried the most terrible desolation over the +whole extent of its unprotected borders. The Portuguese knights loudly +murmured at being cooped up in Toro, while their own country was made the +theatre of war; and Alfonso saw himself under the necessity of detaching +so considerable a portion of his army for the defence of his frontier, as +entirely to cripple his future operations. So deeply, indeed, was he +impressed, by these circumstances, with the difficulty of his enterprise, +that, in a negotiation with the Castilian sovereigns at this time, he +expressed a willingness to resign his claims to their crown in +consideration of the cession of Galicia, together with the cities of Toro +and Zamora, and a considerable sum of money. Ferdinand and his ministers, +it is reported, would have accepted the proposal; but Isabella, although +acquiescing in the stipulated money payment, would not consent to the +dismemberment of a single inch of the Castilian territory. + +In the mean time both the queen and her husband, undismayed by past +reverses, were making every exertion for the reorganization of an army on +a more efficient footing. To accomplish this object, an additional supply +of funds became necessary, since the treasure of King Henry, delivered +into their hands by Andres de Cabrera, at Segovia, had been exhausted by +the preceding operations. [19] The old king of Aragon advised them to +imitate their ancestor Henry the Second, of glorious memory, by making +liberal grants and alienations in favor of their subjects, which they +might, when more firmly seated on the throne, resume at pleasure. +Isabella, however, chose rather to trust to the patriotism of her people, +than have recourse to so unworthy a stratagem. She accordingly convened an +assembly of the states, in the month of August, at Medina del Campo. As +the nation had been too far impoverished under the late reign to admit of +fresh exactions, a most extraordinary expedient was devised for meeting +the stipulated requisitions. It was proposed to deliver into the royal +treasury half the amount of plate belonging to the churches throughout the +kingdom, to be redeemed in the term of three years, for the sum of thirty +_cuentos_, or millions, of maravedies. The clergy, who were very +generally attached to Isabella's interests, far from discouraging this +startling proposal, endeavored to vanquish the queen's repugnance to it by +arguments and pertinent illustrations drawn from Scripture. This +transaction certainly exhibits a degree of disinterestedness, on the part +of this body, most unusual in that age and country, as well as a generous +confidence in the good faith of Isabella, of which she proved herself +worthy by the punctuality with which she redeemed it. [20] + +Thus provided with the necessary funds, the sovereigns set about enforcing +new levies and bringing them under better discipline, as well as providing +for their equipment in a manner more suitable to the exigencies of the +service, than was done for the preceding army. The remainder of the summer +and the ensuing autumn were consumed in these preparations, as well as in +placing their fortified towns in a proper posture of defence, and in the +reduction of such places as held out against them. The king of Portugal, +all this while, lay with his diminished forces in Toro, making a sally on +one occasion only, for the relief of his friends, which was frustrated by +the sleepless vigilance of Isabella. + +Early in December, Ferdinand passed from the siege of Burgos, in Old +Castile, to Zamora, whose inhabitants expressed a desire to return to +their ancient allegiance; and, with the co-operation of the citizens, +supported by a large detachment from his main army, he prepared to invest +its citadel. As the possession of this post would effectually intercept +Alfonso's communications with his own country, he determined to relieve it +at every hazard, and for this purpose despatched a messenger into Portugal +requiring his son, Prince John, to reinforce him with such levies as he +could speedily raise. All parties now looked forward with eagerness to a +general battle, as to a termination of the evils of this long-protracted +war. + +The Portuguese prince, having with difficulty assembled a corps amounting +to two thousand lances and eight thousand infantry, took a northerly +circuit round Galicia, and effected a junction with his father in Toro, on +the 14th of February, 1476. Alfonso, thus reinforced, transmitted a +pompous circular to the pope, the king of France, his own dominions, and +those well affected to him in Castile, proclaiming his immediate intention +of taking the usurper, or of driving him from the kingdom. On the night of +the 17th, having first provided for the security of the city by leaving in +it a powerful reserve, Alfonso drew off the residue of his army, probably +not much exceeding three thousand five hundred horse and five thousand +foot, well provided with artillery and with arquebuses, which latter +engine was still of so clumsy and unwieldy construction, as not to have +entirely superseded the ancient weapons of European warfare. The +Portuguese army, traversing the bridge of Toro, pursued their march along +the southern side of the Douro, and reached Zamora, distant only a few +leagues, before the dawn. [21] + +At break of day, the Castilians were surprised by the array of floating +banners, and martial panoply glittering in the sun, from the opposite side +of the river, while the discharges of artillery still more unequivocally +announced the presence of the enemy. Ferdinand could scarcely believe that +the Portuguese monarch, whose avowed object had been the relief of the +castle of Zamora, should have selected a position so obviously unsuitable +for this purpose. The intervention of the river, between him and the +fortress situated at the northern extremity of the town, prevented him +from relieving it, either by throwing succors into it, or by annoying the +Castilian troops, who, intrenched in comparative security within the walls +and houses of the city, were enabled by means of certain elevated +positions, well garnished with artillery, to inflict much heavier injury +on their opponents, than they could possibly receive from them. Still, +Ferdinand's men, exposed to the double fire of the fortress and the +besiegers, would willingly have come to an engagement with the latter; but +the river, swollen by winter torrents, was not fordable, and the bridge, +the only direct avenue to the city, was enfiladed by the enemy's cannon, +so as to render a sally in that direction altogether impracticable. During +this time, Isabella's squadrons of light cavalry, hovering on the skirts +of the Portuguese camp, effectually cut off its supplies, and soon reduced +it to great straits for subsistence. This circumstance, together with the +tidings of the rapid advance of additional forces to the support of +Ferdinand, determined Alfonso, contrary to all expectation, on an +immediate retreat; and accordingly on the morning of the 1st of March, +being little less than a fortnight from the time in which he commenced +this empty gasconade, the Portuguese army quitted its position before +Zamora, with the same silence and celerity with which it had occupied it. + +Ferdinand's troops would instantly have pushed after the fugitives, but +the latter had demolished the southern extremity of the bridge before +their departure; so that, although some few effected an immediate passage +in boats, the great body of the army was necessarily detained until the +repairs were completed, which occupied more than three hours. With all the +expedition they could use, therefore, and leaving their artillery behind +them, they did not succeed in coming up with the enemy until nearly four +o'clock in the afternoon, as the latter was defiling through a narrow pass +formed by a crest of precipitous hills on the one side, and the Douro on +the other, at the distance of about five miles from the city of Toro. [22] + +A council of war was then called, to decide on the expediency of an +immediate assault. It was objected, that the strong position of Toro would +effectually cover the retreat of the Portuguese in case of their +discomfiture; that they would speedily be reinforced by fresh recruits +from that city, which would make them more than a match for Ferdinand's +army, exhausted by a toilsome march, as well as by its long fast, which it +had not broken since the morning; and that the celerity, with which it had +moved, had compelled it, not only to abandon its artillery, but to leave a +considerable portion of the heavy-armed infantry in the rear. +Notwithstanding the weight of these objections, such were the high spirit +of the troops and their eagerness to come to action, sharpened by the view +of the quarry, which after a wearisome chase seemed ready to fall into +their hands, that they were thought more than sufficient to counterbalance +every physical disadvantage; and the question of battle was decided in the +affirmative. + +As the Castilian army emerged from the defile into a wide and open plain, +they found that the enemy had halted, and was already forming in order of +battle. The king of Portugal led the centre, with the archbishop of Toledo +on his right wing, its extremity resting on the Douro; while the left, +comprehending the arquebusiers and the strength of the cavalry, was placed +under the command of his son, Prince John. The numerical force of the two +armies, although in favor of the Portuguese, was nearly equal, amounting +probably in each to less than ten thousand men, about one-third being +cavalry. Ferdinand took his station in the centre, opposite his rival, +having the admiral and the duke of Alva on his left; while his right wing, +distributed into six battles or divisions, under their several commanders, +was supported by a detachment of men-at-arms from the provinces of Leon +and Galicia. + +The action commenced in this quarter. The Castilians, raising the war-cry +of "St. James and St. Lazarus," advanced on the enemy's left under Prince +John, but were saluted with such a brisk and well-directed fire from his +arquebusiers, that their ranks were disconcerted. The Portuguese men-at- +arms, charging them at the same time, augmented their confusion, and +compelled them to fall back precipitately on the narrow pass in their +rear, where, being supported by some fresh detachments from the reserve, +they were with difficulty rallied by their officers, and again brought +into the field. In the mean while, Ferdinand closed with the enemy's +centre, and the action soon became general along the whole line. The +battle raged with redoubled fierceness in the quarter where the presence +of the two monarchs infused new ardor into their soldiers, who fought as +if conscious that this struggle was to decide the fate of their masters. +The lances were shivered at the first encounter, and, as the ranks of the +two armies mingled with each other, the men fought hand to hand with their +swords, with a fury sharpened by the ancient rivalry of the two nations, +making the whole a contest of physical strength rather than skill. [23] + +The royal standard of Portugal was torn to shreds in the attempt to seize +it on the one side and to preserve it on the other, while its gallant +bearer, Edward de Almeyda, after losing first his right arm, and then his +left, in its defence, held it firmly with his teeth until he was cut down +by the assailants. The armor of this knight was to be seen as late as +Mariana's time, in the cathedral church of Toledo, where it was preserved +as a trophy of this desperate act of heroism, which brings to mind a +similar feat recorded in Grecian story. + +The old archbishop of Toledo, and the cardinal Mendoza, who, like his +reverend rival, had exchanged the crosier for the corslet, were to be seen +on that day in the thickest of the _mêlée_. The holy wars with the infidel +perpetuated the unbecoming spectacle of militant ecclesiastics among the +Spaniards, to a still later period, and long after it had disappeared from +the rest of civilized Europe. + +At length, after an obstinate struggle of more than three hours, the valor +of the Castilian troops prevailed, and the Portuguese were seen to give +way in all directions. The duke of Alva, by succeeding in turning their +flank, while they were thus vigorously pressed in front, completed their +disorder, and soon converted their retreat into a rout. Some, attempting +to cross the Douro, were drowned, and many, who endeavored to effect an +entrance into Toro, were entangled in the narrow defile of the bridge, and +fell by the sword of their pursuers, or miserably perished in the river, +which, bearing along their mutilated corpses, brought tidings of the fatal +victory to Zamora. Such were the heat and fury of the pursuit, that the +intervening night, rendered darker than usual by a driving rain storm, +alone saved the scattered remains of the army from destruction. Several +Portuguese companies, under favor of this obscurity, contrived to elude +their foes by shouting the Castilian battle-cry. Prince John, retiring +with a fragment of his broken squadrons to a neighboring eminence, +succeeded, by lighting fires and sounding his trumpets, in rallying round +him a number of fugitives; and, as the position he occupied was too strong +to be readily forced, and the Castilian troops were too weary, and well +satisfied with their victory, to attempt it, he retained possession of it +till morning, when he made good his retreat into Toro. The king of +Portugal, who was missing, was supposed to have perished in the battle, +until, by advices received from him late on the following day, it was +ascertained that he had escaped without personal injury, and with three or +four attendants only, to the fortified castle of Castro Nuño, some leagues +distant from the field of action. Numbers of his troops, attempting to +escape across the neighboring frontiers into their own country, were +maimed or massacred by the Spanish peasants, in retaliation of the +excesses wantonly committed by them in their invasion of Castile. +Ferdinand, shocked at this barbarity, issued orders for the protection of +their persons, and freely gave safe-conducts to such as desired to return +into Portugal. He even, with a degree of humanity more honorable, as well +as more rare, than military success, distributed clothes and money to +several prisoners brought into Zamora in a state of utter destitution, and +enabled them to return in safety to their own country. [24] + +The Castilian monarch remained on the field of battle till after midnight, +when he returned to Zamora, being followed in the morning by the cardinal +of Spain and the admiral Henriquez, at the head of the victorious legions. +Eight standards with the greater part of the baggage were taken in the +engagement, and more than two thousand of the enemy slain or made +prisoners. Queen Isabella, on receiving tidings of the event at +Tordesillas, where she then was, ordered a procession to the church of St. +Paul in the suburbs, in which she herself joined, walking barefoot with +all humility, and offered up a devout thanksgiving to the God of battles +for the victory with which he had crowned her arms. [25] + +It was indeed a most auspicious victory, not so much from the immediate +loss inflicted on the enemy, as from its moral influence on the Castilian +nation. Such as had before vacillated in their faith,--who, in the +expressive language of Bernaldez, "estaban aviva quien vence,"--who were +prepared to take sides with the strongest, now openly proclaimed their +allegiance to Ferdinand and Isabella; while most of those, who had been +arrayed in arms or had manifested by any other overt act their hostility +to the government, vied with each other in demonstrations of the most +loyal submission, and sought to make the best terms for themselves which +they could. Among these latter, the duke of Arevalo, who indeed had made +overtures to this effect some time previous through the agency of his son, +together with the grand master of Calatrava, and the count of Urueña, his +brother, experienced the lenity of government, and were confirmed in the +entire possession of their estates. The two principal delinquents, the +marquis of Villena and the archbishop of Toledo, made a show of resistance +for some time longer; but, after witnessing the demolition of their +castles, the capture of their towns, the desertion of their vassals, and +the sequestration of their revenues, were fain to purchase a pardon at the +price of the most humble concessions, and the forfeiture of an ample +portion of domain. + +The castle of Zamora, expecting no further succors from Portugal, speedily +surrendered, and this event was soon followed by the reduction of Madrid, +Baeza, Toro, and other principal cities; so that, in little more than six +months from the date of the battle, the whole kingdom, with the exception +of a few insignificant posts still garrisoned by the enemy, had +acknowledged the supremacy of Ferdinand and Isabella. [26] + +Soon after the victory of Toro, Ferdinand was enabled to concentrate a +force amounting to fifty thousand men, for the purpose of repelling the +French from Guipuscoa, from which they had already twice been driven by +the intrepid natives, and whence they again retired with precipitation on +receiving news of the king's approach. [27] + +Alfonso, finding his authority in Castile thus rapidly melting away before +the rising influence of Ferdinand and Isabella, withdrew with his virgin +bride into Portugal, where he formed the resolution of visiting France in +person, and soliciting succor from his ancient ally, Louis the Eleventh. +In spite of every remonstrance, he put this extraordinary scheme into +execution. He reached France, with a retinue of two hundred followers, in +the month of September. He experienced everywhere the honors due to his +exalted rank, and to the signal mark of confidence, which he thus +exhibited towards the French king. The keys of the cities were delivered +into his hands, the prisoners were released from their dungeons, and his +progress was attended by a general jubilee. His brother monarch, however, +excused himself from affording more substantial proofs of his regard, +until he should have closed the war then pending between him and Burgundy, +and until Alfonso should have fortified his title to the Castilian crown, +by obtaining from the pope a dispensation for his marriage with Joanna. + +The defeat and death of the duke of Burgundy, whose camp, before Nanci, +Alfonso visited in the depth of winter, with the chimerical purpose of +effecting a reconciliation between him and Louis, removed the former of +these impediments; as, in good time, the compliance of the pope did the +latter. But the king of Portugal found himself no nearer the object of his +negotiations; and, after waiting a whole year a needy supplicant at the +court of Louis, he at length ascertained that his insidious host was +concerting an arrangement with his mortal foes, Ferdinand and Isabella. +Alfonso, whose character always had a spice of Quixotism in it, seems to +have completely lost his wits at this last reverse of fortune. Overwhelmed +with shame at his own credulity, he felt himself unable to encounter the +ridicule which awaited his return to Portugal, and secretly withdrew, with +two or three domestics only, to an obscure village in Normandy, whence he +transmitted an epistle to Prince John, his son, declaring, "that, as all +earthly vanities were dead within his bosom, he resolved to lay up an +imperishable crown by performing a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and +devoting himself to the service of God, in some retired monastery;" and he +concluded with requesting his son "to assume the sovereignty, at once, in +the same manner as if he had heard of his father's death." [28] + +Fortunately Alfonso's retreat was detected before he had time to put his +extravagant project in execution, and his trusty followers succeeded, +though with considerable difficulty, in diverting him from it; while the +king of France, willing to be rid of his importunate guest, and unwilling +perhaps to incur the odium of having driven him to so desperate an +extremity as that of his projected pilgrimage, provided a fleet of ships +to transport him back to his own dominions, where, to complete the farce, +he arrived just five days after the ceremony of his son's coronation as +king of Portugal. Nor was it destined that the luckless monarch should +solace himself, as he had hoped, in the arms of his youthful bride; since +the pliant pontiff, Sixtus the Fourth, was ultimately persuaded by the +court of Castile to issue a new bull overruling the dispensation formerly +conceded, on the ground that it had been obtained by a misrepresentation +of facts. + +Prince John, whether influenced by filial piety, or prudence, resigned the +crown of Portugal to his father, soon after his return; [29] and the old +monarch was no sooner reinstated in his authority, than, burning with a +thirst for vengeance, which made him insensible to every remonstrance, he +again prepared to throw his country into combustion by reviving his +enterprise against Castile. [30] + +While these hostile movements were in progress, Ferdinand, leaving his +consort in possession of a sufficient force for the protection of the +frontiers, made a journey into Biscay for the purpose of an interview with +his father, the king of Aragon, to concert measures for the pacification +of Navarre, which still continued to be rent with those sanguinary feuds, +that were bequeathed like a precious legacy from one generation to +another. [31] In the autumn of the same year a treaty of peace was +definitively adjusted between the plenipotentiaries of Castile and France, +at St. Jean de Luz, in which it was stipulated as a principle article, +that Louis the Eleventh should disconnect himself from his alliance with +Portugal, and give no further support to the pretensions of Joanna. [32] + +Thus released from apprehension in this quarter, the sovereigns were +enabled to give their undivided attention to the defence of the western +borders. Isabella, accordingly, early in the ensuing winter, passed into +Estremadura for the purpose of repelling the Portuguese, and still more of +suppressing the insurrectionary movements of certain of her own subjects, +who, encouraged by the vicinity of Portugal, carried on from their private +fortresses a most desolating and predatory warfare over the circumjacent +territory. Private mansions and farm-houses were pillaged and burnt to the +ground, the cattle and crops swept away in their forays, the highways +beset, so that all travelling was at an end, all communication cut off, +and a rich and populous district converted at once into a desert. +Isabella, supported by a body of regular troops and a detachment of the +Holy Brotherhood, took her station at Truxillo, as a central position, +whence she might operate on the various points with greatest facility. Her +counsellors remonstrated against this exposure of her person in the very +heart of the disaffected country; but she replied that "it was not for her +to calculate perils or fatigues in her own cause, nor by an unseasonable +timidity to dishearten her friends, with whom she was now resolved to +remain until she had brought the war to a conclusion." She then gave +immediate orders for laying siege at the same time to the fortified towns +of Medellin, Merida, and Deleytosa. + +At this juncture the infanta Doña Beatriz of Portugal, sister-in-law of +King Alfonso, and maternal aunt of Isabella, touched with grief at the +calamities, in which she saw her country involved by the chimerical +ambition of her brother, offered herself as the mediator of peace between +the belligerent nations. Agreeably to her proposal, an interview took +place between her and Queen Isabella at the frontier town of Alcantara. As +the conferences of the fair negotiators experienced none of the +embarrassments usually incident to such deliberations, growing out of +jealousy, distrust, and a mutual design to overreach, but were conducted +in perfect good faith, and a sincere desire, on both sides, of +establishing a cordial reconciliation, they resulted, after eight days' +discussion, in a treaty of peace, with which the Portuguese infanta +returned into her own country, in order to obtain the sanction of her +royal brother. The articles contained in it, however, were too unpalatable +to receive an immediate assent; and it was not until the expiration of six +months, during which Isabella, far from relaxing, persevered with +increased energy in her original plan of operations, that the treaty was +formally ratified by the court of Lisbon. [33] + +It was stipulated in this compact, that Alfonso should relinquish the +title and armorial bearings, which he had assumed as king of Castile; that +he should resign his claims to the hand of Joanna, and no longer maintain +her pretensions to the Castilian throne; that that lady should make the +election within six months, either to quit Portugal for ever, or to remain +there on the condition of wedding Don John, the infant son of Ferdinand +and Isabella, [34] so soon as he should attain a marriageable age, or to +retire into a convent, and take the veil; that a general amnesty should be +granted to all such Castilians as had supported Joanna's cause; and, +finally, that the concord between the two nations should be cemented by +the union of Alonso, son of the prince of Portugal, with the infanta +Isabella, of Castile. [35] + +Thus terminated, after a duration of four years and a half, the War of the +Succession. It had fallen with peculiar fury on the border provinces of +Leon and Estremadura, which, from their local position, had necessarily +been kept in constant collision with the enemy. Its baneful effects were +long visible there, not only in the general devastation and distress of +the country, but in the moral disorganization, which the licentious and +predatory habits of soldiers necessarily introduced among a simple +peasantry. In a personal view, however, the war had terminated most +triumphantly for Isabella, whose wise and vigorous administration, +seconded by her husband's vigilance, had dispelled the storm, which +threatened to overwhelm her from abroad, and established her in +undisturbed possession of the throne of her ancestors. + +Joanna's interests were alone compromised, or rather sacrificed, by the +treaty. She readily discerned in the provision for her marriage with an +infant still in the cradle, only a flimsy veil intended to disguise the +king of Portugal's desertion of her cause. Disgusted with a world, in +which she had hitherto experienced nothing but misfortune herself, and +been the innocent cause of so much to others, she determined to renounce +it for ever, and seek a shelter in the peaceful shades of the cloister. +She accordingly entered the convent of Santa Clara at Coimbra, where, in +the following year, she pronounced the irrevocable vows, which divorce the +unhappy subject of them for ever from her species. Two envoys from +Castile, Ferdinand de Talavera, Isabella's confessor, and Dr. Diaz de +Madrigal, one of her council, assisted at this affecting ceremony; and the +reverend father, in a copious exhortation addressed to the youthful +novice, assured her "that she had chosen the better part approved in the +Evangelists; that, as spouse of the church, her chastity would be prolific +of all spiritual delights; her subjection, liberty,--the only true +liberty, partaking more of Heaven than of earth. No kinsman," continued +the disinterested preacher, "no true friend, or faithful counsellor, would +divert you from so holy a purpose." [36] + +Not long after this event, King Alfonso, penetrated with grief at the loss +of his destined bride,--the "excellent lady," as the Portuguese continue +to call her,--resolved to imitate her example, and exchange his royal +robes for the humble habit of a Franciscan friar. He consequently made +preparation for resigning his crown anew, and retiring to the monastery of +Varatojo, on a bleak eminence near the Atlantic Ocean, when he suddenly +fell ill, at Cintra, of a disorder which terminated his existence, on the +28th of August, 1481. Alfonso's fiery character, in which all the elements +of love, chivalry, and religion were blended together, resembled that of +some paladin of romance; as the chimerical enterprises, in which he was +perpetually engaged, seem rather to belong to the age of knight-errantry, +than to the fifteenth century. [37] + +In the beginning of the same year in which the pacification with Portugal +secured to the sovereigns the undisputed possession of Castile, another +crown devolved on Ferdinand by the death of his father, the king of +Aragon, who expired at Barcelona, on the 20th of January, 1479, in the +eighty-third year of his age. [38] Such was his admirable constitution +that he retained not only his intellectual, but his bodily vigor, +unimpaired to the last. His long life was consumed in civil faction or +foreign wars; and his restless spirit seemed to take delight in these +tumultuous scenes, as best fitted to develop its various energies. He +combined, however, with this intrepid and even ferocious temper, an +address in the management of affairs, which led him to rely, for the +accomplishment of his purposes, much more on negotiation than on positive +force. He may be said to have been one of the first monarchs who brought +into vogue that refined science of the cabinet, which was so profoundly +studied by statesmen at the close of the fifteenth century, and on which +his own son Ferdinand furnished the most practical commentary. + +The crown of Navarre, which he had so shamelessly usurped, devolved, on +his decease, on his guilty daughter Leonora, countess of Foix, who, as we +have before noticed, survived to enjoy it only three short weeks. Aragon, +with its extensive dependencies, descended to Ferdinand. Thus the two +crowns of Aragon and Castile, after a separation of more than four +centuries, became indissolubly united, and the foundations were laid of +the magnificent empire which was destined to overshadow every other +European monarchy. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] The popular belief of Joanna's illegitimacy was founded on the +following circumstances. 1. King Henry's first marriage with Blanche of +Navarre was dissolved, after it had subsisted twelve years, on the +publicly alleged ground of "impotence in the parties." 2. The princess +Joanna, the only child of his second queen, Joanna of Portugal, was not +born until the eighth year of her marriage, and long after she had become +notorious for her gallantries. 3. Although Henry kept several mistresses, +whom he maintained in so ostentatious a manner as to excite general +scandal, he was never known to have had issue by any one of them.--To +counterbalance the presumption afforded by these facts, it should be +stated, that Henry appears, to the day of his death, to have cherished the +princess Joanna as his own offspring, and that Beltran de la Cueva, duke +of Albuquerque, her reputed father, instead of supporting her claims to +the crown on the demise of Henry, as would have been natural had he been +entitled to the honors of paternity, attached himself to the adverse +faction of Isabella. + +Queen Joanna survived her husband about six months only. Father Florez +(Reynas Cathólicas, tom. ii. pp. 760-786) has made a flimsy attempt to +whitewash her character; but, to say nothing of almost every contemporary +historian, as well as of the official documents of that day (see Marina, +Teoría, tom. iii. part. 2, num. 11), the stain has been too deeply fixed +by the repeated testimony of Castillo, the loyal adherent of her own +party, to be thus easily effaced. + +It is said, however, that the queen died in the odor of sanctity; and +Ferdinand and Isabella caused her to be deposited in a rich mausoleum, +erected by the ambassador to the court of the Great Tamerlane for himself, +but from which his remains were somewhat unceremoniously ejected, in order +to make room for those of his royal mistress. + +[2] See this subject discussed _in extenso_, by Marina, Teoría, part. 2, +cap. 1-10.--See, also, Introd. Sect. I. of this History. + +[3] See Part I. Chap. 3. + +[4] See Part I. Chap. 4, Note 2. + +[5] Fortunately, this strong place, in which the royal treasure was +deposited, was in the keeping of Andres de Cabrera, the husband of +Isabella's friend, Beatriz de Bobadilla. His co-operation at this juncture +was so important, that Oviedo does not hesitate to declare, "It lay with +him to make Isabella or her rival queen, as he listed." Quincuagenas, MS., +bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 23. + +[6] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 10.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año +75.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 93.--L. Marineo, +Cosas Memorables, fol. 155.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, +dial. 3. + +[7] Marina, whose peculiar researches and opportunities make him the best, +is my only authority for this convention of the cortes. (Teoría, tom. ii. +pp. 63, 89.) The extracts he makes from the writ of summons, however, seem +to imply, that the object was not the recognition of Ferdinand and +Isabella, but of their daughter, as successor to the crown. Among the +nobles, who openly testified their adhesion to Isabella, were no less than +four of the six individuals, to whom the late king had intrusted the +guardianship of his daughter Joanna; viz. the grand cardinal of Spain, the +constable of Castile, the duke of Infantado, and the count of Benavente. + +[8] A precedent for female inheritance, in the latter kingdom, was +subsequently furnished by the undisputed succession and long reign of +Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, and mother of Charles V. The +introduction of the Salic law, under the Bourbon dynasty, opposed a new +barrier, indeed; but this has been since swept away by the decree of the +late monarch, Ferdinand VII., and the paramount authority of the cortes; +and we may hope that the successful assertion of her lawful rights by +Isabella II. will put this much vexed question at rest for ever. + +[9] See Part I. Chap. 3.--Ferdinand's powers are not so narrowly limited, +at least not so carefully defined, in this settlement, as in the marriage +articles. Indeed, the instrument is much more concise and general in its +whole import. + +[10] Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. del Gran Cardenal, lib. 1, cap. 40.--L. +Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 155, 156.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. +222-224.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, pp. 35, 36.--See the original +instrument signed by Ferdinand and Isabella, cited at length in Dormer's +Discursos Varios de Historia, (Zaragoza, 1683,) pp. 295-313.--It does not +appear that the settlement was ever confirmed by, or indeed presented to, +the cortes. Marina speaks of it, however, as emanating from that body. +(Teoría, tom. ii. pp. 63, 64.) From Pulgar's statement, as well as from +the instrument itself, it seems to have been made under no other auspices +or sanction, than that of the great nobility and cavaliers. Marina's +eagerness to find a precedent for the interference of the popular branch +in all the great concerns of government, has usually quickened, but +sometimes clouded, his optics. In the present instance he has undoubtedly +confounded the irregular proceedings of the aristocracy exclusively, with +the deliberate acts of the legislature. + +[11] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 94.--Garibay, +Compendio, lib. 18, cap. 3.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 10, +11.--Pulgar, Letras, (Madrid, 1775,) let. 3, al Arzobispo de Toledo.--The +archbishop's jealousy of cardinal Mendoza is uniformly reported by the +Spanish writers as the true cause of his defection from the queen. + +[12] Ruy de Pina, Chrónica d'el Rey Alfonso V., cap. 173, apud Collecçaö +de Livros Inéditos de Historia Portugueza, (Lisboa, 1790-93,) tom. i. + +[13] The ancient rivalry between the two nations was exasperated into the +most deadly rancor, by the fatal defeat at Aljubarrotta, in 1235, in which +fell the flower of the Castilian nobility. King John I. wore mourning, it +is said, to the day of his death, in commemoration of this disaster. +(Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. pp. 394-396.--La Clède, Hist. +de Portugal, tom. iii. pp. 357-359.) Pulgar, the secretary of Ferdinand +and Isabella, addressed, by their order, a letter of remonstrance to the +king of Portugal, in which he endeavors, by numerous arguments founded on +expediency and justice, to dissuade him from his meditated enterprise. +Pulgar, Letras, No. 7. + +[14] Ruy de Pina, Chrónica d'el Rey Alfonso V., cap. 174-178.--Bernaldez, +Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 16, 17, 18.--Bernaldez states, that Alfonso, +previously to his invasion, caused largesses of plate and money to be +distributed among the Castilian nobles, whom he imagined to be well +affected towards him. Some of them, the duke of Alva in particular, +received his presents and used them in the cause of Isabella.--Faria y +Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. pp. 396-398.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. +fol. 230-240.--La Clède, Hist. de Portugal, tom. iii. pp. 360-362.-Pulgar, +Crónica, p. 51.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 156.--Oviedo, +Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 3. + +[15] The queen, who was, at that time, in a state of pregnancy, brought on +a miscarriage by her incessant personal exposure. Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. +fol. 234. + +[16] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 75.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, pp. 45-55.-- +Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. vii. p. 411.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, +MS., cap. 23. + +[17] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 18.--Faria y Sousa, Europa +Portuguesa, tom. ii. pp. 398-400.--Pulgar, Crónica, pp. 55-60.--Ruy de +Pina, Chrón. d'el Rey Alfonso V., cap. 179.--La Clède, Hist. de Portugal, +tom. iii. p. 366.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 240-243. + +[18] "Pues no os maravilleis de eso," says Oviedo, in relation to these +troubles, "que nó solo entre hermanos suele haber esas diferencias, mas +entre padre é hijo lo vimos ayer, como suelen decir." Quincuagenas, MS., +bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 3. + +[19] The royal coffers were found to contain about 10,000 marks of silver. +(Pulgar, Reyes Catól. p. 54.) Isabella presented Cabrera with a golden +goblet from her table, engaging that a similar present should be regularly +made to him and his successors on the anniversary of his surrender of +Segovia. She subsequently gave a more solid testimony of her gratitude, by +raising him to the rank of marquis of Moya, with the grant of an estate +suitable to his new dignity.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, +dial. 23. + +[20] The indignation of Dr. Salazar de Mendoza is roused by this +misapplication of the church's money, which he avers "no necessity +whatever could justify." This worthy canon flourished in the seventeenth +century. Crón. del Gran Cardenal, p. 147.--Pulgar, Reyes Catól. pp. 60- +62.--Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. p. 400.--Rades y Andrada, +Las Tres Ordenes, part. 1, fol. 67.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 243.-- +Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 18, 20. Zuñiga gives some additional +particulars respecting the grant of the cortes, which I do not find +verified by any contemporary author. Annales de Sevilla, p. 372. + +[21] Carbajal, Anales, MS., años 75, 76.--Ruy de Pina, Chrón. del Rey +Alfonso V., cap. 187, 189.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 20, 22. +--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, pp. 63-78.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. +156.--Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. pp. 401, 404.--Several of +the contemporary Castilian historians compute the Portuguese army at +double the amount given in the text. + +[22] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, pp. 82-85.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. +252, 253.--Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. pp. 404, 405.-- +Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos. MS., cap. 23.--Ruy de Pina, Chrón. d'el Rey +Alfonso V., cap. 190. + +[23] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 76.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. +158.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, pp. 85-89.--Faria y Sousa, Europa +Portuguesa, tom. ii. pp. 404, 405.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. +23.--La Clède, Hist. de Portugal, tom. iii. pp. 378-383.--Zurita, Anales, +tom. iv. fol. 252-255. + +[24] Faria y Sousa claims the honors of the victory for the Portuguese, +because Prince John kept the field till morning. Even M. La Clède, with +all his deference to the Portuguese historian, cannot swallow this. Faria +y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. pp. 405-410.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, +MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 8.--Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. del Gran +Cardenal, lib. 1, cap. 46--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, pp. 85-90.--L. +Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 158.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 76.-- +Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 23.--Ruy de Pina, Chrón. d'el Rey +Alfonso V., cap. 191.--Ferdinand, in allusion to Prince John, wrote to his +wife, that "if it had not been for the chicken, the old cock would have +been taken." Garibay, Compendio, lib. 18, cap. 8. + +[25] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 90.--The sovereigns, in compliance with a +previous vow, caused a superb monastery, dedicated to St. Francis, to be +erected in Toledo, with the title of San Juan de los Reyes, in +commemoration of their victory over the Portuguese. This edifice was still +to be seen in Mariana's time. + +[26] Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, tom. ii. fol. 79, 80.--Pulgar, +Reyes Católicos, cap. 48-50, 55, 60.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 19, cap. 46, +48, 54, 58.--Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. vii. pp. 476-478, 517-519, +546.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 10.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, +MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 8. + +[27] Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iii. pp. 290, 292.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., +año 76. + +[28] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 27.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, +cap. 56, 57.--Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iii. pp. 290-292.--Zurita, Anales, +lib. 19, cap. 56, lib. 20, cap. 10.--Ruy de Pina, Chrón. d'el Rey Alfonso +V., cap. 194-202.--Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. pp. 412- +415.--Comines, Mémoires, liv. 5, chap. 7. + +[29] According to Faria y Sousa, John was walking along the shores of the +Tagus, with the duke of Braganza, and the cardinal archbishop of Lisbon, +when he received the unexpected tidings of his father's return to +Portugal. On his inquiring of his attendants how he should receive him, +"How but as your king and father!" was the reply; at which John, knitting +his brows together, skimmed a stone, which he held in his hand, with much +violence across the water. The cardinal, observing this, whispered to the +duke of Braganza, "I will take good care that that stone does not rebound +on me." Soon after, he left Portugal for Rome, where he fixed his +residence. The duke lost his life on the scaffold for imputed treason soon +after John's accession.--Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. p. 416. + +[30] Comines, Mémoires, liv. 5, chap. 7.--Faria y Sousa, Europa +Portuguesa, tom. ii. p. 116.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 20, cap. 25.-- +Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 27. + +[31] This was the first meeting between father and son since the elevation +of the latter to the Castilian throne. King John would not allow Ferdinand +to kiss his hand; he chose to walk on his left; he attended him to his +quarters, and, in short, during the whole twenty days of their conference +manifested towards his son all the deference, which, as a parent, he was +entitled to receive from him. This he did on the ground that Ferdinand, as +king of Castile, represented the elder branch of Trastamara, while he +represented only the younger. It will not be easy to meet with an instance +of more punctilious etiquette, even in Spanish history.--Pulgar, Reyes +Católicos, cap. 75. + +[32] Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. del Gran Cardenal, p. 162.--Zurita, Anales, +lib. 20, cap. 25.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 79. + +[33] Ruy de Pina, Chrón. d'el Rey Alfonso V., cap. 206.--L. Marineo, Cosas +Memorables, fol. 166, 167.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 85, 89, 90.-- +Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. pp. 420, 421.--Ferreras, Hist. +d'Espagne, tom. vii. p. 538.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 79.--Bernaldez, +Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 28, 36, 37. + +[34] Born the preceding year, June 28th, 1478. Carbajal, Anales, MS., anno +eodem. + +[35] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 168.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, +cap. 91.--Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. pp. 420, 421.--Ruy de +Pina, Chrón. d'el Rey Alfonso V., cap. 206. + +[36] Ruy de Pina, Chrón. d'el Rey Alfonso V., cap. 20.--Faria y Sousa, +Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. p. 421.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 92.--L. +Marineo speaks of the _Señora muy excelente_, as an inmate of the cloister +at the period in which he was writing, 1522, (fol. 168.) Notwithstanding +her "irrevocable vows," however, Joanna several times quitted the +monastery, and maintained a royal state under the protection of the +Portuguese monarchs, who occasionally threatened to revive her dormant +claims to the prejudice of the Castilian sovereigns. She may be said, +consequently, to have formed the pivot, on which turned, during her +whole life, the diplomatic relations between the courts of Castile and +Portugal, and to have been a principal cause of those frequent +intermarriages between the royal families of the two countries, by which +Ferdinand and Isabella hoped to detach the Portuguese crown from her +interests. Joanna affected a royal style and magnificence, and subscribed +herself "I the Queen," to the last. She died in the palace at Lisbon, in +1530, in the 69th year of her age, having survived most of her ancient +friends, suitors, and competitors.--Joanna's history, subsequent to her +taking the veil, has been collected, with his usual precision, by Señor +Clemencin, Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 19. + +[37] Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. p. 423.--Ruy de Pina, +Chrón. d'el Rey Alfonso V., cap. 212. + +[38] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 79.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. +42.--Mariana, Hist. de España, (ed Valencia,) tom. viii. p. 204, not.-- +Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 295. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. + +1475-1482. + +Schemes of Reform.--Holy Brotherhood.--Tumult at Segovia.--The Queen's +Presence of Mind.--Severe Execution of Justice.--Royal Progress through +Andalusia.--Reorganization of the Tribunals.--Castilian Jurisprudence.-- +Plans for Reducing the Nobles.--Revocation of Grants.--Military Orders of +Castile.--Masterships annexed to the Crown.--Ecclesiastical Usurpations +Resisted.--Restoration of Trade.--Prosperity of the Kingdom. + + +I have deferred to the present chapter a consideration of the important +changes introduced into the interior administration of Castile after the +accession of Isabella, in order to present a connected and comprehensive +view of them to the reader, without interrupting the progress of the +military narrative. The subject may afford an agreeable relief to the +dreary details of blood and battle, with which we have been so long +occupied, and which were rapidly converting the garden of Europe into a +wilderness. Such details indeed seem to have the deepest interest for +contemporary writers; but the eye of posterity, unclouded by personal +interest or passion, turns with satisfaction from them to those cultivated +arts, which can make the wilderness to blossom as the rose. + +If there be any being on earth, that may be permitted to remind us of the +Deity himself, it is the ruler of a mighty empire, who employs the high +powers intrusted to him exclusively for the benefit of his people; who, +endowed with intellectual gifts corresponding with his station, in an age +of comparative barbarism, endeavors to impart to his land the light of +civilization which illumines his own bosom, and to create from the +elements of discord the beautiful fabric of social order. Such was +Isabella; and such the age in which she lived. And fortunate was it for +Spain that her sceptre, at this crisis, was swayed by a sovereign +possessed of sufficient wisdom to devise, and energy to execute, the most +salutary schemes of reform, and thus to infuse a new principle of vitality +into a government fast sinking into premature decrepitude. + +The whole plan of reform introduced into the government by Ferdinand and +Isabella, or more properly by the latter, to whom the internal +administration of Castile was principally referred, was not fully unfolded +until the completion of her reign. But the most important modifications +were adopted previously to the war of Granada in 1482. These may be +embraced under the following heads. I. The efficient administration of +justice. II. The codification of the laws. III. The depression of the +nobles. IV. The vindication of ecclesiastical rights belonging to the +crown from the usurpation of the papal see. V. The regulation of trade. +VI. The pre-eminence of royal authority, + +I. The administration of justice. In the dismal anarchy, which prevailed +in Henry the Fourth's reign, the authority of the monarch and of the royal +judges had fallen into such contempt, that the law was entirely without +force. The cities afforded no better protection than the open country. +Every man's hand seemed to be lifted against his neighbor. Property was +plundered; persons were violated; the most holy sanctuaries profaned; and +the numerous fortresses scattered throughout the country, instead of +sheltering the weak, converted into dens of robbers. [1] Isabella saw no +better way of checking tins unbounded license, than to direct against it +that popular engine, the _Santa Hermandad_, or Holy Brotherhood, +which had more than once shaken the Castilian monarchs on their +throne. + +The project for the reorganization of this institution was introduced into +the cortes held, the year after Isabella's accession at Madrigal, in 1476. +It was carried into effect by the _junta_ of deputies from the different +cities of the kingdom, convened at Dueñas in the same year. The new +institution differed essentially from the ancient _hermandades_, since, +instead of being partial in its extent, it was designed to embrace the +whole kingdom; and, instead of being directed, as had often been the case, +against the crown itself, it was set in motion at the suggestion of the +latter, and limited in its operation to the maintenance of public order. +The crimes, reserved for its jurisdiction, were all violence or theft +committed on the highways or in the open country, and in cities by such +offenders as escaped into the country; house-breaking; rape; and +resistance of justice. The specification of these crimes shows their +frequency; and the reason for designating the open country, as the +particular theatre for the operations of the hermandad, was the facility +which criminals possessed there for eluding the pursuit of justice, +especially under shelter of the strong-holds or fortresses, with which it +was plentifully studded. + +An annual contribution of eighteen thousand maravedies was assessed on +every hundred _vecinos_ or householders, for the equipment and maintenance +of a horseman, whose duty it was to arrest offenders, and enforce the +sentence of the law. On the flight of a criminal, the tocsins of the +villages, through which he was supposed to have passed, were sounded, and +the _quadrilleros_ or officers of the brotherhood, stationed on the +different points, took up the pursuit with such promptness as left little +chance of escape. A court of two alcaldes was established in every town +containing thirty families, for the trial of all crimes within the +jurisdiction of the hermandad; and an appeal lay from them in specified +cases to a supreme council. A general junta, composed of deputies from the +cities throughout the kingdom, was annually convened for the regulation of +affairs, and their instructions were transmitted to provincial juntas, who +superintended the execution of them. The laws, enacted at different times +in these assemblies, were compiled into a code under the sanction of the +junta general at Tordelaguna, in 1485. [2] The penalties for theft, which +are literally written in blood, are specified in this code with singular +precision. The most petty larceny was punished with stripes, the loss of a +member, or of life itself; and the law was administered with an unsparing +rigor, which nothing but the extreme necessity of the case could justify. +Capital executions were conducted by shooting the criminal with arrows. +The enactment, relating to this, provides, that "the convict shall receive +the sacrament like a Catholic Christian, and after that be executed as +speedily as possible, in order that his soul may pass the more securely." +[3] + +Notwithstanding the popular constitution of the hermandad, and the obvious +advantages attending its introduction at this juncture, it experienced so +decided an opposition from the nobility, who discerned the check it was +likely to impose on their authority, that it required all the queen's +address and perseverance to effect its general adoption. The constable de +Haro, however, a nobleman of great weight from his personal character, and +the most extensive landed proprietor in the north, was at length prevailed +on to introduce it among his vassals. His example was gradually followed +by others of the same rank; and, when the city of Seville, and the great +lords of Andalusia, had consented to receive it, it speedily became +established throughout the kingdom. Thus a standing body of troops, two +thousand in number, thoroughly equipped and mounted, was placed at the +disposal of the crown, to enforce the law, and suppress domestic +insurrection. The supreme junta, which regulated the counsels of the +hermandad, constituted moreover a sort of inferior cortes, relieving the +exigencies of government, as we shall see hereafter, on more than one +occasion, by important supplies of men and money. By the activity of this +new military police, the country was, in the course of a few years, +cleared of its swarms of banditti, as well as of the robber chieftains, +whose strength had enabled them to defy the law. The ministers of justice +found a sure protection in the independent discharge of their duties; and +the blessings of personal security and social order, so long estranged +from the nation, were again restored to it. + +The important benefits, resulting from the institution of the hermandad, +secured its confirmation by successive cortes, for the period of twenty- +two years, in spite of the repeated opposition of the aristocracy. At +length, in 1498, the objects for which it was established having been +completely obtained, it was deemed advisable to relieve the nation from +the heavy charges which its maintenance imposed. The great salaried +officers were dismissed; a few subordinate functionaries were retained for +the administration of justice, over whom the regular courts of criminal +law possessed appellate jurisdiction; and the magnificent apparatus of the +_Santa Hermandad_, stripped of all but the terrors of its name, dwindled +into an ordinary police, such as it has existed, with various +modifications of form, down to the present century. [4] + +Isabella was so intent on the prosecution of her schemes of reform, that, +even in the minuter details, she frequently superintended the execution of +them herself. For this she was admirably fitted by her personal address, +and presence of mind in danger, and by the influence which a conviction of +her integrity gave her over the minds of the people. A remarkable +exemplification of this occurred, the year but one after her coronation, +at Segovia. The inhabitants, secretly instigated by the bishop of that +place, and some of the principal citizens, rose against Cabrera, marquis +of Moya, to whom the government of the city had been intrusted, and who +had made himself generally unpopular by his strict discipline. They even +proceeded so far as to obtain possession of the outworks of the citadel, +and to compel the deputy of the _alcayde_, who was himself absent, to +take shelter, together with the princess Isabella, then the only daughter +of the sovereigns, in the interior defences, where they were rigorously +blockaded. + +The queen, on receiving tidings of the event at Tordesillas, mounted her +horse and proceeded with all possible despatch towards Segovia, attended +by Cardinal Mendoza, the count of Benavente, and a few others of her +court. At some distance from the city, she was met by a deputation of the +inhabitants, requesting her to leave behind the count of Benavente and the +marchioness of Moya, (the former of whom as the intimate friend, and the +latter as the wife of the alcayde, were peculiarly obnoxious to the +citizens,) or they could not answer for the consequences. Isabella +haughtily replied, that "she was queen of Castile; that the city was hers, +moreover, by right of inheritance; and that she was not used to receive +conditions from rebellious subjects." Then pressing forward with her +little retinue, through one of the gates, which remained in the hands of +her friends, she effected her entrance into the citadel. + +The populace, in the mean while, assembling in greater numbers than +before, continued to show the most hostile dispositions, calling out, +"Death to the alcayde! Attack the castle!" Isabella's attendants, +terrified at the tumult, and at the preparations which the people were +making to put their menaces into execution, besought their mistress to +cause the gates to be secured more strongly, as the only mode of defence +against the infuriated mob. But, instead of listening to their counsel, +she bade them remain quietly in the apartment, and descended herself into +the courtyard, where she ordered the portals to be thrown open for the +admission of the people. She stationed herself at the further extremity of +the area, and, as the populace poured in, calmly demanded the cause of the +insurrection. "Tell me," said she, "what are your grievances, and I will +do all in my power to redress them; for I am sure that what is for your +interest, must be also for mine, and for that of the whole city." The +insurgents, abashed by the unexpected presence of their sovereign, as well +as by her cool and dignified demeanor, replied, that all they desired was +the removal of Cabrera from the government of the city. "He is deposed +already," answered the queen, "and you have my authority to turn out such +of his officers as are still in the castle, which I shall intrust to one +of my own servants, on whom I can rely." The people, pacified by these +assurances, shouted, "Long live the queen!" and eagerly hastened to obey +her mandates. + +After thus turning aside the edge of popular fury, Isabella proceeded with +her retinue to the royal residence in the city, attended by the fickle +multitude, whom she again addressed on arriving there, admonishing them to +return to their vocations, as this was no time for calm inquiry; and +promising, that, if they would send three or four of their number to her +on the morrow to report the extent of their grievances, she would examine +into the affair, and render justice to all parties. The mob accordingly +dispersed, and the queen, after a candid examination, having ascertained +the groundlessness or gross exaggeration of the misdemeanors imputed to +Cabrera, and traced the source of the conspiracy to the jealousy of the +bishop of Segovia and his associates, reinstated the deposed alcayde in +the full possession of his dignities, which his enemies, either convinced +of the altered dispositions of the people, or believing that the favorable +moment for resistance had escaped, made no further attempts to disturb. +Thus by a happy presence of mind, an affair, which threatened, at its +outset, disastrous consequences, was settled without bloodshed, or +compromise of the royal dignity. [5] + +In the summer of the following year, 1477, Isabella resolved to pay a +visit to Estremadura and Andalusia, for the purpose of composing the +dissensions, and introducing a more efficient police, in these unhappy +provinces; which, from their proximity to the stormy frontier of Portugal, +as well as from the feuds between the great houses of Guzman and Ponce de +Leon, were plunged in the most frightful anarchy. Cardinal Mendoza and her +other ministers remonstrated against this imprudent exposure of her +person, where it was so little likely to be respected. But she replied, +"it was true there were dangers and inconveniences to be encountered; but +her fate was in God's hands, and she felt a confidence that he would guide +to a prosperous issue such designs as were righteous in themselves and +resolutely conducted." + +Isabella experienced the most loyal and magnificent reception from the +inhabitants of Seville, where she established her head-quarters. The first +days of her residence there were consumed in _fêtes_, tourneys, tilts +of reeds, and other exercises of the Castilian chivalry. After this she +devoted her whole time to the great purpose of her visit, the reformation +of abuses. She held her court in the saloon of the alcazar, or royal +castle, where she revived the ancient practice of the Castilian +sovereigns, of presiding in person over the administration of justice. +Every Friday, she took her seat in her chair of state, on an elevated +platform covered with cloth of gold, and surrounded by her council, +together with the subordinate functionaries, and the insignia of a court +of justice. The members of her privy council, and of the high court of +criminal law, sat in their official capacity every day in the week; and +the queen herself received such suits as were referred to her +adjudication, saving the parties the usual expense and procrastination of +justice. + +By the extraordinary despatch of the queen and her ministers, during the +two months that she resided in the city, a vast number of civil and +criminal causes were disposed of, a large amount of plundered property was +restored to its lawful owners, and so many offenders were brought to +condign punishment, that no less than four thousand suspected persons, it +is computed, terrified by the prospect of speedy retribution for their +crimes, escaped into the neighboring kingdoms of Portugal and Granada. The +worthy burghers of Seville, alarmed at this rapid depopulation of the +city, sent a deputation to the queen, to deprecate her anger, and to +represent that faction had been so busy of late years in their unhappy +town, that there was scarcely a family to be found in it, some of whose +members were not more or less involved in the guilt. Isabella, who was +naturally of a benign disposition, considering that enough had probably +been done to strike a salutary terror into the remaining delinquents, was +willing to temper justice with mercy, and accordingly granted an amnesty +for all past offences, save heresy, on the condition, however, of a +general restitution of such property as had been unlawfully seized and +retained during the period of anarchy. [6] + +But Isabella became convinced that all arrangements for establishing +permanent tranquillity in Seville would be ineffectual, so long as the +feud continued between the great families of Guzman and Ponce de Leon. The +duke of Medina Sidonia and the marquis of Cadiz, the heads of these +houses, had possessed themselves of the royal towns and fortresses, as +well as of those which, belonging to the city, were scattered over its +circumjacent territory, where, as has been previously stated, they carried +on war against each other, like independent potentates. The former of +these grandees had been the loyal supporter of Isabella in the War of the +Succession. The marquis of Cadiz, on the other hand, connected by marriage +with the house of Pacheco, had cautiously withheld his allegiance, +although he had not testified his hostility by any overt act. While the +queen was hesitating as to the course she should pursue in reference to +the marquis, who still kept himself aloof in his fortified castle of +Xerez, he suddenly presented himself by night at her residence in Seville, +accompanied only by two or three attendants. He took this step, doubtless, +from the conviction that the Portuguese faction had nothing further to +hope in a kingdom where Isabella reigned not only by the fortune of war, +but by the affections of the people; and he now eagerly proffered his +allegiance to her, excusing his previous conduct as he best could. The +queen was too well satisfied with the submission, however tardy, of this +formidable vassal, to call him to severe account for past delinquencies. +She exacted from him, however, the full restitution of such domains and +fortresses as he had filched from the crown and from the city of Seville, +on condition of similar concessions by his rival, the duke of Medina +Sidonia. She next attempted to establish a reconciliation between these +belligerent grandees; but, aware that, however pacific might be their +demonstrations for the present, there could be little hope of permanently +allaying the inherited feuds of a century, whilst the neighborhood of the +parties to each other must necessarily multiply fresh causes of disgust, +she caused them to withdraw from Seville to their estates in the country, +and by this expedient succeeded in extinguishing the flame of discord. [7] + +In the following year, 1478, Isabella accompanied her husband in a tour +through Andalusia, for the immediate purpose of reconnoitring the coast. +In the course of this progress, they were splendidly entertained by the +duke and marquis at their patrimonial estates. They afterwards proceeded +to Cordova, where they adopted a similar policy with that pursued at +Seville, compelling the count de Cabra, connected with the blood royal, +and Alonso de Aguilar, lord of Montilla, whose factions had long desolated +this fair city, to withdraw into the country, and restore the immense +possessions, which they had usurped both from the municipality and the +crown. [8] + +One example among others may be mentioned, of the rectitude and severe +impartiality, with which Isabella administered justice, that occurred in +the case of a wealthy Galician knight, named Alvaro Yañez de Lugo. This +person, being convicted of a capital offence, attended with the most +aggravating circumstances, sought to obtain a commutation of his +punishment, by the payment of forty thousand _doblas_ of gold to the +queen, a sum exceeding at that time the annual rents of the crown. Some of +Isabella's counsellors would have persuaded her to accept the donative, +and appropriate it to the pious purposes of the Moorish war. But, far from +being blinded by their sophistry, she suffered the law to take its course, +and, in order to place her conduct above every suspicion of a mercenary +motive, allowed his estates, which might legally have been confiscated to +the crown, to descend to his natural heirs. Nothing contributed more to +re-establish the supremacy of law in this reign, than the certainty of its +execution, without respect to wealth or rank; for the insubordination, +prevalent throughout Castile, was chiefly imputable to persons of this +description, who, if they failed to defeat justice by force, were sure of +doing so by the corruption of its ministers. [9] + +Ferdinand and Isabella employed the same vigorous measures in the other +parts of their dominions, which had proved so successful in Andalusia, for +the extirpation of the hordes of banditti, and of the robber-knights, who +differed in no respect from the former, but in their superior power. In +Galicia alone, fifty fortresses, the strongholds of tyranny, were razed to +the ground, and fifteen hundred malefactors, it was computed, were +compelled to fly the kingdom. "The wretched inhabitants of the mountains," +says a writer of that age, "who had long since despaired of justice, +blessed God for their deliverance, as it were, from a deplorable +captivity." [10] + +While the sovereigns were thus personally occupied with the suppression of +domestic discord, and the establishment of an efficient police, they were +not inattentive to the higher tribunals, to whose keeping, chiefly, were +intrusted the personal rights and property of the subject. They +reorganized the royal or privy council, whose powers, although, as has +been noticed in the Introduction, principally of an administrative nature, +had been gradually encroaching on those of the superior courts of law. +During the last century, this body had consisted of prelates, knights, and +lawyers, whose numbers and relative proportions had varied in different +times. The right of the great ecclesiastics and nobles to a seat in it +was, indeed, recognized, but the transaction of business was reserved for +the counsellors specially appointed. [11] Much the larger proportion of +these, by the new arrangement, was made up of jurists, whose professional +education and experience eminently qualified them for the station. The +specific duties and interior management of the council were prescribed +with sufficient accuracy. Its authority as a court of justice was +carefully limited; but, as it was charged with the principal executive +duties of government, it was consulted in all important transactions by +the sovereigns, who paid great deference to its opinions, and very +frequently assisted at its deliberations. [12] + +No change was made in the high criminal court of _alcaldes de corte_, +except in its forms of proceeding. But the royal audience, or chancery, +the supreme and final court of appeal in civil causes, was entirely +remodelled. The place of its sittings, before indeterminate, and +consequently occasioning much trouble and cost to the litigants, was fixed +at Valladolid. Laws were passed to protect the tribunal from the +interference of the crown, and the queen was careful to fill the bench +with magistrates whose wisdom and integrity would afford the best guaranty +for a faithful interpretation of the law. [13] + +In the cortes of Madrigal (1476), and still more in the celebrated one of +Toledo (1480), many excellent provisions were made for the equitable +administration of justice, as well as for regulating the tribunals. The +judges were to ascertain every week, either by personal inspection, or +report, the condition of the prisons, the number of the prisoners, and the +nature of the offences for which they were confined. They were required to +bring them to a speedy trial, and afford every facility for their defence. +An attorney was provided at the public expense, under the title of +"advocate for the poor," whose duty it was to defend the suits of such as +were unable to maintain them at their own cost. Severe penalties were +enacted against venality in the judges, a gross evil under the preceding +reigns, as well as against such counsel as took exorbitant fees, or even +maintained actions that were manifestly unjust. Finally, commissioners +were appointed to inspect and make report of the proceedings of municipal +and other inferior courts throughout the kingdom. [14] + +The sovereigns testified their respect for the law by reviving the +ancient, but obsolete practice of presiding personally in the tribunals, +at least once a week. "I well remember," says one of their court, "to have +seen the queen, together with the Catholic king, her husband, sitting in +judgment in the alcazar of Madrid, every Friday, dispensing justice to all +such, great and small, as came to demand it. This was indeed the golden +age of justice," continues the enthusiastic writer, "and since our sainted +mistress has been taken from us, it has been more difficult, and far more +costly, to transact business with a stripling of a secretary, than it was +with the queen and all her ministers." [15] + +By the modifications then introduced, the basis was laid of the judiciary +system, such as it has been perpetuated to the present age. The law +acquired an authority, which, in the language of a Spanish writer, "caused +a decree, signed by two or three judges, to be more respected since that +time, than an army before." [16] But perhaps the results of this improved +administration cannot be better conveyed than in the words of an eye- +witness. "Whereas," says Pulgar, "the kingdom was previously filled with +banditti and malefactors of every description, who committed the most +diabolical excesses, in open contempt of law, there was now such terror +impressed on the hearts of all, that no one dared to lift his arm against +another, or even to assail him with contumelious or discourteous language. +The knight and the squire, who had before oppressed the laborer, were +intimidated by the fear of that justice, which was sure to be executed on +them; the roads were swept of the banditti; the fortresses, the strong- +holds of violence, were thrown open, and the whole nation, restored to +tranquillity and order, sought no other redress, than that afforded by the +operation of the law." [17] + +II. Codification of the laws. Whatever reforms might have been introduced +into the Castilian judicatures, they would have been of little avail, +without a corresponding improvement in the system of jurisprudence by +which their decisions were to be regulated. This was made up of the +Visigothic code, as the basis, the _fueros_ of the Castilian princes, +as far back as the eleventh century, and the "Siete Partidas," the famous +compilation of Alfonso the Tenth, digested chiefly from maxims of the +civil law. [18] The deficiencies of these ancient codes had been gradually +supplied by such an accumulation of statutes and ordinances, as rendered +the legislation of Castile in the highest degree complex, and often +contradictory. The embarrassment resulting from this, occasioned, as may +be imagined, much tardiness, as well as uncertainty, in the decisions of +the courts, who, despairing of reconciling the discrepancies in their own +law, governed themselves almost exclusively by the Roman, so much less +accommodated, as it was, than their own, to the genius of the national +institutions, as well as to the principles of freedom. [19] + +The nation had long felt the pressure of these evils, and made attempts to +redress them in repeated cortes. But every effort proved unavailing, +during the stormy or imbecile reigns of the princes of Trastamara. At +length, the subject having been resumed in the cortes of Toledo, in 1480, +Dr. Alfonso Diaz de Montalvo, whose professional science had been matured +under the reigns of three successive sovereigns, was charged with the +commission of revising the laws of Castile, and of compiling a code, which +should be of general application throughout the kingdom. + +This laborious undertaking was accomplished in little more than four +years; and his work, which subsequently bore the title of _Ordenanças +Reales_, was published, or, as the privilege expresses it, "written +with types," _excrito de letra de molde_, at Huete, in the beginning +of 1485. It was one of the first works, therefore, which received the +honors of the press in Spain; and surely none could have been found, at +that period, more deserving of them. It went through repeated editions in +the course of that, and the commencement of the following century. [20] It +was admitted as paramount authority throughout Castile; and, although the +many innovations, which were introduced in that age of reform, required +the addition of two subsidiary codes in the latter years of Isabella, the +"Ordenanças" of Montalvo continued to be the guide of the tribunals down +to the time of Philip the Second; and may be said to have suggested the +idea, as indeed it was the basis of the comprehensive compilation, "Nueva +Recopilacion," which has since formed the law of the Spanish monarchy. +[21] + +III. Depression of the nobles. In the course of the preceding chapters, we +have seen the extent of the privileges constitutionally enjoyed by the +aristocracy, as well as the enormous height to which they had swollen +under the profuse reigns of John the Second, and Henry the Fourth. This +was such, at the accession of Ferdinand and Isabella, as to disturb the +balance of the constitution, and to give serious cause of apprehension +both to the monarch and the people. They had introduced themselves into +every great post of profit or authority. They had ravished from the crown +the estates, on which it depended for its maintenance, as well as dignity. +They coined money in their own mints, like sovereign princes; and they +covered the country with their fortified castles, whence they defied the +law, and desolated the unhappy land with interminable feuds. It was +obviously necessary for the new sovereigns to proceed with the greatest +caution against this powerful and jealous body, and, above all, to attempt +no measure of importance, in which they would not be supported by the +hearty co-operation of the nation. + +The first measure, which may be said to have clearly developed their +policy, was the organization of the hermandad, which, although ostensibly +directed against offenders of a more humble description, was made to bear +indirectly upon the nobility, whom it kept in awe by the number and +discipline of its forces, and the promptness with which it could assemble +them on the most remote points of the kingdom; while its rights of +jurisdiction tended materially to abridge those of the seignorial +tribunals. It was accordingly resisted with the greatest pertinacity by +the aristocracy; although, as we have seen, the resolution of the queen, +supported by the constancy of the commons, enabled her to triumph over all +opposition, until the great objects of the institution were accomplished. + +Another measure, which insensibly operated to the depression of the +nobility, was making official preferment depend less exclusively on rank, +and much more on personal merit, than before. "Since the hope of guerdon," +says one of the statutes enacted at Toledo, "is the spur to just and +honorable actions, when men perceive that offices of trust are not to +descend by inheritance, but to be conferred on merit, they will strive to +excel in virtue, that they may attain its reward." [22] The sovereigns, +instead of confining themselves to the grandees, frequently advanced +persons of humble origin, and especially those learned in the law, to the +most responsible stations, consulting them, and paying great deference to +their opinions, on all matters of importance. The nobles, finding that +rank was no longer the sole, or indeed the necessary avenue to promotion, +sought to secure it by attention to more liberal studies, in which they +were greatly encouraged by Isabella, who admitted their children into her +palace, where they were reared under her own eye. [23] + +But the boldest assaults on the power of the aristocracy were made in the +famous cortes of Toledo, in 1480, which Carbajal enthusiastically styles +"cosa divina para reformacion y remedio de las desórdenes pasadas." [24] +The first object of its attention was the condition of the exchequer, +which Henry the Fourth had so exhausted by his reckless prodigality, that +the clear annual revenue amounted to no more than thirty thousand ducats, +a sum much inferior to that enjoyed by many private individuals; so that, +stripped of his patrimony, it at last came to be said, he was "king only +of the highways." Such had been the royal necessities, that blank +certificates of annuities assigned on the public rents were hawked about +the market, and sold at such a depreciated rate, that the price of an +annuity did not exceed the amount of one year's income. The commons saw +with alarm the weight of the burdens which must devolve on them for the +maintenance of the crown thus impoverished in its resources; and they +resolved to meet the difficulty by advising at once a resumption of the +grants unconstitutionally made during the latter half of Henry the +Fourth's reign, and the commencement of the present. [25] This measure, +however violent, and repugnant to good faith, it may appear at the present +time, seems then to have admitted of justification, as far as the nation +was concerned; since such alienation of the public revenue was in itself +illegal, and contrary to the coronation oath of the sovereign; and those +who accepted his obligations, held them subject to the liability of their +revocation, which had frequently occurred under the preceding reigns. + +As the intended measure involved the interests of most of the considerable +proprietors in the kingdom, who had thriven on the necessities of the +crown, it was deemed proper to require the attendance of the nobility and +great ecclesiastics in cortes by a special summons, which it seems had +been previously omitted. Thus convened, the legislature appears, with +great unanimity, and much to the credit of those most deeply affected by +it, to have acquiesced in the proposed resumption of the grants, as a +measure of absolute necessity. The only difficulty was to settle the +principles on which the retrenchment might be most equitably made, with +reference to creditors, whose claims rested on a great variety of grounds. +The plan suggested by Cardinal Mendoza seems to have been partially +adopted. It was decided, that all, whose pensions had been conferred +without any corresponding services on their part, should forfeit them +entirely; that those, who had purchased annuities, should return their +certificates on a reimbursement of the price paid for them; and that the +remaining creditors, who composed the largest class, should retain such a +proportion only of their pensions, as might be judged commensurate with +their services to the state. [26] + +By this important reduction, the final adjustment and execution of which +were intrusted to Fernando de Talavera, the queen's confessor, a man of +austere probity, the gross amount of thirty millions of maravedies, a sum +equal to three-fourths of the whole revenue on Isabella's accession, was +annually saved to the crown. The retrenchment was conducted with such +strict impartiality, that the most confidential servants of the queen, and +the relatives of her husband, were among those who suffered the most +severely. [27] It is worthy of remark that no diminution whatever was made +of the stipends settled on literary and charitable establishments. It may +be also added, that Isabella appropriated the first fruits of this +measure, by distributing the sum of twenty millions of maravedies among +the widows and orphans of those loyalists who had fallen in the War of the +Succession. [28] This resumption of the grants may be considered as the +basis of those economical reforms, which, without oppression to the +subject, augmented the public revenue more than twelve fold during this +auspicious reign. [29] + +Several other acts were passed by the same cortes, which had a more +exclusive bearing on the nobility. They were prohibited from quartering +the royal arms on their escutcheons, from being attended by a mace-bearer +and a bodyguard, from imitating the regal style of address in their +written correspondence, and other insignia of royalty which they had +arrogantly assumed. They were forbidden to erect new fortresses, and we +have already seen the activity of the queen in procuring the demolition or +restitution of the old. They were expressly restrained from duels, an +inveterate source of mischief, for engaging in which the parties, both +principals and seconds, were subjected to the penalties of treason. +Isabella evinced her determination of enforcing this law on the highest +offenders, by imprisoning, soon after its enactment, the counts of Luna +and Valencia for exchanging a cartel of defiance, until the point at issue +should be settled by the regular course of justice. [30] + +It is true the haughty nobility of Castile winced more than once at +finding themselves so tightly curbed by their new masters. On one +occasion, a number of the principal grandees, with the duke of Infantado +at their head, addressed a letter of remonstrance to the king and queen, +requiring them to abolish the hermandad, as an institution burdensome on +the nation, deprecating the slight degree of confidence which their +highnesses reposed in their order, and requesting that four of their +number might be selected to form a council for the general direction of +affairs of state, by whose advice the king and queen should be governed in +all matters of importance, as in the time of Henry the Fourth. + +Ferdinand and Isabella received this unseasonable remonstrance with great +indignation, and returned an answer couched in the haughtiest terms. "The +hermandad," they said, "is an institution most salutary to the nation, and +is approved by it as such. It is our province to determine who are best +entitled to preferment, and to make merit the standard of it. You may +follow the court, or retire to your estates, as you think best; but, so +long as Heaven permits us to retain the rank with which we have been +intrusted, we shall take care not to imitate the example of Henry the +Fourth, in becoming a tool in the hands of our nobility." The discontented +lords, who had carried so high a hand under the preceding imbecile reign, +feeling the weight of an authority which rested on the affections of the +people, were so disconcerted by the rebuke, that they made no attempt to +rally, but condescended to make their peace separately as they could, by +the most ample acknowledgments. [31] + +An example of the impartiality as well as spirit, with which Isabella +asserted the dignity of the crown, is worth recording. During her +husband's absence in Aragon in the spring of 1481, a quarrel occurred, in +the ante-chamber of the palace at Valladolid, between two young noblemen, +Ramiro Nuñez de Guzman, lord of Toral, and Frederic Henriquez, son of the +admiral of Castile, king Ferdinand's uncle. The queen, on receiving +intelligence of it, granted a safe-conduct to the lord of Toral, as the +weaker party, until the affair should be adjusted between them. Don +Frederic, however, disregarding this protection, caused his enemy to be +waylaid by three of his followers, armed with bludgeons, and sorely beaten +one evening in the streets of Valladolid. + +Isabella was no sooner informed of this outrage on one whom she had taken +under the royal protection, than, burning with indignation, she +immediately mounted her horse, though in the midst of a heavy storm of +rain, and proceeded alone towards the castle of Simancas, then in +possession of the admiral, the father of the offender, where she supposed +him to have taken refuge, travelling all the while with such rapidity, +that she was not overtaken by the officers of her guard, until she had +gained the fortress. She instantly summoned the admiral to deliver up his +son to justice; and, on his replying that "Don Frederic was not there, and +that he was ignorant where He was," she commanded him to surrender the +keys of the castle, and, after a fruitless search, again returned to +Valladolid. The next day Isabella was confined to her bed by an illness +occasioned as much by chagrin, as by the excessive fatigue which she had +undergone. "My body is lame," said she, "with the blows given by Don +Frederic in contempt of my safe-conduct." + +The admiral, perceiving how deeply he and his family had incurred the +displeasure of the queen, took counsel with his friends, who were led by +their knowledge of Isabella's character to believe that he would have more +to hope from the surrender of his son, than from further attempts at +concealment. The young man was accordingly conducted to the palace by his +uncle, the constable de Haro, who deprecated the queen's resentment by +representing the age of his nephew, scarcely amounting to twenty years. +Isabella, however, thought proper to punish the youthful delinquent, by +ordering him to be publicly conducted as a prisoner, by one of the +alcaldes of her court, through the great square of Valladolid to the +fortress of Arevalo, where he was detained in strict confinement, all +privilege of access being denied to him; and when, at length, moved by the +consideration of his consanguinity with the king, she consented to his +release, she banished him to Sicily, until he should receive the royal +permission to return to his own country. [32] + +Notwithstanding the strict impartiality as well as vigor of the +administration, it could never have maintained itself by its own resources +alone, in its offensive operations against the high-spirited aristocracy +of Castile. Its most direct approaches, however, were made, as we have +seen, under cover of the cortes. The sovereigns showed great deference, +especially in this early period of their reign, to the popular branch of +this body; and, so far from pursuing the odious policy of preceding +princes in diminishing the amount of represented cities, they never failed +to direct their writs to all those which, at their accession, retained the +right of representation, and subsequently enlarged the number by the +conquest of Granada; while they exercised the anomalous privilege, noticed +in the Introduction to this History, of omitting altogether, or issuing +only a partial summons to the nobility. [33] By making merit the standard +of preferment, they opened the path of honor to every class of the +community. They uniformly manifested the greatest tenderness for the +rights of the commons in reference to taxation; and, as their patriotic +policy was obviously directed to secure the personal rights and general +prosperity of the people, it insured the co-operation of an ally, whose +weight, combined with that of the crown, enabled them eventually to +restore the equilibrium which had been disturbed by the undue +preponderance of the aristocracy. + +It may be well to state here the policy pursued by Ferdinand and Isabella +in reference to the Military Orders of Castile, since, although not fully +developed until a much later period, it was first conceived, and indeed +partly executed, in that now under discussion. + +The uninterrupted warfare, which the Spaniards were compelled to maintain +for the recovery of their native land from the infidel, nourished in their +bosoms a flame of enthusiasm, similar to that kindled by the crusades for +the recovery of Palestine, partaking in an almost equal degree of a +religious and a military character. This similarity of sentiment gave +birth also to similar institutions of chivalry. Whether the military +orders of Castile were suggested by those of Palestine, or whether they go +back to a remoter period, as is contended by their chroniclers, or +whether, in fine, as Conde intimates, they were imitated from +corresponding associations, known to have existed among the Spanish Arabs, +[34] there can be no doubt that the forms under which they were +permanently organized, were derived, in the latter part of the twelfth +century, from the monastic orders established for the protection of the +Holy Land. The Hospitallers, and especially the Templars, obtained more +extensive acquisitions in Spain, than in any, perhaps every other country +in Christendom; and it was partly from the ruins of their empire, that +were constructed the magnificent fortunes of the Spanish orders. [35] + +The most eminent of these was the order of St. Jago, or St. James, of +Compostella. The miraculous revelation of the body of the Apostle, after +the lapse of eight centuries from the date of his interment, and his +frequent apparition in the ranks of the Christian armies, in their +desperate struggles with the infidel, had given so wide a celebrity to the +obscure town of Compostella in Galicia, which contained the sainted +relics, [36] that it became the resort of pilgrims from every part of +Christendom, during the Middle Ages; and the escalop shell, the device of +St. James, was adopted as the universal badge of the palmer. Inns for the +refreshment and security of the pious itinerants were scattered along the +whole line of the route from France; but, as they were exposed to +perpetual annoyance from the predatory incursions of the Arabs, a number +of knights and gentlemen associated themselves, for their protection, with +the monks of St. Lojo, or Eloy, adopting the rule of St. Augustine, and +thus laid the foundation of the chivalric order of St. James, about the +middle of the twelfth century. The cavaliers of the fraternity, which +received its papal bull of approbation five years later, in 1175, were +distinguished by a white mantle embroidered with a red cross, in fashion +of a sword, with the escallop shell below the guard, in imitation of the +device which glittered on the banner of their tutelar saint, when, he +condescended to take part in their engagements with the Moors. The red +color denoted, according to an ancient commentator, "that it was stained +with the blood of the infidel." The rules of the new order imposed on its +members the usual obligations of obedience, community of property, and of +conjugal chastity, instead of celibacy. They were, moreover, required to +relieve the poor, defend the traveler, and maintain perpetual war upon the +Mussulman. [37] + +The institution of the knights of Calatrava was somewhat more romantic in +its origin. That town, from its situation on the frontiers of the Moorish +territory of Andalusia, where it commanded the passes into Castile, became +of vital importance to the latter kingdom. Its defense had accordingly +been entrusted to the valiant order of the Templars, who, unable to keep +their ground against the pertinacious assaults of the Moslems, abandoned +it, at the expiration of eight years, as untenable. This occurred about +the middle of the twelfth century; and the Castilian monarch, Sancho the +Beloved, as the last resort, offered it to whatever good knights would +undertake its defense. + +The emprise was eagerly sought by a monk of a distant convent in Navarre, +who had once been a soldier, and whose military ardor seems to have been +exalted, instead of being extinguished, in the solitude of the cloister. +The monk, supported by his conventual brethren, and a throng of cavaliers +and more humble followers, who sought redemption under the banner of the +church, was enabled to make good his word. From the confederation of these +knights and ecclesiastics sprung the military fraternity of Calatrava, +which received the confirmation of the pontiff, Alexander the Third, in +1164. The rules which it adopted were those of St. Benedict, and its +discipline was in the highest degree austere. + +The cavaliers were sworn to perpetual celibacy, from which they were not +released till so late as the sixteenth century. Their diet was of the +plainest kind. They were allowed meat only thrice a week, and then only +one dish. They were to maintain unbroken silence at the table, in the +chapel, and the dormitory; and they were enjoined both to sleep and to +worship with the sword girt on their side, in token of readiness for +action. In the earlier days of the institution, the spiritual, as well as +the military brethren, were allowed to make part of the martial array +against the infidel, until this was prohibited, as indecorous, by the Holy +See. From this order branched off that of Montesa, in Valencia, which was +instituted at the commencement of the fourteenth century, and continued +dependent on the parent stock. [38] + +The third great order of religious chivalry in Castile was that of +Alcantara, which also received its confirmation from Pope Alexander the +Third, in 1177. It was long held in nominal subordination to the knights +of Calatrava, from which it was relieved by Julius the Second, and +eventually rose to an importance little inferior to that of its rival. +[39] + +The internal economy of these three fraternities was regulated by the same +general principles. The direction of affairs was entrusted to a council, +consisting of the grand master and a number of the commanders +(_comendadores_), among whom the extensive territories of the order +were distributed. This council, conjointly with the grand master, or the +latter exclusively, as in the fraternity of Calatrava, supplied the +vacancies. The master himself was elected by a general chapter of these +military functionaries alone, or combined with the conventual clergy, as +in the order of Calatrava, which seems to have recognized the supremacy of +the military over the spiritual division of the community, more +unreservedly than that of St. James. + +These institutions appear to have completely answered the objects of their +creation. In the earlier history of the Peninsula, we find the Christian +chivalry always ready to bear the brunt of battle against the Moors. Set +apart for this peculiar duty, their services in the sanctuary only tended +to prepare them for their sterner duties in the field of battle, where the +zeal of the Christian soldier may be supposed to have been somewhat +sharpened by the prospect of the rich temporal acquisitions, which the +success of his arms was sure to secure to his fraternity. For the +superstitious princes of those times, in addition to the wealth lavished +so liberally on all monastic institutions, granted the military orders +almost unlimited rights over the conquests achieved by their own valor. In +the sixteenth century, we find the order of St. James, which had shot up +to a pre-eminence above the rest, possessed of eighty-four commanderies, +and two hundred inferior benefices. This same order could bring into the +field, according to Garibay, four hundred belted knights, and one thousand +lances, which, with the usual complement of a lance in that day, formed a +very considerable force. The rents of the mastership of St. James +amounted, in the time of Ferdinand and Isabella, to sixty thousand ducats, +those of Alcantara to forty-five thousand, and those of Calatrava to forty +thousand. There was scarcely a district of the Peninsula which was not +covered with their castles, towns, and convents. Their rich commanderies +gradually became objects of cupidity to men of the highest rank, and more +especially the grand-masterships, which, from their extensive patronage, +and the authority they conferred over an organized militia pledged to +implicit obedience, and knit together by the strong tie of common +interest, raised their possessors almost to the level of royalty itself. +Hence the elections to these important dignities came to be a fruitful +source of intrigue, and frequently of violent collision. The monarchs, who +had anciently reserved the right of testifying their approbation of an +election by presenting the standard of the order to the new dignitary, +began personally to interfere in the deliberations of the chapter. While +the pope, to whom a contested point was not unfrequently referred, assumed +at length the prerogative of granting the masterships in administration on +a vacancy, and even that of nomination itself, which, if disputed, he +enforced by his spiritual thunders. [40] + +Owing to these circumstances, there was probably no one cause, among the +many which occurred in Castile during the fifteenth century, more prolific +of intestine discord, than the election to these posts, far too important +to be intrusted to any subject, and the succession to which was sure to be +contested by a host of competitors. Isabella seems to have settled in her +mind the course of policy to be adopted in this matter, at a very early +period of her reign. On occasion of a vacancy in the grand-mastership of +St. James, by the death of the incumbent, in 1476, she made a rapid +journey on horseback, her usual mode of travelling, from Valladolid to the +town of Ucles, where a chapter of the order was deliberating on the +election of a new principal. The queen, presenting herself before this +body, represented with so much energy the inconvenience of devolving +powers of such magnitude on any private individual, and its utter +incompatibility with public order, that she prevailed on them, smarting, +as they were, under the evils of a disputed succession, to solicit the +administration for the king, her husband. That monarch, indeed, consented +to waive this privilege in favor of Alonso de Cardenas, one of the +competitors for the office, and a loyal servant of the crown; but, at his +decease in 1499, the sovereigns retained the possession of the vacant +mastership, conformably to a papal decree, which granted them its +administration for life, in the same manner as had been done with that of +Calatrava in 1487, and of Alcantara in 1494. [41] + +The sovereigns were no sooner vested with the control of the military +orders, than they began with their characteristic promptness to reform the +various corruptions, which had impaired their ancient discipline. They +erected a council for the general superintendence of affairs relating to +the orders, and invested it with extensive powers both of civil and +criminal jurisdiction. They supplied the vacant benefices with persons of +acknowledged worth, exercising an impartiality, which could never be +maintained by any private individual, necessarily exposed to the influence +of personal interests and affections. By this harmonious distribution, the +honors, which had before been held up to the highest bidder, or made the +subject of a furious canvass, became the incentive and sure recompense of +desert. [42] + +In the following reign, the grand-masterships of these fraternities were +annexed in perpetuity to the crown of Castile by a bull of Pope Adrian the +Sixth; while their subordinate dignities, having survived the object of +their original creation, the subjugation of the Moors, degenerated into +the empty decorations, the stars and garters, of an order of nobility. +[43] + +IV. Vindication of ecclesiastical rights belonging to the crown from papal +usurpation. In the earlier stages of the Castilian monarchy, the +sovereigns appear to have held a supremacy in spiritual, very similar to +that exercised by them in temporal matters. It was comparatively late that +the nation submitted its neck to the papal yoke, so closely riveted at a +subsequent period; and even the Romish ritual was not admitted into its +churches till long after it had been adopted in the rest of Europe. +[44] But, when the code of the Partidas was promulgated in the thirteenth +century, the maxims of the canon law came to be permanently established. +The ecclesiastical encroached on the lay tribunals. Appeals were +perpetually carried up to the Roman court; and the popes, pretending to +regulate the minutest details of church economy, not only disposed of +inferior benefices, but gradually converted the right of confirming +elections to the episcopal and higher ecclesiastical dignities, into that +of appointment. [45] + +These usurpations of the church had been repeatedly the subject of grave +remonstrance in cortes. Several remedial enactments had passed that body, +during the present reign, especially in relation to the papal provision of +foreigners to benefices; an evil of much greater magnitude in Spain than +in other countries of Europe, since the episcopal demesnes, frequently +covering the Moorish frontier, became an important line of national +defence, obviously improper to be intrusted to the keeping of foreigners +and absentees. Notwithstanding the efforts of cortes, no effectual remedy +was devised for this latter grievance, until it became the subject of +actual collision between the crown and the pontiff, in reference to the +see of Taraçona, and afterwards of Cuenca. [46] + +Sixtus the Fourth had conferred the latter benefice, on its becoming +vacant in 1482, on his nephew, Cardinal San Giorgio, a Genoese, in direct +opposition to the wishes of the queen, who would have bestowed it on her +chaplain, Alfonso de Burgos, in exchange for the bishopric of Cordova. An +ambassador was accordingly despatched by the Castilian sovereigns to Rome, +to remonstrate on the papal appointment; but without effect, as Sixtus +replied, with a degree of presumption, which might better have become his +predecessors of the twelfth century, that "he was head of the church, and, +as such, possessed of unlimited power in the distribution of benefices, +and that he was not bound to consult the inclination of any potentate on +earth, any farther than might subserve the interests of religion." + +The sovereigns, highly dissatisfied with this response, ordered their +subjects, ecclesiastical as well as lay, to quit the papal dominions; an +injunction, which the former, fearful of the sequestration of their +temporalities in Castile, obeyed with as much promptness as the latter. At +the same time, Ferdinand and Isabella proclaimed their intention of +inviting the princes of Christendom to unite with them in convoking a +general council for the reformation of the manifold abuses, which +dishonored the church. No sound could have grated more unpleasantly on the +pontifical ear, than the menace of a general council, particularly at this +period, when ecclesiastical corruptions had reached a height which could +but ill endure its scrutiny. The pope became convinced that he had +ventured too far, and that Henry the Fourth was no longer monarch of +Castile. He accordingly despatched a legate to Spain, fully empowered to +arrange the matter en an amicable basis. + +The legate, who was a layman, by name Domingo Centurion, no sooner arrived +in Castile, than he caused the sovereigns to be informed of his presence +there, and the purpose of his mission; but he received orders instantly to +quit the kingdom, without attempting so much as to disclose the nature of +his instructions, since they could not but be derogatory to the dignity of +the crown. A safe-conduct was granted for himself and his suite; but, at +the same time, great surprise was expressed that any one should venture to +appear, as envoy from his Holiness, at the court of Castile, after it had +been treated by him with such unmerited indignity. + +Far from resenting this ungracious reception, the legate affected the +deepest humility; professing himself willing to waive whatever immunities +he might claim as papal ambassador, and to submit to the jurisdiction of +the sovereigns as one of their own subjects, so that he might obtain an +audience. Cardinal Mendoza, whose influence in the cabinet had gained him +the title of "third king of Spain," apprehensive of the consequences of a +protracted rupture with the church, interposed in behalf of the envoy, +whose conciliatory deportment at length so far mitigated the resentment of +the sovereigns, that they consented to open negotiations with the court of +Rome. The result was the publication of a bull by Sixtus the Fourth, in +which his Holiness engaged to provide such natives to the higher dignities +of the church in Castile, as should be nominated by the monarchs of that +kingdom; and Alfonso de Burgos was accordingly translated to the see of +Cuenca. [47] Isabella, on whom the duties of ecclesiastical preferment +devolved, by the act of settlement, availed herself of the rights, thus +wrested from the grasp of Rome, to exalt to the vacant sees persons of +exemplary piety and learning, holding light, in comparison with the +faithful discharge of this duty, every minor consideration of interest, +and even the solicitations of her husband, as we shall see hereafter. [48] +And the chronicler of her reign dwells with complacency on those good old +times, when churchmen were to be found of such singular modesty, as to +require to be urged to accept the dignities to which their merits entitled +them. [49] + +V. The regulation of trade. It will be readily conceived that trade, +agriculture, and every branch of industry must have languished under the +misrule of preceding reigns. For what purpose, indeed, strive to +accumulate wealth, when it would only serve to sharpen the appetite of the +spoiler? For what purpose cultivate the earth, when the fruits were sure +to be swept away, even before harvest time, in some ruthless foray? The +frequent famines and pestilences, which occurred in the latter part of +Henry's reign and the commencement of his successor's, show too plainly +the squalid condition of the people, and their utter destitution of all +useful arts. We are assured by the Curate of Los Palacios, that the plague +broke out in the southern districts of the kingdom, carrying off eight, or +nine, or even fifteen thousand inhabitants from the various cities; while +the prices of the ordinary aliments of life rose to a height, which put +them above the reach of the poorer classes of the community. In addition +to these physical evils, a fatal shock was given to commercial credit by +the adulteration of the coin. Under Henry the Fourth, it is computed that +there were no less than one hundred and fifty mints openly licensed by the +crown, in addition to many others erected by individuals without any legal +authority. The abuse came to such a height, that people at length refused +to receive in payment of their debts the debased coin, whose value +depreciated more and more every day; and the little trade, which remained +in Castile, was carried on by barter, as in the primitive stages of +society. [50] + +The magnitude of the evil was such as to claim the earliest attention of +the cortes under the new monarchs. Acts were passed fixing the standard +and legal value of the different denominations of coin. A new coinage was +subsequently made. Five royal mints were alone authorized, afterwards +augmented to seven, and severe penalties denounced against the fabrication +of money elsewhere. The reform of the currency gradually infused new life +into commerce, as the return of the circulations, which have been +interrupted for a while, quickens the animal body. This was furthered by +salutary laws for the encouragement of domestic industry. Internal +communication was facilitated by the construction of roads and bridges. +Absurd restrictions on change of residence, as well as the onerous duties +which had been imposed on commercial intercourse between Castile and +Aragon, were repealed. Several judicious laws were enacted for the +protection of foreign trade; and the flourishing condition of the +mercantile marine may be inferred from that of the military, which enabled +the sovereigns to fit out an armament of seventy sail in 1482, from the +ports of Biscay and Andalusia, for the defence of Naples against the +Turks. Some of their regulations, indeed, as those prohibiting the +exportation of the precious metals, savor too strongly of the ignorance of +the true principles of commercial legislation, which has distinguished the +Spaniards to the present day. But others, again, as that for relieving the +importation of foreign books from all duties, "because," says the statute, +"they bring both honor and profit to the kingdom, by the facilities which +they afford for making men learned," are not only in advance of that age, +but may sustain an advantageous comparison with provisions on +corresponding subjects in Spain at the present time. Public credit was re- +established by the punctuality with which the government redeemed the debt +contracted during the Portuguese war; and, notwithstanding the repeal of +various arbitrary imposts, which enriched the exchequer under Henry the +Fourth, such was the advance of the country under the wise economy of the +present reign, that the revenue was augmented nearly six fold between the +years 1477 and 1482. [51] + +Thus released from the heavy burdens imposed on it, the spring of +enterprise recovered its former elasticity. The productive capital of the +country was made to flow through the various channels of domestic +industry. The hills and the valleys again rejoiced in the labor of the +husbandman; and the cities were embellished with stately edifices, both +public and private, which attracted the gaze and commendation of +foreigners. [52] The writers of that day are unbounded in their plaudits +of Isabella, to whom they principally ascribe this auspicious revolution +in the condition of the country and its inhabitants, [53] which seems +almost as magical as one of those transformations in romance wrought by +the hands of some benevolent fairy. [54] + +VI. The pre-eminence of the royal authority. This, which, as we have seen, +appears to have been the natural result of the policy of Ferdinand and +Isabella, was derived quite as much from the influence of their private +characters, as from their public measures. Their acknowledged talents were +supported by a dignified demeanor, which formed a striking contrast with +the meanness in mind and manners that had distinguished their predecessor. +They both exhibited a practical wisdom in their own personal relations, +which always commands respect, and which, however it may have savored of +worldly policy in Ferdinand, was, in his consort, founded on the purest +and most exalted principle. Under such a sovereign, the court, which had +been little better than a brothel under the preceding reign, became the +nursery of virtue and generous ambition. Isabella watched assiduously over +the nurture of the high-born damsels of her court, whom she received into +the royal palace, causing them to be educated under her own eye, and +endowing them with liberal portions on their marriage. [55] By these and +similar acts of affectionate solicitude, she endeared herself to the +higher classes of her subjects, while the patriotic tendency of her public +conduct established her in the hearts of the people. She possessed, in +combination with the feminine qualities which beget love, a masculine +energy of character, which struck terror into the guilty. She enforced the +execution of her own plans, oftentimes even at great personal hazard, with +a resolution surpassing that of her husband. Both were singularly +temperate, indeed, frugal, in their dress, equipage, and general style of +living; seeking to affect others less by external pomp, than by the silent +though more potent influence of personal qualities. On all such occasions +as demanded it, however, they displayed a princely magnificence, which +dazzled the multitude, and is blazoned with great solemnity in the +garrulous chronicles of the day. [56] + +The tendencies of the present administration were undoubtedly to +strengthen the power of the crown. This was the point to which most of the +feudal governments of Europe at this epoch were tending. But Isabella was +far from being actuated by the selfish aim or unscrupulous policy of many +contemporary princes, who, like Louis the Eleventh, sought to govern by +the arts of dissimulation, and to establish their own authority by +fomenting the divisions of their powerful vassals. On the contrary, she +endeavored to bind together the disjointed fragments of the state, to +assign to each of its great divisions its constitutional limits, and, by +depressing the aristocracy to its proper level and elevating the commons, +to consolidate the whole under the lawful supremacy of the crown. At +least, such was the tendency of her administration up to the present +period of our history. These laudable objects were gradually achieved +without fraud or violence, by a course of measures equally laudable; and +the various orders of the monarchy, brought into harmonious action with +each other, were enabled to turn the forces, which had before been wasted +in civil conflict, to the glorious career of discovery and conquest, which +it was destined to run during the remainder of the century. + + * * * * * + +The sixth volume of the Memoirs of the Royal Spanish Academy of History, +published in 1821, is devoted altogether to the reign of Isabella, It is +distributed into Illustrations, as they are termed, of the various +branches of the administrative policy of the queen, of her personal +character, and of the condition of science under her government. These +essays exhibit much curious research, being derived from unquestionable +contemporary documents, printed and manuscript, and from the public +archives. They are compiled with much discernment; and, as they throw +light on some of the most recondite transactions of this reign, are of +inestimable service to the historian. The author of the volume is the late +lamented secretary of the Academy, Don Diego Clemencin; one of the few who +survived the wreck of scholarship in Spain, and who with the erudition, +which has frequently distinguished his countrymen, combined the liberal +and enlarged opinions, which would do honor to any country. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Among other examples, Pulgar mentions that of the alcayde of Castro- +Nuño, Pedro de Mendana, who, from the strong-holds in his possession, +committed such grievous devastations throughout the country, that the +cities of Burgos, Avila, Salamanca, Segovia, Valladolid, Medina, and +others in that quarter, were fain to pay him a tribute, (black mail,) to +protect their territories from his rapacity. His successful example was +imitated by many other knightly freebooters of the period. (Reyes +Católicos, part. 2, cap. 66.)--See also extracts cited by Saez from +manuscript notices by contemporaries of Henry IV. Monedas de Enrique IV., +pp. 1, 2. + +[2] The _quaderno_ of the laws of the Hermandad has now become very +rare. That in my possession was printed at Burgos, in 1527. It has since +been incorporated with considerable extension into the Recopilacion of +Philip II. + +[3] Quaderno de las Leyes Nuevas de la Hermandad, (Burgos, 1527,) leyes 1, +2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 16, 20, 36, 37.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 2, cap. +51.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 160, ed. 1539.--Mem. de la Acad. +de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 4.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 76.--Lebrija, +Rerum Gestarum Decades, fol. 36.--By one of the laws, the inhabitants of +such seignorial towns as refused to pay the contributions of the Hermandad +were excluded from its benefits, as well as from traffic with, and even +the power of recovering their debts, from other natives of the kingdom. +Ley 33. + +[4] Recopilacion de las Leyes, (Madrid, 1640,) lib. 8, tit. 13, ley 44.-- +Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 379.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 2, +cap. 51.--Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 6.--Lebrija, Rerum +Gestarum Decad., fol. 37, 38.--Las Pragmáticas del Reyno, (Sevilla, 1520,) +fol. 85.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 160. + +[5] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 76.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 2, cap. +59.--Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. viii. p. 477.--Lebrija, Rerum +Gestarum Decad., fol. 41, 42.--Gonzalo de Oviedo lavishes many encomiums +on Cabrera, for "his generous qualities, his singular prudence in +government, and his solicitude for his vassals, whom he inspired with the +deepest attachment." (Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 23.) The +best panegyric on his character, is the unshaken confidence, which his +royal mistress reposed in him, to the day of her death. + +[6] Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 381.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 2, +cap. 65, 70, 71.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 29.--Carbajal, +Anales, MS., año 77.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 162; who says, no +less than 8,000 guilty fled from Seville and Cordova. + +[7] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 29.-Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. +fol. 283.-Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 382.-Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum +Decades, lib. 7.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, ubi supra.-Garibay, +Compendio, lib. 18, cap. 11. + +[8] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 30.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, +part. 2, cap. 78. + +[9] "Era muy inclinada," says Pulgar, "á facer justicia, tanto que le era +imputado seguir mas la via de rigor que de la piedad; y esto facia por +remediar á la gran corrupcion de crímines que falló en el Reyno quando +subcedió en él." Reyes Católicos, p. 37. + +[10] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 2, cap. 97, 98.--L. Marineo, Cosas +Memorables, fol. 162. + +[11] Ordenanças Reales de Castilla, (Burgos, 1528,) lib. 2, tit. 3, ley +31. + +This constitutional, though, as it would seem, impotent right of the +nobility, is noticed by Sempere. (Hist. des Cortès, pp. 123, 129.) It +should not have escaped Marina. + +[12] Lib. 2, tit. 3, of the Ordenanças Reales is devoted to the royal +council. The number of the members was limited to one prelate, as +president, three knights, and eight or nine jurists. (Prólogo.) The +sessions were to be held every day, in the palace. (Leyes 1, 2.) They were +instructed to refer to the other tribunals all matters not strictly coming +within their own jurisdiction. (Ley 4.) Their acts, in all cases except +those specially reserved, were to have the force of law without the royal +signature. (Leyes 23, 24.) See also Los Doctores Asso y Manuel, +Instituciones del Derecho Civil de Castilla, (Madrid, 1792,) Introd. p. +111; and Santiago Agustin Riol, Informe, apud Semanario Erudito, (Madrid, +1788,) tom. iii. p. 114, who is mistaken in stating the number of jurists +in the council, at this time, at sixteen; a change, which did not take +place till Philip II.'s reign. (Recop. de las Leyes, lib. 2, tit. 4, ley +1.) + +Marina denies that the council could constitutionally exercise any +judicial authority, at least, in suits between private parties, and quotes +a passage from Pulgar, showing that its usurpations in this way were +restrained by Ferdinand and Isabella. (Teoría, part. 2, cap. 29.) Powers +of this nature, however, to a considerable extent, appear to have been +conceded to it by more than one statute under this reign. See Recop. de +las Leyes, (lib. 2, tit. 4, leyes 20, 22, and tit. 5, ley 12,) and the +unqualified testimony of Riol, Informe, apud Semanario Erudito, ubi supra. + +[13] Ordenanças Reales, lib. 2, tit. 4.--Marina, Teoría de las Cortes, +part. 2, cap. 25. + +By one of the statutes, (ley 4,) the commission of the judges, which, +before extended to life, or a long period, was abridged to one year. This +important innovation was made at the earnest and repeated remonstrance of +cortes, who traced the remissness and corruption, too frequent of late in +the court, to the circumstance that its decisions were not liable to be +reviewed during life. (Teoría, ubi supra.) The legislature probably +mistook the true cause of the evil. Few will doubt, at any rate, that the +remedy proposed must have been fraught with far greater. + +[14] Ordenanças Reales, lib. 2, tit. 1, 3, 4, 15, 16, 17, 19; lib. 3, tit. +2.--Recop. de las Leyes, lib. 2, tit. 4, 5, 16.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, +part. 2, cap. 94. + +[15] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.--By one of the statutes of the cortes of +Toledo, in 1480, the king was required to take his seat in the council +every Friday. (Ordenanças Reales, lib. 2, tit. 3, ley 32.) It was not so +new for the Castilians to have good laws, as for their monarchs to observe +them. + +[16] Sempere, Hist. des Cortès, p. 263. + +[17] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 167.--See the strong language, also, of +Peter Martyr, another contemporary witness of the beneficial changes in +the government. Opus Epistolarum, (Amstelodami, 1670,) ep. 31. + +[18] Prieto y Sotelo, Historia del Derecho Real de España, (Madrid, 1738,) +lib. 3, cap. 16-21.--Marina has made an elaborate commentary on Alfonso's +celebrated code, in his Ensayo Histórico-Crítico sobre la Antigua +Legislacion de Castilla, (Madrid, 1808,) pp. 269 et seq. The English +reader will find a more succinct analysis in Dr. Dunham's History of Spain +and Portugal, (London, 1832,) in Lardner's Cyclopaedia, vol. iv. pp. 121- +150.--The latter has given a more exact, and, at the same time, extended +view of the early Castilian legislation, probably, than is to be found, in +the same compass, in any of the Peninsular writers. + +[19] Marina (in his Ensayo Histórico-Crítico, p. 388) quotes a popular +satire of the fifteenth century, directed, with considerable humor, +against these abuses, which lead the writer in the last stanza to envy +even the summary style of Mahometan justice. + + "En tierra de Moros un solo alcalde + Libra lo cevil e lo criminal, + E todo el dia se esta de valde + For la justicia andar muy igual: + Alli non es Azo, nin es Decretal, + Nin es Roberto, nin la Clementina, + Salvo discrecion e buena doctrina, + La qual muestra a todos vevir communal." p. 389. + +[20] Mendez enumerates no less than five editions of this code, by 1500; a +sufficient evidence of its authority, and general reception throughout +Castile. Typographia Española, pp. 203, 261, 270. + +[21] Ordenanças Reales, Prólogo.--Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. +Ilust. 9.--Marina, Ensayo Histórico-Crítico, pp. 390 et seq.--Mendez, +Typographia Española, p. 261.--The authors of the three last-mentioned +works abundantly disprove Asso y Manuel's insinuation, that Montalavo's +code was the fruit of his private study, without any commission for it, +and that it gradually usurped an authority which it had not in its origin. +(Discurso Preliminar al Ord. de Alcalá.) The injustice of the last remark, +indeed, is apparent from the positive declaration of Bernaldez. "Los Reyes +mandaron tener en todas las ciudades, villas é lugares el libro de +Montalvo, _é por él determinar todas las cosas de justícia para cortar +los pléitos_." Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 42. + +[22] Ordenanças Reales, lib. 7, tit. 2, ley 13. + +[23] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 44.--Sempere +notices this feature of the royal policy. Hist. des Cortès, chap. 24. + +[24] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 80. + +[25] See the emphatic language, on this and other grievances, of the +Castilian commons, in their memorial to the sovereigns, Apendice, No. 10, +of Clemencin's valuable compilation. The commons had pressed the measure, +as one of the last necessity to the crown, as early as the cortes of +Madrigal, in 1476. The reader will find the whole petition extracted by +Marina, Teoría, tom. ii. cap. 5. + +[26] Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. del Gran Cardenal, cap. 51.--Mem. de la +Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 5.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 2, cap. +95.--Ordenanças Reales, lib. 6, tit. 4, ley 26;--incorporated also into +the Recopilacion of Philip II., lib. 5, tit. 10, cap. 17. See also leyes 3 +and 15. + +[27] Admiral Enriquez, for instance, resigned 240,000 maravedies of his +annual income;--the Duke of Alva, 575,000;--the Duke of Medina Sidonia, +180,000.--The loyal family of the Mendozas were also great losers, but +none forfeited so much as the overgrown favorite of Henry IV., Beltran de +la Cueva, duke of Albuquerque, who had uniformly supported the royal +cause, and whose retrenchment amounted to 1,400,000 maravedies of yearly +rent. See the scale of reduction given at length by Señor Clemencin, in +Mem. de la Acad., tom. vi. loc. cit. + +[28] "No monarch," said the high-minded queen, "should consent to alienate +his demesnes; since the loss of revenue necessarily deprives him of the +best means of rewarding the attachment of his friends, and of making +himself feared by his enemies." Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 1, cap. 4. + +[29] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, ubi supra.--Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. +vi. loc. cit. + +[30] Ordenanças Reales, lib. 2, tit. 1, ley 2; lib. 4, tit. 9, ley 11.-- +Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 2, cap. 96, 101.--Recop. de las Leyes, lib. +8, tit. 8, ley 10 et al.--These affairs were conducted in the true spirit +of knight-errantry. Oviedo mentions one, in which two young men of the +noble houses of Velasco and Ponce de Leon agreed to fight on horseback, +with sharp spears (_puntas de diamantes_), in doublet and hose, without +defensive armor of any kind. The place appointed for the combat was a +narrow bridge across the Xarama, three leagues from Madrid. Quincuagenas, +MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 23. + +[31] Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. vii. pp. 487, 488. + +[32] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 80.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 2, +cap. 100. + +[33] For example, at the great cortes of Toledo, in 1480, it does not +appear that any of the nobility were summoned, except those in immediate +attendance on the court, until the measure for the resumption of the +grants, which so nearly affected that body, was brought before the +legislature. + +[34] Conde gives the following account of these chivalric associations +among the Spanish Arabs, which, as far as I know, have hitherto escaped +the notice of European historians. "The Moslem _fronteros_ professed +great austerity in their lives, which they consecrated to perpetual war, +and bound themselves by a solemn vow to defend the frontier against the +incursions of the Christians. They were choice cavaliers, possessed of +consummate patience, and enduring fatigue, and always prepared to die +rather than desert their posts. It appears highly probable that the +Moorish fraternities suggested the idea of those military orders so +renowned for their valor in Spain and in Palestine, which rendered such +essential services to Christendom; for both the institutions were +established on similar principles." Conde, Historia de la Dominacion de +los Arabes en España, (Madrid, 1820,) tom. i. p. 619, not. + +[35] See the details, given by Mariana, of the overgrown possessions of +the Templars in Castile at the period of their extinction, in the +beginning of the fourteenth century. (Hist. de España, lib. 15, cap. 10.) +The knights of the Temple and the Hospitallers seem to have acquired still +greater power in Aragon, where one of the monarchs was so infatuated as to +bequeath them his whole dominions,--a bequest which, it may well be +believed, was set aside by his high-spirited subjects. Zurita, Anales, +lib. 1, cap. 52. + +[36] The apparition of certain preternatural lights in a forest, +discovered to a Galician peasant, in the beginning of the ninth century, +the spot, in which was deposited a marble sepulchre containing the ashes +of St. James. The miracle is reported with sufficient circumstantiality by +Florez, (Historia Compostellana, lib. 1, cap. 2, apud España Sagrada, tom. +xx.) and Ambrosio de Morales, (Corónica General de España, (Obras, Madrid, +1791-3,) lib. 9, cap. 7,) who establishes, to his own satisfaction, the +advent of St. James into Spain. Mariana, with more skepticism than his +brethren, doubts the genuineness of the body, as well as the visit of the +Apostle, but like a good Jesuit concludes, "It is not expedient to disturb +with such disputes the devotion of the people, so firmly settled as it +is." (Lib. 7, cap. 10.) The tutelar saint of Spain continued to support +his people by taking part with them in battle against the infidel down to +a very late period. Caro de Torres mentions two engagements in which he +cheered on the squadrons of Cortes and Pizarro, "with his sword flashing +lightning in the eyes of the Indians." Ordenes Militares, fol. 5. + +[37] Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, fol. 3-15.--Caro de Torres, +Ordenes Militares, fol. 2-8.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. pp. 116-118. + +[38] Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, part. 2, fol. 3-9, 49.--Caro de +Torres, Ordenes Militares, fol. 49, 50.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. pp. +100-104. + +[39] Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, part. 3, fol. 1-6.--The knights of +Alcantara wore a white mantle, embroidered with a green cross. + +[40] Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, part. 1, fol. 12-15, 43, 54, 61, +64, 66, 67; part. 2, fol. 11, 51; part. 3, fol. 42, 49, 50.--Caro de +Torres, Ordenes Militares, passim.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. +33.--Garibay, Compendio, lib. 11, cap. 13.--Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. +1, cap. 19.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 1. + +[41] Caro de Torres, Ordenes Militares, fol. 46, 74, 83.--Pulgar, Reyes +Católicos, part. 2, cap. 64.--Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, part. 1, +fol. 69, 70; part. 2, fol. 82, 83; part. 3, fol. 54.--Oviedo, +Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 1.--The sovereigns gave great +offence to the jealous grandees who were competitors for the mastership of +St. James, by conferring that dignity on Alonso de Cardenas, with their +usual policy of making merit rather than birth the standard of preferment. + +[42] Caro de Torres, Ordenes Militares, fol. 84.--Riol has given a full +account of the constitution of this council, Informe, apud Semanario +Erudito, tom. iii. pp. 164 et seq. + +[43] The reader will find a view of the condition and general resources of +the military orders as existing in the present century in Spain, in +Laborde, Itinéraire Descriptif de l'Espagne, (2d edition, Paris, 1827-30,) +tom. v. pp. 102-117. + +[44] Most readers are acquainted with the curious story, related by +Robertson, of the ordeal to which the Romish and Muzarabic rituals were +subjected, in the reign of Alfonso VI., and the ascendency which the +combination of king-craft and priest-craft succeeded in securing to the +former in opposition to the will of the nation. Cardinal Ximenes +afterwards established a magnificent chapel in the cathedral church of +Toledo for the performance of the Muzarabic services, which have continued +to be retained there to the present time. Fléchier, Histoire du Cardinal +Ximinès, (Paris, 1693,) p. 142.--Bourgoanne, Travels in Spain, Eng. +trans., vol. iii. chap. 1. + +[45] Marina, Ensayo Histórico-Crítico, nos. 322, 334, 341.--Riol, Informe, +apud Semanario Erudito, pp. 92 et seq. + +[46] Marina, Ensayo Histórico-Crítico, nos. 335-337.--Ordenanças Reales, +lib. 1, tit. 3, leyes 19, 20; lib. 2, tit. 7, ley 2; lib. 3, tit. 1, ley +6.--Riol, Informe, apud Semanario Erudito, loc. cit.--In the latter part +of Henry IV.'s reign, a papal bull had been granted against the provision +of foreigners to benefices. Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. vii. p. 196, ed +Valencia. + +[47] Riol, in his account of this celebrated concordat, refers to the +original instrument, as existing in his time in the archives of Simancas, +Semanario Erudito, tom. iii. p. 95. + +[48] "Lo que es público hoy en España é notorio," says Gonzalo de Oviedo, +"nunca los Reyes Cathólicos desearon ni procuraron sino que proveer é +presentar para las dignidades de la Iglesia hombres capazes é idoneos para +la buena administracion del servicio del culto divino, é á la buena +enseñanza é utilidad de los Christianos sus vasallos; y entre todos los +varones de sus Reynos así por largo conoscimiento como per larga é secreta +informacion acordaron encojer é elegir," etc. Quincuagenas, MS., dial. de +Talavera. + +[49] Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. del Gran Cardenal, lib. 1, cap. 52.--Idem, +Dignidades de Castilla, p. 374.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 2, cap. +104.--See also the similar independent conduct pursued by Ferdinand, three +years previous, with reference to the see of Taraçona, related by Zurita, +Anales, tom. iv. fol. 304. + +[50] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 44.--See a letter from one of +Henry's subjects, cited by Saez, Monedas de Enrique IV., p. 3.--Also the +coarse satire (composed in Henry's reign) of Mingo Revulgo, especially +coplas 24-27. + +[51] Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 64.--Ordenanças Reales, lib. 4, tit. 4, +ley 22; lib. 5, tit. 8, ley 2; lib. 6, tit. 9, ley 49; lib. 6, tit. 10, +ley 13.--See also other wholesome laws for the encouragement of commerce +and general security of property, as that respecting contracts, (lib. 5, +tit. 8, ley 5,)--fraudulent tradesmen, (lib. 5, tit. 8, ley 5,)-- +purveyance, (lib. 6, tit. 11, ley 2 et al.--Recopilacion de las Leyes, +lib. 5, tit. 20, 21, 22; lib. 6, tit. 18, ley 1.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, +part. 2, cap. 99.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 312.--Mem. de la Acad. de +Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 11.)--The revenue, it appears, in 1477, amounted to +27,415,228 maravedies; and in the year 1482, we find it increased to +150,695,288 maravedies. (Ibid., Ilust. 5.)--A survey of the kingdom was +made between the years 1477 and 1479, for the purpose of ascertaining the +value of the royal rents, which formed the basis of the economical +regulations adopted by the cortes of Toledo. Although this survey was +conducted on no uniform plan, yet, according to Señor Clemencin, it +exhibits such a variety of important details respecting the resources and +population of the country, that it must materially contribute towards an +exact history of this period. The compilation, which consists of twelve +folio volumes in manuscript, is deposited in the archives of Simancas. + +[52] One of the statutes passed at Toledo expressly provides for the +erection of spacious and handsome edifices (_casas grandes y bien fechas_) +for the transaction of municipal affairs, in all the principal towns and +cities in the kingdom. Ordenanças Reales, lib. 7, tit. 1, ley 1.--See also +L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, passim,--et al. auct. + +[53] "Cosa fue por cierto maravillosa," exclaims Pulgar, in his Glosa on +the Mingo Revulgo, "que lo que muchos hombres, y grandes senores no se +acordaron á hacer en muchos años, _sola una muger_, con su trabajo, y +gobernacion lo hizo en poco tiempo." Copla 21. + +[54] The beautiful lines of Virgil, so often misapplied, + + "Jam redit et Virgo; redeunt Saturnia regna; + Jam nova progenies," etc. + +seem to admit here of a pertinent application. + +[55] Carro de las Doñas, apud Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. +21.--As one example of the moral discipline introduced by Isabella in her +court, we may cite the enactments against gaming, which had been carried +to great excess under the preceding reigns. (See Ordenanças Reales, lib. +2, tit. 14, ley 31; lib. 8, tit. 10, ley 7.) L. Marineo, according to whom +"hell is full of gamblers," highly commends the sovereigns for their +efforts to discountenance this vice. Cosas Memorables, fol. 165. + +[56] See, for example, the splendid ceremony of Prince John's baptism, to +which the gossipping Curate of Los Palacios devotes the 32d and 33d +chapters of his History. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MODERN INQUISITION. + +Origin of the Ancient Inquisition.--Retrospective View of the Jews in +Spain.--Their Wealth and Civilization.--Bigotry of the Age.--Its Influence +on Isabella.--Her Confessor, Torquemada.--Bull authorizing the +Inquisition.--Tribunal at Seville.--Forms of Trial.--Torture.--Autos da +Fe.--Number of Convictions.--Perfidious Policy of Rome. + + +It is painful, after having dwelt so long on the important benefits +resulting to Castile from the comprehensive policy of Isabella, to be +compelled to turn to the darker side of the picture, and to exhibit her as +accommodating herself to the illiberal spirit of the age in which she +lived so far as to sanction one of the grossest abuses that ever disgraced +humanity. The present chapter will be devoted to the establishment and +early progress of the modern Inquisition; an institution, which has +probably contributed more than any other cause to depress the lofty +character of the ancient Spaniard, and which has thrown the gloom of +fanaticism over those lovely regions which seem to be the natural abode of +festivity and pleasure. + +In the present liberal state of knowledge, we look with disgust at the +pretensions of any human being, however exalted, to invade the sacred +rights of conscience, inalienably possessed by every man. We feel that the +spiritual concerns of an individual may be safely left to himself as most +interested in them, except so far as they can be affected by argument or +friendly monition; that the idea of compelling belief in particular +doctrines is a solecism, as absurd as wicked; and, so far from condemning +to the stake, or the gibbet, men who pertinaciously adhere to their +conscientious opinions in contempt of personal interests and in the face +of danger, we should rather feel disposed to imitate the spirit of +antiquity in raising altars and statues to their memory, as having +displayed the highest efforts of human virtue. But, although these truths +are now so obvious as rather to deserve the name of truisms, the world has +been slow, very slow, in arriving at them, after many centuries of +unspeakable oppression and misery. + +Acts of intolerance are to be discerned from the earliest period in which +Christianity became the established religion of the Roman empire. But they +do not seem to have flowed from any systematized plan of persecution, +until the papal authority had swollen to a considerable height. The popes, +who claimed the spiritual allegiance of all Christendom, regarded heresy +as treason against themselves, and, as such, deserving all the penalties, +which sovereigns have uniformly visited on this, in their eyes, +unpardonable offence. The crusades, which, in the early part of the +thirteenth century, swept so fiercely over the southern provinces of +France, exterminating their inhabitants, and blasting the fair buds of +civilization which had put forth after the long feudal winter, opened the +way to the Inquisition; and it was on the ruins of this once happy land, +that were first erected the bloody altars of that tribunal. [1] + +After various modifications, the province of detecting and punishing +heresy was exclusively committed to the hands of the Dominican friars; and +in 1233, in the reign of St. Louis, and under the pontificate of Gregory +the Ninth, a code for the regulation of their proceedings was finally +digested. The tribunal, after having been successively adopted in Italy +and Germany, was introduced into Aragon, where, in 1242, additional +provisions were framed by the council of Tarragona, on the basis of those +of 1233, which may properly be considered as the primitive instructions of +the Holy Office in Spain. [2] + +This ancient Inquisition, as it is termed, bore the same odious +peculiarities in its leading features as the Modern; the same impenetrable +secrecy in its proceedings, the same insidious modes of accusation, a +similar use of torture, and similar penalties for the offender. A sort of +manual, drawn up by Eymerich, an Aragonese inquisitor of the fourteenth +century, for the instruction of the judges of the Holy Office, prescribes +all those ambiguous forms of interrogation, by which the unwary, and +perhaps innocent victim might be circumvented. [3] The principles, on +which the ancient Inquisition was established, are no less repugnant to +justice, than those which regulated the modern; although the former, it is +true, was much less extensive in its operation. The arm of persecution, +however, fell with sufficient heaviness, especially during the thirteenth +and fourteenth centuries, on the unfortunate Albigenses, who from the +proximity and political relations of Aragon and Provence, had become +numerous in the former kingdom. The persecution appears, however, to have +been chiefly confined to this unfortunate sect, and there is no evidence +that the Holy Office, notwithstanding papal briefs to that effect, was +fully organized in Castile, before the reign of Isabella. This is perhaps +imputable to the paucity of heretics in that kingdom. It cannot, at any +rate, be charged to any lukewarmness in its sovereigns; since they, from +the time of St. Ferdinand, who heaped the fagots on the blazing pile with +his own hands, down to that of John the Second, Isabella's father, who +hunted the unhappy heretics of Biscay, like so many wild beasts, among the +mountains, had ever evinced a lively zeal for the orthodox faith. [4] + +By the middle of the fifteenth century, the Albigensian heresy had become +nearly extirpated by the Inquisition of Aragon; so that this infernal +engine might have been suffered to sleep undisturbed from want of +sufficient fuel to keep it in motion, when new and ample materials were +discovered in the unfortunate race of Israel, on whom the sins of their +fathers have been so unsparingly visited by every nation in Christendom, +among whom they have sojourned, almost to the present century. As this +remarkable people, who seem to have preserved their unity of character +unbroken, amid the thousand fragments into which they have been scattered, +attained perhaps to greater consideration in Spain than in any other part +of Europe, and as the efforts of the Inquisition were directed principally +against them during the present reign, it may be well to take a brief +review of their preceding history in the Peninsula. + +Under the Visigothic empire the Jews multiplied exceedingly in the +country, and were permitted to acquire considerable power and wealth. But +no sooner had their Arian masters embraced the orthodox faith, than they +began to testify their zeal by pouring on the Jews the most pitiless storm +of persecution. One of their laws alone condemned the whole race to +slavery; and Montesquieu remarks, without much exaggeration, that to the +Gothic code may be traced all the maxims of the modern Inquisition, the +monks of the fifteenth century only copying, in reference to the +Israelites, the bishops of the seventh. [5] + +After the Saracenic invasion, which the Jews, perhaps with reason, are +accused of having facilitated, they resided in the conquered cities, and +were permitted to mingle with the Arabs on nearly equal terms. Their +common Oriental origin produced a similarity of tastes, to a certain +extent, not unfavorable to such a coalition. At any rate, the early +Spanish Arabs were characterized by a spirit of toleration towards both +Jews and Christians, "the people of the book," as they were called, which +has scarcely been found among later Moslems. [6] The Jews, accordingly, +under these favorable auspices, not only accumulated wealth with their +usual diligence, but gradually rose to the highest civil dignities, and +made great advances in various departments of letters. The schools of +Cordova, Toledo, Barcelona, and Granada were crowded with numerous +disciples, who emulated the Arabians in keeping alive the flame of +learning, during the deep darkness of the Middle Ages. [7] Whatever may be +thought of their success in speculative philosophy, [8] they cannot +reasonably be denied to have contributed largely to practical and +experimental science. They were diligent travellers in all parts of the +known world, compiling itineraries which have proved of extensive use in +later times, and bringing home hoards of foreign specimens and Oriental +drugs, that furnished important contributions to the domestic +pharmacopoeias. [9] In the practice of medicine, indeed, they became so +expert, as in a manner to monopolize that profession. They made great +proficiency in mathematics, and particularly in astronomy; while, in the +cultivation of elegant letters, they revived the ancient glories of the +Hebrew muse. [10] This was indeed the golden age of modern Jewish +literature, which, under the Spanish caliphs, experienced a protection so +benign, although occasionally checkered by the caprices of despotism, that +it was enabled to attain higher beauty and a more perfect development in +the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, than it has +reached in any other part of Christendom. [11] + +The ancient Castilians of the same period, very different from their +Gothic ancestors, seem to have conceded to the Israelites somewhat of the +feelings of respect, which were extorted from them by the superior +civilization of the Spanish Arabs. We find eminent Jews residing in the +courts of the Christian princes, directing their studies, attending them +as physicians, or more frequently administering their finances. For this +last vocation they seem to have had a natural aptitude; and, indeed, the +correspondence which they maintained with the different countries of +Europe by means of their own countrymen, who acted as the brokers of +almost every people among whom they were scattered during the Middle Ages, +afforded them peculiar facilities both in politics and commerce. We meet +with Jewish scholars and statesmen attached to the courts of Alfonso the +Tenth, Alfonso the Eleventh, Peter the Cruel, Henry the Second, and other +princes. Their astronomical science recommended them in a special manner +to Alfonso the Wise, who employed them in the construction of his +celebrated Tables. James the First of Aragon condescended to receive +instruction from them in ethics; and, in the fifteenth century, we notice +John the Second, of Castile, employing a Jewish secretary in the +compilation of a national Cancionero. [12] + +But all this royal patronage proved incompetent to protect the Jews, when +their flourishing fortunes had risen to a sufficient height to excite +popular envy, augmented, as it was, by that profuse ostentation of +equipage and apparel, for which this singular people, notwithstanding +their avarice, have usually shown a predilection. [13] Stories were +circulated of their contempt for the Catholic worship, their desecration +of its most holy symbols, and of their crucifixion, or other sacrifice, of +Christian children, at the celebration of their own passover. [14] With +these foolish calumnies, the more probable charge of usury and extortion +was industriously preferred against them, till at length, towards the +close of the fourteenth century, the fanatical populace, stimulated in +many instances by the no less fanatical clergy, and perhaps encouraged by +the numerous class of debtors to the Jews, who found this a convenient +mode of settling their accounts, made a fierce assault on this unfortunate +people in Castile and Aragon, breaking into their houses, violating their +most private sanctuaries, scattering their costly collections and +furniture, and consigning the wretched proprietors to indiscriminate +massacre, without regard to sex or age. [15] + +In this crisis, the only remedy left to the Jews was a real or feigned +conversion to Christianity. St. Vincent Ferrier, a Dominican of Valencia, +performed such a quantity of miracles, in furtherance of this purpose, as +might have excited the envy of any saint in the Calendar; and these, aided +by his eloquence, are said to have changed the hearts of no less than +thirty-five thousand of the race of Israel, which doubtless must be +reckoned the greatest miracle of all. [16] + +The legislative enactments of this period, and still more under John the +Second, during the first half of the fifteenth century, were uncommonly +severe upon the Jews. While they were prohibited from mingling freely with +the Christians, and from exercising the professions for which they were +best qualified, [17] their residence was restricted within certain +prescribed limits of the cities which they inhabited; and they were not +only debarred from their usual luxury of ornament in dress, but were held +up to public scorn, as it were, by some peculiar badge or emblem +embroidered on their garments. [18] Such was the condition of the Spanish +Jews at the accession of Ferdinand and Isabella. The _new Christians_, or +_converts_, as those who had renounced the faith of their fathers were +denominated, were occasionally preferred to high ecclesiastical dignities, +which they illustrated by their integrity and learning. They were +intrusted with municipal offices in the various cities of Castile; and, as +their wealth furnished an obvious resource for repairing, by way of +marriage, the decayed fortunes of the nobility, there was scarcely a +family of rank in the land, whose blood had not been contaminated, at some +period or other, by mixture with the _mala sangre_, as it came afterwards +to be termed, of the house of Judah; an ignominious stain, which no time +has been deemed sufficient wholly to purge away. [19] + +Notwithstanding the show of prosperity enjoyed by the converted Jews, +their situation was far from secure. Their proselytism had been too sudden +to be generally sincere; and, as the task of dissimulation was too irksome +to be permanently endured, they gradually became less circumspect, and +exhibited the scandalous spectacle of apostates returning to wallow in the +ancient mire of Judaism. The clergy, especially the Dominicans, who seem +to have inherited the quick scent for heresy which distinguished their +frantic founder, were not slow in sounding the alarm; and the +superstitious populace, easily roused to acts of violence in the name of +religion, began to exhibit the most tumultuous movements, and actually +massacred the constable of Castile in an attempt to suppress them at Jaen, +the year preceding the accession of Isabella. After this period, the +complaints against the Jewish heresy became still more clamorous, and the +throne was repeatedly beset with petitions to devise some effectual means +for its extirpation. [20] + +A chapter of the Chronicle of the Curate of Los Palacios, who lived at +this time in Andalusia, where the Jews seem to have most abounded, throws +considerable light on the real, as well as pretended motives of the +subsequent persecution. "This accursed race," he says, speaking of the +Israelites, "were either unwilling to bring their children to be baptized, +or, if they did, they washed away the stain on returning home. They +dressed their stews and other dishes with oil, instead of lard; abstained +from pork; kept the passover; ate meat in lent; and sent oil to replenish +the lamps of their synagogues; with many other abominable ceremonies of +their religion. They entertained no respect for monastic life, and +frequently profaned the sanctity of religious houses by the violation or +seduction of their inmates. They were an exceedingly politic and ambitious +people, engrossing the most lucrative municipal offices; and preferred to +gain their livelihood by traffic, in which they made exorbitant gains, +rather than by manual labor or mechanical arts. They considered themselves +in the hands of the Egyptians, whom it was a merit to deceive and plunder. +By their wicked contrivances they amassed great wealth, and thus were +often able to ally themselves by marriage with noble Christian families." +[21] + +It is easy to discern, in this medley of credulity and superstition, the +secret envy, entertained by the Castilians, of the superior skill and +industry of their Hebrew brethren, and of the superior riches which these +qualities secured to them; and it is impossible not to suspect, that the +zeal of the most orthodox was considerably sharpened by worldly motives. + +Be that as it may, the cry against the Jewish abominations now became +general. Among those most active in raising it, were Alfonso de Ojeda, a +Dominican, prior of the monastery of St. Paul in Seville, and Diego de +Merlo, assistant of that city, who should not be defrauded of the meed of +glory to which they are justly entitled by their exertions for the +establishment of the modern Inquisition. These persons, after urging on +the sovereigns the alarming extent to which the Jewish leprosy prevailed +in Andalusia, loudly called for the introduction of the Holy Office, as +the only effectual means of healing it. In this they were vigorously +supported by Niccoló Franco, the papal nuncio then residing at the court +of Castile. Ferdinand listened with complacency to a scheme, which +promised an ample source of revenue in the confiscations it involved. But +it was not so easy to vanquish Isabella's aversion to measures so +repugnant to the natural benevolence and magnanimity of her character. Her +scruples, indeed, were rather founded on sentiment than reason, the +exercise of which was little countenanced in matters of faith, in that +day, when the dangerous maxim, that the end justifies the means, was +universally received, and learned theologians seriously disputed whether +it were permitted to make peace with the infidel, and even whether +promises made to them were obligatory on Christians. [22] + +The policy of the Roman church, at that time, was not only shown in its +perversion of some of the most obvious principles of morality, but in the +discouragement of all free inquiry in its disciples, whom it instructed to +rely implicitly in matters of conscience on their spiritual advisers. The +artful institution of the tribunal of confession, established with this +view, brought, as it were, the whole Christian world at the feet of the +clergy, who, far from being always animated by the meek spirit of the +Gospel, almost justified the reproach of Voltaire, that confessors have +been the source of most of the violent measures pursued by princes of the +Catholic faith. [23] Isabella's serious temper, as well as early +education, naturally disposed her to religious influences. Notwithstanding +the independence exhibited by her in all secular affairs, in her own +spiritual concerns she uniformly testified the deepest humility, and +deferred too implicitly to what she deemed the superior sagacity, or +sanctity, of her ghostly counsellors. An instance of this humility may be +worth recording. When Fray Fernando de Talavera, afterwards archbishop of +Granada, who had been appointed confessor to the queen, attended her for +the first time in that capacity, he continued seated, after she had knelt +down to make her confession, which drew from her the remark, "that it was +usual for both parties to kneel." "No," replied the priest, "this is God's +tribunal; I act here as his minister, and it is fitting that I should keep +my seat, while your Highness kneels before me." Isabella, far from taking +umbrage at the ecclesiastic's arrogant demeanor, complied with all +humility, and was afterwards heard to say, "This is the confessor that I +wanted." [24] + +Well had it been for the land, if the queen's conscience had always been +intrusted to the keeping of persons of such exemplary piety as Talavera. +Unfortunately, in her early days, during the lifetime of her brother +Henry, that charge was committed to a Dominican monk, Thomas de +Torquemada, a native of old Castile, subsequently raised to the rank of +prior of Santa Cruz in Segovia, and condemned to infamous immortality by +the signal part which he performed in the tragedy of the Inquisition. This +man, who concealed more pride under his monastic weeds than might have +furnished forth a convent of his order, was one of that class, with whom +zeal passes for religion, and who testify their zeal by a fiery +persecution of those whose creed differs from their own; who compensate +for their abstinence from sensual indulgence, by giving scope to those +deadlier vices of the heart, pride, bigotry, and intolerance, which are no +less opposed to virtue, and are far more extensively mischievous to +society. This personage had earnestly labored to infuse into Isabella's +young mind, to which his situation as her confessor gave him such ready +access, the same spirit of fanaticism that glowed in his own. Fortunately, +this was greatly counteracted by her sound understanding, and natural +kindness of heart. Torquemada urged her, or, indeed, as is stated by some, +extorted a promise, that, "should she ever come to the throne, she would +devote herself to the extirpation of heresy, for the glory of God, and the +exaltation of the Catholic faith." [25] The time was now arrived when this +fatal promise was to be discharged. + +It is due to Isabella's fame to state thus much in palliation of the +unfortunate error into which she was led by her misguided zeal; an error +so grave, that, like a vein in some noble piece of statuary, it gives a +sinister expression to her otherwise unblemished character. [26] It was +not until the queen had endured the repeated importunities of the clergy, +particularly of those reverend persons in whom she most confided, seconded +by the arguments of Ferdinand, that she consented to solicit from the pope +a bull for the introduction of the Holy Office into Castile. Sixtus the +Fourth, who at that time filled the pontifical chair, easily discerning +the sources of wealth and influence, which this measure opened to the +court of Rome, readily complied with the petition of the sovereigns, and +expedited a bull bearing date November 1st, 1478, authorizing them to +appoint two or three ecclesiastics, inquisitors for the detection and +suppression of heresy throughout their dominions. [27] + +The queen, however, still averse to violent measures, suspended the +operation of the ordinance, until a more lenient policy had been first +tried. By her command, accordingly, the archbishop of Seville, Cardinal +Mendoza, drew up a catechism exhibiting the different points of the +Catholic faith, and instructed the clergy throughout his diocese to spare +no pains in illuminating the benighted Israelites, by means of friendly +exhortation and a candid exposition of the true principles of +Christianity. [28] How far the spirit of these injunctions was complied +with, amid the excitement then prevailing, may be reasonably doubted. +There could be little doubt, however, that a report, made two years later, +by a commission of ecclesiastics with Alfonso de Ojeda at its head, +respecting the progress of the reformation, would be necessarily +unfavorable to the Jews. [29] In consequence of this report the papal +provisions were enforced by the nomination, on the 17th of September, +1480, of two Dominican monks as inquisitors, with two other ecclesiastics, +the one as assessor, and the other as procurator fiscal, with instructions +to proceed at once to Seville, and enter on the duties of their office. +Orders were also issued to the authorities of the city to support the +inquisitors by all the aid in their power. But the new institution, which +has since become the miserable boast of the Castilians, proved so +distasteful to them in its origin, that they refused any co-operation with +its ministers, and indeed opposed such delays and embarrassments, that, +during the first years, it can scarcely be said to have obtained a footing +in any other places in Andalusia, than those belonging to the crown. [30] + +On the 2d of January, 1481, the court commenced operations by the +publication of an edict, followed by several others, requiring all persons +to aid in apprehending and accusing all such as they might know or suspect +to be guilty of heresy, [31] and holding out the illusory promise of +absolution to such as should confess their errors within a limited period. +As every mode of accusation, even anonymous, was invited, the number of +victims multiplied so fast, that the tribunal found it convenient to +remove its sittings from the convent of St. Paul, within the city, to the +spacious fortress of Triana, in the suburbs. [32] + +The presumptive proofs by which the charge of Judaism was established +against the accused are so curious, that a few of them may deserve notice. +It was considered good evidence of the fact, if the prisoner wore better +clothes or cleaner linen on the Jewish sabbath than on other days of the +week; if he had no fire in his house the preceding evening; if he sat at +table with Jews, or ate the meat of animals slaughtered by their hands, or +drank a certain beverage held in much estimation by them; if he washed a +corpse in warm water, or when dying turned his face to the wall; or, +finally, if he gave Hebrew names to his children; a provision most +whimsically cruel, since, by a law of Henry the Second, he was prohibited +under severe penalties from giving them Christian names. He must have +found it difficult to extricate himself from the horns of this dilemma. +[33] Such are a few of the circumstances, some of them purely accidental +in their nature, others the result of early habit, which might well have +continued after a sincere conversion to Christianity, and all of them +trivial, on which capital accusations were to be alleged, and even +satisfactorily established. [34] + +The inquisitors, adopting the wily and tortuous policy of the ancient +tribunal, proceeded with a despatch, which shows that they could have paid +little deference even to this affectation of legal form. On the sixth day +of January, six convicts suffered at the stake. Seventeen more were +executed in March, and a still greater number in the month following; and +by the 4th of November in the same year, no less than two hundred and +ninety-eight individuals had been sacrificed in the _autos da fe_ of +Seville. Besides these, the mouldering remains of many, who had been tried +and convicted after their death, were torn up from their graves, with a +hyena-like ferocity, which has disgraced no other court, Christian or +Pagan, and condemned to the common funeral pile. This was prepared on a +spacious stone scaffold, erected in the suburbs of the city, with the +statues of four prophets attached to the corners, to which the unhappy +sufferers were bound for the sacrifice, and which the worthy Curate of Los +Palacios celebrates with much complacency as the spot "where heretics were +burnt, and ought to burn as long as any can be found." [35] + +Many of the convicts were persons estimable for learning and probity; and, +among these, three clergymen are named, together with other individuals +filling judicial or high municipal stations. The sword of justice was +observed, in particular, to strike at the wealthy, the least pardonable +offenders in times of proscription. + +The plague which desolated Seville this year, sweeping off fifteen +thousand inhabitants, as if in token of the wrath of Heaven at these +enormities, did not palsy for a moment the arm of the Inquisition, which, +adjourning to Aracena, continued as indefatigable as before. A similar +persecution went forward in other parts of the province of Andalusia; so +that within the same year, 1481, the number of the sufferers was computed +at two thousand burnt alive, a still greater number in effigy, and +seventeen thousand _reconciled_; a term which must not be understood +by the reader to signify anything like a pardon or amnesty, but only the +commutation of a capital sentence for inferior penalties, as fines, civil +incapacity, very generally total confiscation of property, and not +unfrequently imprisonment for life. [36] + +The Jews were astounded by the bolt, which had fallen so unexpectedly upon +them. Some succeeded in making their escape to Granada, others to France, +Germany, or Italy, where they appealed from the decisions of the Holy +Office to the sovereign pontiff. [37] Sixtus the Fourth appears for a +moment to have been touched with something like compunction; for he +rebuked the intemperate zeal of the inquisitors, and even menaced them +with deprivation. But these feelings, it would seem, were but transient; +for, in 1483, we find the same pontiff quieting the scruples of Isabella +respecting the appropriation of the confiscated property, and encouraging +both sovereigns to proceed in the great work of purification, by an +audacious reference to the example of Jesus Christ, who, says he, +consolidated his kingdom on earth by the destruction of idolatry; and he +concludes with imputing their successes in the Moorish war, upon which +they had then entered, to their zeal for the faith, and promising them the +like in future. In the course of the same year, he expedited two briefs, +appointing Thomas de Torquemada inquisitor-general of Castile and Aragon, +and clothing him with full powers to frame a new constitution for the Holy +Office. This was the origin of that terrible tribunal, the Spanish or +modern Inquisition, familiar to most readers, whether of history or +romance; which, for three centuries, has extended its iron sway over the +dominions of Spain and Portugal. [38] Without going into details +respecting the organization of its various courts, which gradually swelled +to thirteen during the present reign, I shall endeavor to exhibit the +principles which regulated their proceedings, as deduced in part from the +code digested under Torquemada, and partly from the practice which +obtained during his supremacy. [39] + +Edicts were ordered to be published annually, on the first two Sundays in +lent, throughout the churches, enjoining it as a sacred duty on all, who +knew or suspected another to be guilty of heresy, to lodge information +against him before the Holy Office; and the ministers of religion were +instructed to refuse absolution to such as hesitated to comply with this, +although the suspected person might stand in the relation of parent, +child, husband, or wife. All accusations, anonymous as well as signed, +were admitted; it being only necessary to specify the names of the +witnesses, whose testimony was taken down in writing by a secretary, and +afterwards read to them, which, unless the inaccuracies were so gross as +to force themselves upon their attention, they seldom failed to confirm. +[40] + +The accused, in the mean time, whose mysterious disappearance was perhaps +the only public evidence of his arrest, was conveyed to the secret +chambers of the Inquisition, where he was jealously excluded from +intercourse with all, save a priest of the Romish church and his jailer, +both of whom might be regarded as the spies of the tribunal. In this +desolate condition, the unfortunate man, cut off from external +communication and all cheering sympathy or support, was kept for some time +in ignorance even of the nature of the charges preferred against him, and +at length, instead of the original process, was favored only with extracts +from the depositions of the witnesses, so garbled as to conceal every +possible clue to their name and quality. With still greater unfairness, no +mention whatever was made of such testimony, as had arisen in the course +of the examination, in his own favor. Counsel was indeed allowed from a +list presented by his judges. But this privilege availed little, since the +parties were not permitted to confer together, and the advocate was +furnished with no other sources of information than what had been granted +to his client. To add to the injustice of these proceedings, every +discrepancy in the statements of the witnesses was converted into a +separate charge against the prisoner, who thus, instead of one crime, +stood accused of several. This, taken in connection with the concealment +of time, place, and circumstance in the accusations, created such +embarrassment, that, unless the accused was possessed of unusual acuteness +and presence of mind, it was sure to involve him, in his attempts to +explain, in inextricable contradiction. [41] + +If the prisoner refused to confess his guilt, or, as was usual, was +suspected of evasion, or an attempt to conceal the truth, he was subjected +to the torture. This, which was administered in the deepest vaults of the +Inquisition, where the cries of the victim could fall on no ear save that +of his tormentors, is admitted by the secretary of the Holy Office, who +has furnished the most authentic report of its transactions, not to have +been exaggerated in any of the numerous narratives which have dragged +these subterranean horrors into light. If the intensity of pain extorted a +confession from the sufferer, he was expected, if he survived, which did +not always happen, to confirm it on the next day. Should he refuse to do +this, his mutilated members were condemned to a repetition of the same +sufferings, until his obstinacy (it should rather have been termed his +heroism) might be vanquished. [42] Should the rack, however, prove +ineffectual to force a confession of his guilt, he was so far from being +considered as having established his innocence, that, with a barbarity +unknown to any tribunal where the torture has been admitted, and which of +itself proves its utter incompetency to the ends it proposes, he was not +unfrequently convicted on the depositions of the witnesses. At the +conclusion of his mock trial, the prisoner was again returned to his +dungeon, where, without the blaze of a single fagot to dispel the cold, or +illuminate the darkness of the long winter night, he was left in unbroken +silence to await the doom which was to consign him to an ignominious +death, or a life scarcely less ignominious. [43] + +The proceedings of the tribunal, as I have stated them, were plainly +characterized throughout by the most flagrant injustice and inhumanity to +the accused. Instead of presuming his innocence, until his guilt had been +established, it acted on exactly the opposite principle. Instead of +affording him the protection accorded by every other judicature, and +especially demanded in his forlorn situation, it used the most insidious +arts to circumvent and to crush him. He had no remedy against malice or +misapprehension on the part of his accusers, or the witnesses against him, +who might be his bitterest enemies; since they were never revealed to nor +confronted with the prisoner, nor subjected to a cross-examination, which +can best expose error or wilful collusion in the evidence. [44] Even the +poor forms of justice, recognized in this court, might be readily +dispensed with; as its proceedings were impenetrably shrouded from the +public eye, by the appalling oath of secrecy imposed on all, whether +functionaries, witnesses, or prisoners, who entered within its precincts. +The last, and not the least odious feature of the whole, was the +connection established between the condemnation of the accused and the +interests of his judges; since the confiscations, which were the uniform +penalties, of heresy, [45] were not permitted to flow into the royal +exchequer, until they had first discharged the expenses, whether in the +shape of salaries or otherwise, incident to the Holy Office. [46] + +The last scene in this dismal tragedy was the _act of faith_, (auto +da fe,) the most imposing spectacle, probably, which, has been witnessed +since the ancient Roman triumph, and which, as intimated by a Spanish +writer, was intended, somewhat profanely, to represent the terrors of the +Day of Judgment. [47] The proudest grandees of the land, on this occasion, +putting on the sable livery of familiars of the Holy Office and bearing +aloft its banners, condescended to act as the escort of its ministers; +while the ceremony was not unfrequently countenanced by the royal +presence. It should be stated, however, that neither of these acts of +condescension, or, more properly, humiliation, were witnessed until a +period posterior to the present reign. The effect was further heightened +by the concourse of ecclesiastics in their sacerdotal robes, and the +pompous ceremonial, which the church of Rome knows so well how to display +on fitting occasions; and which was intended to consecrate, as it were, +this bloody sacrifice by the authority of a religion, which has expressly +declared that it desires mercy, and not sacrifice. [48] + +The most important actors in the scene were the unfortunate convicts, who +were now disgorged for the first time from the dungeons of the tribunal. +They were clad in coarse woollen garments, styled _san benitos_, brought +close round the neck, and descending like a frock down to the knees. [49] +These were of a yellow color, embroidered with a scarlet cross, and well +garnished with figures of devils and flames of fire, which, typical of the +heretic's destiny hereafter, served to make him more odious in the eyes of +the superstitious multitude. [50] The greater part of the sufferers were +condemned to be _reconciled_, the manifold meanings of which soft phrase +have been already explained. Those who were to be _relaxed_, as it was +called, were delivered over, as impenitent heretics, to the secular arm, +in order to expiate their offence by the most painful of deaths, with the +consciousness, still more painful, that they were to leave behind them +names branded with infamy, and families involved in irretrievable ruin. +[51] + +It is remarkable, that a scheme so monstrous as that of the Inquisition, +presenting the most effectual barrier, probably, that was ever opposed to +the progress of knowledge, should have been revived at the close of the +fifteenth century, when the light of civilization was rapidly advancing +over every part of Europe. It is more remarkable, that it should have +occurred in Spain, at this time under a government which had displayed +great religious independence on more than one occasion, and which had paid +uniform regard to the rights of its subjects, and pursued a generous +policy in reference to their intellectual culture. Where, we are tempted +to ask, when we behold the persecution of an innocent, industrious people +for the crime of adhesion to the faith of their ancestors, where was the +charity, which led the old Castilian to reverence valor and virtue in an +infidel, though an enemy? Where the chivalrous self-devotion, which led an +Aragonese monarch, three centuries before, to give away his life, in +defence of the persecuted sectaries of Provence? Where the independent +spirit, which prompted the Castilian nobles, during the very last reign, +to reject with scorn the proposed interference of the pope himself in +their concerns, that they were now reduced to bow their necks to a few +frantic priests, the members of an order, which, in Spain at least, was +quite as conspicuous for ignorance as intolerance? True indeed the +Castilians, and the Aragonese subsequently still more, gave such evidence +of their aversion to the institution, that it can hardly be believed the +clergy would have succeeded in fastening it upon them, had they not +availed themselves of the popular prejudices against the Jews. [52] +Providence, however, permitted that the sufferings, thus heaped on the +heads of this unfortunate people, should be requited in full measure to +the nation that inflicted them. The fires of the Inquisition, which were +lighted exclusively for the Jews, were destined eventually to consume +their oppressors. They were still more deeply avenged in the moral +influence of this tribunal, which, eating like a pestilent canker into the +heart of the monarchy, at the very time when it was exhibiting a most +goodly promise, left it at length a bare and sapless trunk. + +Notwithstanding the persecutions under Torquemada were confined almost +wholly to the Jews, his activity was such as to furnish abundant +precedent, in regard to forms of proceeding, for his successors; if, +indeed, the word forms may be applied to the conduct of trials so summary, +that the tribunal of Toledo alone, under the superintendence of two +inquisitors, disposed of three thousand three hundred and twenty-seven +processes in little more than a year. [53] The number of convicts was +greatly swelled by the blunders of the Dominican monks, who acted as +qualificators, or interpreters of what constituted heresy, and whose +ignorance led them frequently to condemn as heterodox propositions +actually derived from the fathers of the church. The prisoners for life, +alone, became so numerous, that it was necessary to assign them their own +houses as the places of their incarceration. + +The data for an accurate calculation of the number of victims sacrificed +by the Inquisition during this reign are not very satisfactory. From such +as exist, however, Llorente has been led to the most frightful results. He +computes, that, during the eighteen years of Torquemada's ministry, there +were no less than 10,220 burnt, 6860 condemned, and burnt in effigy as +absent or dead, and 97,321 reconciled by various other penances; affording +an average of more than 6000 convicted persons annually. [54] In this +enormous sum of human misery is not included the multitude of orphans, +who, from the confiscation of their paternal inheritance, were turned over +to indigence and vice. [55] Many of the reconciled were afterwards +sentenced as relapsed; and the Curate of Los Palacios expresses the +charitable wish, that "the whole accursed race of Jews, male and female, +of twenty years of age and upwards, might be purified with fire and +fagot!" [56] + +The vast apparatus of the Inquisition involved so heavy an expenditure, +that a very small sum, comparatively, found its way into the exchequer, to +counterbalance the great detriment resulting to the state from the +sacrifice of the most active and skilful part of its population. All +temporal interests, however, were held light in comparison with the +purgation of the land from heresy; and such augmentations as the revenue +did receive, we are assured, were conscientiously devoted to pious +purposes, and the Moorish war! [57] + +The Roman see, during all this time, conducting itself with its usual +duplicity, contrived to make a gainful traffic by the sale of +dispensations from the penalties incurred by such as fell under the ban of +the Inquisition, provided they were rich enough to pay for them, and +afterwards revoking them, at the instance of the Castilian court. +Meanwhile, the odium, excited by the unsparing rigor of Torquemada, raised +up so many accusations against him, that he was thrice compelled to send +an agent to Rome to defend his cause before the pontiff; until, at length, +Alexander the Sixth, in 1494, moved by these reiterated complaints, +appointed four coadjutors, out of a pretended regard to the infirmities of +his age, to share with him the burdens of his office. [58] + +This personage, who is entitled to so high a rank among those who have +been the authors of unmixed evil to their species, was permitted to reach +a very old age, and to die quietly in his bed. Yet he lived in such +constant apprehension of assassination, that he is said to have kept a +reputed unicorn's horn always on his table, which was imagined to have the +power of detecting and neutralizing poisons; while, for the more complete +protection of his person, he was allowed an escort of fifty horse and two +hundred foot in his progresses through the kingdom. [59] + +This man's zeal was of such an extravagant character, that it may almost +shelter itself under the name of insanity. His history may be thought to +prove, that, of all human infirmities, or rather vices, there is none +productive of more extensive mischief to society than fanaticism. The +opposite principle of atheism, which refuses to recognize the most +important sanctions to virtue, does not necessarily imply any destitution +of just moral perceptions, that is, of a power of discriminating between +right and wrong, in its disciples. But fanaticism is so far subversive of +the most established principles of morality, that, under the dangerous +maxim, "For the advancement of the faith, all means are lawful," which +Tasso has rightly, though perhaps undesignedly, derived from the spirits +of hell, [60] it not only excuses, but enjoins the commission of the most +revolting crimes, as a sacred duty. The more repugnant, indeed, such +crimes may be to natural feeling, or public sentiment, the greater their +merit, from the sacrifice which the commission of them involves. Many a +bloody page of history attests the fact, that fanaticism, armed with +power, is the sorest evil which can befall a nation. + + * * * * * + +Don Juan Antonio Llorente is the only writer who has succeeded in +completely lifting the veil from the dread mysteries of the Inquisition. +It is obvious how very few could be competent to this task, since the +proceedings of the Holy Office were shrouded in such impenetrable secrecy, +that even the prisoners who were arraigned before it, as has been already +stated, were kept in ignorance of their own processes. Even such of its +functionaries, as have at different times pretended to give its +transactions to the world, have confined themselves to an historical +outline, with meagre notices of such parts of its internal discipline as +might be safely disclosed to the public. + +Llorente was secretary to the tribunal of Madrid from 1790 to 1792. His +official station consequently afforded him every facility for an +acquaintance with the most recondite affairs of the Inquisition; and, on +its suppression at the close of 1808, he devoted several years to a +careful investigation of the registers of the tribunals, both of the +capital and the provinces, as well as of such other original documents +contained within their archives, as had not hitherto been opened to the +light of day. In the progress of his work he has anatomized the most +odious features of the institution with unsparing severity; and his +reflections are warmed with a generous and enlightened spirit, certainly +not to have been expected in an ex-inquisitor. The arrangement of his +immense mass of materials is indeed somewhat faulty, and the work might be +recast in a more popular form, especially by means of a copious +retrenchment. With all its subordinate defects, however, it is entitled to +the credit of being the most, indeed the only, authentic history of the +modern Inquisition; exhibiting its minutest forms of practice, and the +insidious policy by which they were directed, from the origin of the +institution down to its temporary abolition. It well deserves to be +studied, as the record of the most humiliating triumph, which fanaticism +has ever been able to obtain over human reason, and that, too, during the +most civilized periods, and in the most civilized portion of the world. +The persecutions, endured by the unfortunate author of the work, prove +that the embers of this fanaticism may be rekindled too easily, even in +the present century. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Mosheim, Ecclesiastical History, translated by Maclaine, (Charlestown, +1810,) cent. 13, p. 2, chap. 5.--Sismondi, Histoire des Français, (Paris, +1821,) tom. vi. chap. 24-28; tom; vii. chap. 2, 3.--Idem, De la +Littérature du Midi de l'Europe, (Paris, 1813,) tom. i. chap. 6.--In the +former of these works M. Sismondi has described the physical ravages of +the crusades in southern France, with the same spirit and eloquence, with +which he has exhibited their desolating moral influence in the latter. + +Some Catholic writers would fain excuse St. Dominic from the imputation of +having founded the Inquisition. It is true he died some years before the +perfect organization of that tribunal; but, as he established the +principles on which, and the monkish militia by whom, it was administered, +it is doing him no injustice to regard him as its real author.--The +Sicilian Paramo, indeed, in his heavy quarto, (De Origine et Progressu +Officii Sanctae Inquisitionis, Matriti, 1598,) traces it up to a much more +remote antiquity, which, to a Protestant ear at least, savors not a little +of blasphemy. According to him, God was the first inquisitor, and his +condemnation of Adam and Eve furnished the model of the judicial forms +observed in the trials of the Holy Office. The sentence of Adam was the +type of the inquisitorial _reconciliation_; his subsequent raiment of +the skins of animals was the model of the _san-benito_, and his expulsion +from Paradise the precedent for the confiscation of the goods of heretics. +This learned personage deduces a succession of inquisitors through the +patriarchs, Moses, Nebuchadnezzar, and King David, down to John the +Baptist, and even our Saviour, in whose precepts and conduct he finds +abundant authority for the tribunal! Paramo, De Origine Inquisitionis, +lib. 1, tit. 1, 2, 3. + +[2] Sismondi, Hist. des Français, tom. vii. chap. 3.--Limborch, History of +the Inquisition, translated by Chandler, (London, 1731,) book 1, chap. +24.--Llorente, Histoire Critique de l'Inquisition d'Espagne, (Paris, +1818,) tom. i. p. 110.--Before this time we find a constitution of Peter +I. of Aragon against heretics, prescribing in certain cases the burning of +heretics and the confiscation of their estates, in 1197. Marca, Marca +Hispanica, sive Limes Hispanicus, (Parisiis, 1688,) p. 1384. + +[3] Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, tom. ii, p. 186.--Llorente, Hist. de +l'Inquisition, tom. i. pp. 110-124.--Puigblanch cites some of the +instructions from Eymerich's work, whose authority in the courts of the +Inquisition he compares to that of Gratian's Decretals in other +ecclesiastical judicatures. One of these may suffice to show the spirit of +the whole. "When the inquisitor has an opportunity, he shall manage so as +to introduce to the conversation of the prisoner some one of his +accomplices, or any other converted heretic, who shall feign that he still +persists in his heresy, telling him that he had abjured for the sole +purpose of escaping punishment, by deceiving the inquisitors. Having thus +gained his confidence, he shall go into his cell some day after dinner, +and, keeping up the conversation till night, shall remain with him under +pretext of its being too late for him to return home. He shall then urge +the prisoner to tell him all the particulars of his past life, having +first told him the whole of his own; and in the mean time spies shall be +kept in hearing at the door, as well as a notary, in order to certify what +may be said within." Puigblanch, Inquisition Unmasked, translated by +Walton, (London, 1816,) vol. i. pp. 238, 239. + +[4] Mariana, Hist. de España, lib. 12, cap. 11; lib. 21, cap. 17.-- +Llorente, Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. chap. 3.--The nature of the +penance imposed on reconciled heretics by the ancient Inquisition was much +more severe than that of later times. Llorente cites an act of St. Dominic +respecting a person of this description, named Ponce Roger. The penitent +was commanded to be "_stripped of his clothes and beaten with rods by a +priest, three Sundays in succession, from the gate of the city to the door +of the church_; not to eat any kind of animal food during his whole +life; to keep three Lents a year, without even eating fish; to abstain +from fish, oil, and wine three days in the week during life, except in +case of sickness or excessive labor; to wear a religious dress with a +small cross embroidered on each side of the breast; to attend mass every +day, if he had the means of doing so, and vespers on Sundays and +festivals; to recite the service for the day and the night, and to repeat +the _pater noster_ seven times in the day, ten times in the evening, +and _twenty times at midnight_"! (Ibid., chap. 4.) If the said Roger +failed in any of the above requisitions, he was to be burnt as a relapsed +heretic! This was the encouragement held out by St. Dominic to penitence. + +[5] Montesquieu, Esprit des Loix, liv. 28, chap. 1.--See the canon of the +17th council of Toledo, condemning the Israelitish race to bondage, in +Florez, España Sagrada, (Madrid, 1747-75,) tom. vi. p. 229.--Fuero Juzgo +(ed. de la Acad. (Madrid, 1815,) lib. 12, tit. 2 and 3,) is composed of +the most inhuman ordinances against this unfortunate people. + +[6] The Koran grants protection to the Jews on payment of tribute. See the +Koran, translated by Sale, (London, 1825,) chap. 9. + +[7] The first academy founded by the learned Jews in Spain was that of +Cordova, A. D. 948. Castro, Biblioteca Española, tom. i. p. 2.--Basnage, +History of the Jews, translated by Taylor, (London, 1708,) book 7, chap. +5. + +[8] In addition to their Talmudic lore and Cabalistic mysteries, the +Spanish Jews were well read in the philosophy of Aristotle. They pretended +that the Stagirite was a convert to Judaism and had borrowed his science +from the writings of Solomon. (Brucker, Historia Critica Philosophiae, +(Lipsiae, 1766,) tom. ii. p. 853.) M. Degerando, adopting similar +conclusions with Brucker, in regard to the value of the philosophical +speculations of the Jews, passes the following severe sentence upon the +intellectual, and indeed moral character of the nation. "Ce peuple, par +son caractère, ses moeurs, ses institutions, semblait être destiné à +rester stationnaire. Un attachement excessif à leurs propres traditions +dominait chez les Juifs tous les penchans de l'esprit: ils restaient +presque étrangers aux progrès de la civilisation, au mouvement général de +la société; ils étaient en quelque sorte moralement isolés, alors même +qu'ils communiquaient avec tous les peuples, et parcouraient toutes les +contrées. Aussi nous cherchons en vain, dans ceux de leurs écrits qui nous +sont connus, non seulement de vraies découvertes, mais même des idées +réellement originales." Histoire Comparée des Systèmes de Philosophie, +(Paris, 1822,) tom. iv. p. 299. + +[9] Castro, Biblioteca Española, tom. i. pp. 21, 33, et alibi.--Benjamin +of Tudela's celebrated Itinerary, having been translated into the various +languages of Europe, passed into sixteen editions before the middle of the +last century. Ibid., tom. i. pp. 79, 80. + +[10] The beautiful lament, which the royal psalmist has put into the +mouths of his countrymen, when commanded to sing the songs of Sion in a +strange land, cannot be applied to the Spanish Jews, who, far from hanging +their harps upon the willows, poured forth their lays with a freedom and +vivacity which may be thought to savor more of the modern troubadour than +of the ancient Hebrew minstrel. Castro has collected, under Siglo XV., a +few gleanings of such as, by their incorporation into a Christian +Cancionero, escaped the fury of the Inquisition. Biblioteca Española, tom. +i. pp. 265-364. + +[11] Castro has done for the Hebrew what Casiri a few years before did for +the Arabic literature of Spain, by giving notices of such works as have +survived the ravages of time and superstition. The first volume of his +Biblioteca Española contains an analysis accompanied with extracts from +more than seven hundred different works, with biographical sketches of +their authors; the whole bearing most honorable testimony to the talent +and various erudition of the Spanish Jews. + +[12] Basnage, History of the Jews, book 7, chap. 5, 15, 16.--Castro, +Biblioteca Española, tom. i. pp. 116, 265, 267.--Mariana, Hist. de España, +tom. i. p. 906;--tom. ii. pp. 63, 147, 459.--Samuel Levi, treasurer of +Peter the Cruel, who was sacrificed to the cupidity of his master, is +reported by Mariana to have left behind him the incredible sum of 400,000 +ducats to swell the royal coffers. Tom. ii. p. 82. + +[13] Sir Walter Scott, with his usual discernment, has availed himself of +these opposite traits in his portraits of Rebecca and Isaac in Ivanhoe, in +which he seems to have contrasted the lights and shadows of the Jewish +character. The humiliating state of the Jews, however, exhibited in this +romance, affords no analogy to their social condition in Spain; as is +evinced not merely by their wealth, which was also conspicuous in the +English Jews, but by the high degree of civilization, and even political +consequence, which, notwithstanding the occasional ebullitions of popular +prejudice, they were permitted to reach there. + +[14] Calumnies of this kind were current all over Europe. The English +reader will call to mind the monkish fiction of the little Christian, + + "Slain with cursed Jewes, as it is notable," + +singing most devoutly after his throat was cut from ear to ear, in +Chaucer's Prioresse's Tale. See another instance in the old Scottish +ballad of the "Jew's Daughter" in Percy's "Reliques of Ancient Poetry." + +[15] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 43.--Mariana, Hist. de España, +tom. ii. pp. 186, 187.--In 1391, 5000 Jews were sacrificed to the popular +fury, and, according to Mariana, no less than 10,000 perished from the +same cause in Navarre about sixty years before. See tom. i. p. 912. + +[16] According to Mariana, the restoration of sight to the blind, feet to +the lame, even life to the dead, were miracles of ordinary occurrence with +St. Vincent. (Hist. de España, tom. ii. pp. 229, 230.) The age of miracles +had probably ceased by Isabella's time, or the Inquisition might have been +spared. Nic. Antonio, in his notice of the life and labors of this +Dominican, (Bibliotheca Vetus, tom. ii. pp. 205, 207,) states that he +preached his inspired sermons in his vernacular Valencian dialect to +audiences of French, English, and Italians, indiscriminately, who all +understood him perfectly well; "a circumstance," says Dr. McCrie, in his +valuable "History of the Progress and Suppression of the Reformation in +Spain," (Edinburgh, 1829.) "which, if it prove anything, proves that the +hearers of St. Vincent possessed more miraculous powers than himself, and +that they should have been canonized, rather than the preacher." P. 87, +note. + +[17] They were interdicted from the callings of vintners, grocers, +taverners, especially of apothecaries, and of physicians, and nurses. +Ordenanças Reales, lib. 8, tit. 3, leyes 11, 15, 18. + +[18] No law was more frequently reiterated than that prohibiting the Jews +from acting as stewards of the nobility, or farmers and collectors of the +public rents. The repetition of this law shows to what extent that people +had engrossed what little was known of financial science in that day. For +the multiplied enactments in Castile against them, see Ordenanças Reales, +(lib. 8, tit. 3.) For the regulations respecting the Jews in Aragon, many +of them oppressive, particularly at the commencement of the fifteenth +century, see Fueros y Observancias del Reyno de Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1667,) +tom. i. fol. 6.--Marca Hispanica, pp. 1416, 1433.--Zurita, Anales, tom. +iii. lib. 12, cap. 45. + +[19] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 43.--Llorente, Hist. de +l'Inquisition, préf. p. 26.--A manuscript entitled _Tizon de España_, +(Brand of Spain,) tracing up many a noble pedigree to a Jewish or +Mahometan root, obtained a circulation, to the great scandal of the +country, which the efforts of the government, combined with those of the +Inquisition, have not been wholly able to suppress. Copies of it, however, +are now rarely to be met with. (Doblado, Letters from Spain, (London, +1822,) let. 2.) Clemencin notices two works with this title, one as +ancient as Ferdinand and Isabella's time, and both written by bishops. +Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. p. 125. + +[20] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 479.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, +part. 2, cap. 77. + +[21] Reyes Católicos, MS., cap, 43. Vol. I.—21. + +[22] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, ubi supra.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, +part. 2, cap. 77.--Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 386.--Mem. de la Acad. +de Hist., tom. vi. p. 44.--Llorente, tom. i. pp. 143, 145. + +Some writers are inclined to view the Spanish Inquisition, in its origin, +as little else than a political engine. Guizot remarks of the tribunal, in +one of his lectures, "Elle contenait en germe ce qu'elle est devenue; mais +elle ne l'était pas en commençant: elle fut d'abord plus politique que +religieuse, et destinée à maintenir l'ordre plutôt qu'à défendre la foi." +(Cours d'Histoire Moderne, (Paris, 1828-30,) tom. v. lec. 11.) This +statement is inaccurate in reference to Castile, where the facts do not +warrant us in imputing any other motive for its adoption than religious +zeal. The general character of Ferdinand, as well as the circumstances +under which it was introduced into Aragon, may justify the inference of a +more worldly policy in its establishment there. + +[23] Essai sur les Moeurs et l'Esprit des Nations, chap. 176. + +[24] Sigüenza, Historia de la Orden de San Gerónimo, apud Mem. de la Acad. +de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 13.--This anecdote is more characteristic of the +order than the individual. Oviedo has given a brief notice of this +prelate, whose virtues raised him from the humblest condition to the +highest posts in the church, and gained him, to quote that writer's words, +the appellation of "El sancto, ó el buen arzobispo en toda España." +Quincuagenas, MS., dial. de Talavera. + +[25] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 323. + +[26] The uniform tenderness with which the most liberal Spanish writers of +the present comparatively enlightened age, as Marina, Llorente, Clemencin, +etc., regard the memory of Isabella, affords an honorable testimony to the +unsuspected integrity of her motives. Even in relation to the Inquisition, +her countrymen would seem willing to draw a veil over her errors, or to +excuse her by charging them on the age in which she lived. + +[27] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 2. cap. 77.--Bernaldez, Reyes +Católicos, MS., cap. 43.--Llorente, Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. pp. +143-145.--Much discrepancy exists in the narratives of Pulgar, Bernaldez, +and other contemporary writers, in reference to the era of the +establishment of the modern Inquisition. I have followed Llorente, whose +chronological accuracy, here and elsewhere, rests on the most authentic +documents. + +[28] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., ubi supra.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, +part. 2, cap. 77.--I find no contemporary authority for imputing to +Cardinal Mendoza an active agency in the establishment of the Inquisition, +as is claimed for him by later writers, and especially his kinsman and +biographer, the canon Salazar de Mendoza. (Crón. del Gran Cardenal, lib. +1, cap. 49.--Monarquía, tom. i. p. 336.) The conduct of this eminent +minister in this affair seems, on the contrary, to have been equally +politic and humane. The imputation of bigotry was not cast upon it, until +the age when bigotry was esteemed a virtue. + +[29] In the interim, a caustic publication by a Jew appeared, containing +strictures on the conduct of the administration, and even on the Christian +religion, which was controverted at length by Talavera, afterwards +archbishop of Granada. The scandal occasioned by this ill-timed production +undoubtedly contributed to exacerbate the popular odium against the +Israelites. + +[30] It is worthy of remark, that the famous cortes of Toledo, assembled +but a short time previous to the above-mentioned ordinances, and which +enacted several oppressive laws in relation to the Jews, made no allusion +whatever to the proposed establishment of a tribunal, which was to be +armed with such terrific powers. + +[31] This ordinance, in which Llorente discerns the first regular +encroachment of the new tribunal on the civil jurisdiction, was aimed +partly at the Andalusian nobility, who afforded a shelter to the Jewish +fugitives. Llorente has fallen into the error, more than once, of speaking +of the count of Arcos, and marquis of Cadiz, as separate persons. The +possessor of both titles was Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, who inherited the +former of them from his father. The latter (which he afterwards made so +illustrious in the Moorish wars) was conferred on him by Henry IV., being +derived from the city of that name, which had been usurped from the crown. + +[32] The historian of Seville quotes the Latin inscription on the portal +of the edifice in which the sittings of the dread tribunal were held. Its +concluding apostrophe to the Deity is one that the persecuted might join +in, as heartily as their oppressors. "Exurge Domine; judica causam tuam; +capite nobis vulpes." Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 389. + +[33] Ordenanças Reales, lib. 8, tit. 3, ley 26. + +[34] Llorente, Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. pp. 153-159. + +[35] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 44.--Llorente, Hist. de +l'Inquisition, tom. 1, p. 160.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 164.-- +The language of Bernaldez as applied to the four statues of the +_quemadero_, "_en que_ los quemavan," is so equivocal, that it has led to +some doubts whether he meant to assert that the persons to be burnt were +enclosed in the statues, or fastened to them. Llorente's subsequent +examination has led him to discard the first horrible supposition, which +realized the fabled cruelty of Phalaris.--This monument of fanaticism +continued to disgrace Seville till 1810, when it was removed in order to +make room for the construction of a battery against the French. + +[36] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 164.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, +MS., cap. 44.--Mariana, lib. 24, cap. 17.--Llorente, Hist. de +l'Inquisition, ubi supra.--L. Marineo diffuses the 2000 capital executions +over several years. He sums up the various severities of the Holy Office +in the following gentle terms. "The church, who is the mother of mercy and +the fountain of charity, content with the imposition of penances, +generously accords life to many who do not deserve it. While those who +persist obstinately in their errors, after being imprisoned on the +testimony of trust-worthy witnesses, she causes to be put to the torture, +and condemned to the flames; some miserably perish, bewailing their +errors, and invoking the name of Christ, while others call upon that of +Moses. Many again, who sincerely repent, she, notwithstanding the +heinousness of their transgressions, _merely sentences to perpetual +imprisonment_"! Such were the tender mercies of the Spanish Inquisition. + +[37] Bernaldez states, that guards were posted at the gates of the city of +Seville in order to prevent the emigration of the Jewish inhabitants, +which indeed was forbidden under pain of death. The tribunal, however, had +greater terrors for them, and many succeeded in effecting their escape. +Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 44. + +[38] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 164.--Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, +p. 396.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 2, cap. 77.--Garibay, Compendio, +tom. ii. lib. 18, cap. 17.--Paramo, De Origine Inquisitionis, lib. 2, tit. +2, cap. 2.--Llorente, Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. pp. 163-173. + +[39] Over these subordinate tribunals Ferdinand erected a court of +supervision, with appellate jurisdiction, under the name of Council of the +Supreme, consisting of the grand inquisitor, as president, and three other +ecclesiastics, two of them doctors of law. The principal purpose of this +new creation was to secure the interest of the crown in the confiscated +property, and to guard against the encroachment of the Inquisition on +secular jurisdiction. The expedient, however, wholly failed, because most +of the questions brought before this court were determined by the +principles of the canon law, of which the grand inquisitor was to be sole +interpreter, the others having only, as it was termed, a "consultative +voice." Llorente, tom. i. pp. 173, 174.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. +324.--Riol, Informe, apud Semanario Erudito, tom. iii. pp. 156 et seq. + +[40] Puigblanch, Inquisition Unmasked, vol. i. chap. 4.--Llorente, Hist. +de l'Inquisition, tom. i. chap. 6, art. 1; chap. 9, art. 1, 2.--The +witnesses were questioned in such general terms, that they were even kept +in ignorance of the particular matter respecting which they were expected +to testify. Thus, they were asked "if they knew anything which had been +said or done contrary to the Catholic faith, and the interests of the +tribunal." Their answers often opened a new scent to the judges, and thus, +in the language of Montanus, "brought more fishes into the inquisitors' +holy angle." See Montanus, Discovery and Playne Declaration of sundry +subtill Practises of the Holy Inquisition of Spayne, Eng. trans. (London, +1569,) fol. 14. + +[41] Limborch, Inquisition, book 4, chap. 20.--Montanus, Inquisition of +Spayne, fol. 6-15.--Llorente, Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. chap. 6. +art. 1; chap. 9, art. 4-9.--Puigblanch, Inquisition Unmasked, vol. i. +chap. 4. + +[42] Llorente, Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. chap. 9, art. 7.--By a +subsequent regulation of Philip II., the repetition of torture in the same +process was strictly prohibited to the inquisitors. But they, making use +of a sophism worthy of the arch-fiend himself, contrived to evade this +law, by pretending after each new infliction, of punishment that they had +only suspended, and not terminated, the torture! + +[43] Montanus, Inquisition of Spayne, fol. 24 et seq.--Limborch, +Inquisition, vol. ii. chap. 29.--Puigblanch, Inquisition Unmasked, vol. i. +chap. 4.--Llorente, Hist. de l'Inquisition, ubi supra.--I shall spare the +reader the description of the various modes of torture, the rack, fire, +and pulley, practised by the inquisitors, which have been so often +detailed in the doleful narratives of such as have had the fortune to +escape with life from the fangs of the tribunal. If we are to believe +Llorente, these barbarities have not been decreed for a long time. Yet +some recent statements are at variance with this assertion. See, among +others, the celebrated adventurer Van Halen's "Narrative of his +Imprisonment in the Dungeons of the Inquisition at Madrid, and his Escape +in 1817-18." + +[44] The prisoner had indeed the right of challenging any witness on the +ground of personal enmity. (Llorente, Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. +chap. 9, art. 10.) But as he was kept in ignorance of the names of the +witnesses employed against him, and as even, if he conjectured right, the +degree of enmity, competent to set aside testimony, was to be determined +by his judges, it is evident that his privilege of challenge was wholly +nugatory. + +[45] Confiscation had long been decreed as the punishment of convicted +heretics by the statutes of Castile. (Ordenanças Reales, lib. 8, tit. 4.) +The avarice of the present system, however, is exemplified by the fact, +that those who confessed and sought absolution within the brief term of +grace allowed by the inquisitors from the publication of their edict, were +liable to arbitrary fines; and those who confessed after that period, +escaped with nothing short of confiscation. Llorente, Hist. de +l'Inquisition, tom. i. pp. 176, 177. + +[46] Ibid., tom. i. p. 216.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 324.--Salazar +de Mendoza, Monarquía, tom. i. fol. 337.--It is easy to discern in every +part of the odious scheme of the Inquisition the contrivance of the monks, +a class of men, cut off by their profession from the usual sympathies of +social life, and who, accustomed to the tyranny of the confessional, aimed +at establishing the same jurisdiction over thoughts, which secular +tribunals have wisely confined to actions. Time, instead of softening, +gave increased harshness to the features of the new system. The most +humane provisions were constantly evaded in practice; and the toils for +ensnaring the victim were so ingeniously multiplied, that few, very few, +were permitted to escape without some censure. Not more than one person, +says Llorente, in one or perhaps two thousand processes, previous to the +time of Philip III., received entire absolution. So that it came to be +proverbial that all who were not roasted, were at least singed. + + "Devant l'Inquisition, quand on vient à jubé, + Si l'on ne sort rôti, l'on sort au moins flambé." + +[47] Montanus, Inquisition of Spayne, fol. 46.--Puigblanch, Inquisition +Unmasked, vol. i. chap. 4.--Every reader of Tacitus and Juvenal will +remember how early the Christians were condemned to endure the penalty of +fire. Perhaps the earliest instance of burning to death for heresy in +modern times occurred under the reign of Robert of France, in the early +part of the eleventh century. (Sismondi, Hist. des Français, tom. iv. +chap. 4.) Paramo, as usual, finds authority for inquisitorial autos da fe, +where one would least expect it, in the New Testament. Among other +examples, he quotes the remark of James and John, who, when the village of +Samaria refused to admit Christ within its walls, would have called down +fire from heaven to consume its inhabitants. "Lo," says Paramo, "fire, the +punishment of heretics; for the Samaritans were the heretics of those +times." (De Origine Inquisitionis, lib. 1, tit. 3, cap. 5.) The worthy +father omits to add the impressive rebuke of our Saviour to his over- +zealous disciples. "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. The son +of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." + +[48] Puigblanch, vol. i. chap. 4.--The inquisitors, after the celebration +of an auto da fe at Guadaloupe, in 1485, wishing probably to justify these +bloody executions in the eyes of the people, who had not yet become +familiar with them, solicited a sign from the Virgin (whose shrine in that +place is noted all over Spain) in testimony of her approbation of the Holy +Office. Their petition was answered by such a profusion of miracles, that +Dr. Francis Sanctius de la Fuente, who acted as scribe on the occasion, +became out of breath, and, after recording sixty, gave up in despair, +unable to keep pace with their marvellous rapidity. Paramo, De Origine +Inquisitionis, lib. 2, tit. 2, cap. 3. + +[49] _San benito_, according to Llorente, (tom. i. p. 127,) is a +corruption of _saco bendito_, being the name given to the dresses +worn by penitents previously to the thirteenth century. + +[50] Llorente, Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. chap. 9, art. 16.-- +Puigblanch, Inquisition Unmasked, vol. i. chap. 4.--Voltaire remarks +(Essai sur les Moeurs, chap. 140) that, "An Asiatic, arriving at Madrid on +the day of an auto da fe, would doubt whether it were a festival, +religious celebration, sacrifice, or massacre;--it is all of them. They +reproach Montezuma with sacrificing human captives to the gods.--What +would he have said, had he witnessed an auto da fe?" + +[51] The government, at least, cannot be charged with remissness in +promoting this. I find two ordinances in the royal collection of +_pragmáticas_, dated in September, 1501, (there must be some error in +the date of one of them,) inhibiting, under pain of confiscation of +property, such as had been _reconciled_, and their children by the +mother's side, and grandchildren by the father's, from holding any office +in the privy council, courts of justice, or in the municipalities, or any +other place of trust or honor. They were also excluded from the vocations +of notaries, surgeons, and apothecaries. (Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 5, +6.) This was visiting the sins of the fathers, to an extent unparalleled +in modern legislation. The sovereigns might find a precedent in a law of +Sylla, excluding the children of the proscribed Romans from political +honors; thus indignantly noticed by Sallust. "Quin solus omnium, post +memoriam hominum, supplicia in post futuros composuit; _quîs prius +injuria quàm vita certa esset_." Hist. Fragments, lib. 1. + +[52] The Aragonese, as we shall see hereafter, made a manly though +ineffectual resistance, from the first, to the introduction of the +Inquisition among them by Ferdinand. In Castile, its enormous abuses +provoked the spirited interposition of the legislature at the commencement +of the following reign. But it was then too late. + +[53] 1485-6. (Llorente, Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. p. 239.)--In +Seville, with probably no greater apparatus, in 1482, 21,000 processes +were disposed of. These were the first fruits of the Jewish heresy, when +Torquemada, although an inquisitor, had not the supreme control of the +tribunal. + +[54] Llorente afterwards reduces this estimate to 8800 burnt, 96,504 +otherwise punished; the diocese of Cuença being comprehended in that of +Murcia. (Tom. iv. p. 252.) Zurita says, that, by 1520, the Inquisition of +Seville had sentenced more than 4000 persons to be burnt, and 30,000 to +other punishments. Another author whom he quotes, carries up the estimate +of the total condemned by this single tribunal, within the same term of +time, to 100,000. Anales, tom. iv. fol. 324. + +[55] By an article of the primitive instructions, the inquisitors were +required to set apart a small portion of the confiscated estates for the +education and Christian nurture of minors, children of the condemned. +Llorente says, that, in the immense number of processes, which he had +occasion to consult, he met with no instance of their attention to the +fate of these unfortunate orphans! Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. chap. +8. + +[56] Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 44.--Torquemada waged war upon freedom of +thought, in every form. In 1490, he caused several Hebrew Bibles to be +publicly burnt, and some time after, more than 6000 volumes of Oriental +learning, on the imputation of Judaism, sorcery, or heresy, at the autos +da fe of Salamanca, the very nursery of science. (Llorente, Hist. de +l'Inquisition, tom. i. chap. 8, art. 5.) This may remind one of the +similar sentence passed by Lope de Barrientos, another Dominican, about +fifty years before, upon the books of the marquis of Villena. Fortunately +for the dawning literature of Spain, Isabella did not, as was done by her +successors, commit the censorship of the press to the judges of the Holy +Office, notwithstanding such occasional assumption of power by the grand +inquisitor. + +[57] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 2, cap. 77.--L. Marineo, Cosas +Memorables, fol. 164.--The prodigious desolation of the land may be +inferred from the estimates, although somewhat discordant, of deserted +houses in Andalusia. Garibay (Compendio, lib. 18, cap. 17,) puts these at +three, Pulgar (Reyes Católicos, part. 2, cap. 77,) at four, L. Marineo +(Cosas Memorables, fol. 164,) as high as five thousand. + +[58] Llorente, Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. chap. 7, art. 8; chap. 8, +art. 6. + +[59] Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, tom. ii. p. 340.--Llorente, Hist. de +l'Inquisition, tom. i. chap. 8, art. 6. + +[60] "Per la fè--il tutto lice." Gerusalemme Liberata, cant. 4, stanza 26. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +REVIEW OF THE POLITICAL AND INTELLECTUAL CONDITION OF THE SPANISH ARABS +PREVIOUS TO THE WAR OF GRANADA. + +Conquest of Spain by the Arabs.--Cordovan Empire.--High Civilization and +Prosperity.--Its Dismemberment.--Kingdom of Granada.--Luxurious and +Chivalrous Character.--Literature of the Spanish Arabs.--Progress in +Science.--Historical Merits.--Useful Discoveries.--Poetry and Romance.-- +Influence on the Spaniards. + + +We have now arrived at the commencement of the famous war of Granada, +which terminated in the subversion of the Arabian empire in Spain, after +it had subsisted for nearly eight centuries, and with the consequent +restoration to the Castilian crown of the fairest portion of its ancient +domain. In order to a better understanding of the character of the Spanish +Arabs, or Moors, who exercised an important influence on that of their +Christian neighbors, the present chapter will be devoted to a +consideration of their previous history in the Peninsula, where they +probably reached a higher degree of civilization than in any other part of +the world. [1] + +It is not necessary to dwell upon the causes of the brilliant successes of +Mahometanism at its outset,--the dexterity with which, unlike all other +religions, it was raised upon, not against, the principles and prejudices +of preceding sects; the military spirit and discipline, which it +established among all classes, so that the multifarious nations who +embraced it, assumed the appearance of one vast, well-ordered camp; [2] +the union of ecclesiastical with civil authority intrusted to the caliphs, +which enabled them to control opinions, as absolutely as the Roman +pontiffs in their most despotic hour; [3] or lastly, the peculiar +adaptation of the doctrines of Mahomet to the character of the wild tribes +among whom they were preached. [4] It is sufficient to say, that these +latter, within a century after the coming of their apostle, having +succeeded in establishing their religion over vast regions in Asia, and on +the northern shores of Africa, arrived before the Straits of Gibraltar, +which, though a temporary, were destined to prove an ineffectual bulwark +for Christendom. + +The causes which have been currently assigned for the invasion and +conquest of Spain, even by the most credible modern historians, have +scarcely any foundation in contemporary records. The true causes are to be +found in the rich spoils offered by the Gothic monarchy, and in the thirst +of enterprise in the Saracens, which their long uninterrupted career of +victory seems to have sharpened, rather than satisfied. [5] The fatal +battle, which terminated with the slaughter of King Roderic and the flower +of his nobility, was fought in the summer of 711, on a plain washed by the +Guadalete near Xerez, about two leagues distant from Cadiz. [6] The Goths +appear never to have afterwards rallied under one head, but their broken +detachments made many a gallant stand in such strong positions as were +afforded throughout the kingdom; so that nearly three years elapsed before +the final achievement of the conquest. The policy of the conquerors, after +making the requisite allowance for the evils necessarily attending such an +invasion, [7] may be considered liberal. Such of the Christians, as chose, +were permitted to remain in the conquered territory in undisturbed +possession of their property. They were allowed to worship in their own +way; to be governed, within prescribed limits, by their own laws; to fill +certain civil offices, and serve in the army; their women were invited to +intermarry with the conquerors; [8] and, in short, they were condemned to +no other legal badge of servitude than the payment of somewhat heavier +imposts than those exacted from their Mahometan brethren. It is true the +Christians were occasionally exposed to suffering from the caprices of +despotism, and, it may be added, of popular fanaticism. [9] But, on the +whole, their condition may sustain an advantageous comparison with that of +any Christian people under the Mussulman dominion of later times, and +affords a striking contrast with that of our Saxon ancestors after the +Norman conquest, which suggests an obvious parallel in many of its +circumstances to the Saracen. [10] + +After the further progress of the Arabs in Europe had been checked by the +memorable defeat at Tours, their energies, no longer allowed to expand in +the career of conquest, recoiled on themselves, and speedily produced the +dismemberment of their overgrown empire. Spain was the first of the +provinces which fell off. The family of Omeya, under whom this revolution +was effected, continued to occupy her throne as independent princes, from +the middle of the eighth to the close of the eleventh century, a period +which forms the most honorable portion of her Arabian annals. + +The new government was modelled on the eastern caliphate. Freedom shows +itself under a variety of forms; while despotism, at least in the +institutions founded on the Koran, seems to wear but one. The sovereign +was the depositary of all power, the fountain of honor, the sole arbiter +of life and fortune. He styled himself "Commander of the Faithful," and, +like the caliphs of the east, assumed an entire spiritual as well as +temporal supremacy. The country was distributed into six +_capitanías_, or provinces, each under the administration of a _wali_, or +governor, with subordinate officers, to whom was intrusted a more +immediate jurisdiction over the principal cities. The immense authority +and pretensions of these petty satraps became a fruitful source of +rebellion in later times. The caliph administered the government with +the advice of his _mexuar_, or council of state, composed of his principal +_cadis_ and _hagibs_, or secretaries. The office of prime minister, or +chief hagib, corresponded, in the nature and variety of its functions, +with that of a Turkish grand vizier. The caliph reserved to himself the +right of selecting his successor from among his numerous progeny; and this +adoption was immediately ratified by an oath of allegiance to the heir +apparent from the principal officers of state. [11] + +The princes of the blood, instead of being condemned, as in Turkey, to +waste their youth in the seclusion of the harem, were intrusted to the +care of learned men, to be instructed in the duties befitting their +station. They were encouraged to visit the academies, which were +particularly celebrated in Cordova, where they mingled in disputation, and +frequently carried away the prizes of poetry and eloquence. Their riper +years exhibited such fruits as were to be expected from their early +education. The race of the Omeyades need not shrink from a comparison with +any other dynasty of equal length in modern Europe. Many of them amused +their leisure with poetical composition, of which numerous examples are +preserved in Conde's History; and some left elaborate works of learning, +which have maintained a permanent reputation with Arabian scholars. Their +long reigns, the first ten of which embrace a period of two centuries and +a half, their peaceful deaths, and unbroken line of succession in the same +family for so many years, show that their authority must have been founded +in the affections of their subjects. Indeed, they seem, with one or two +exceptions, to have ruled over them with a truly patriarchal sway; and, on +the event of their deaths, the people, bathed in tears, are described as +accompanying their relics to the tomb, where the ceremony was concluded +with a public eulogy on the virtues of the deceased, by his son and +successor. This pleasing moral picture affords a strong contrast to the +sanguinary scenes which so often attend the transmission of the sceptre +from one generation to another, among the nations of the east. [12] + +The Spanish caliphs supported a large military force, frequently keeping +two or three armies in the field at the same time. The flower of these +forces was a body-guard, gradually raised to twelve thousand men, one- +third of them Christians, superbly equipped, and officered by members of +the royal family. Their feuds with the eastern caliphs and the Barbary +pirates required them also to maintain a respectable navy, which was +fitted out from the numerous dock-yards that lined the coast from Cadiz to +Tarragona. + +The munificence of the Omeyades was most ostentatiously displayed in their +public edifices, palaces, mosques, hospitals, and in the construction of +commodious quays, fountains, bridges, and aqueducts, which, penetrating +the sides of the mountains, or sweeping on lofty arches across the +valleys, rivalled in their proportions the monuments of ancient Rome. +These works, which were scattered more or less over all the provinces, +contributed especially to the embellishment of Cordova, the capital of the +empire. The delightful situation of this city, in the midst of a +cultivated plain washed by the waters of the Guadalquivir, made it very +early the favorite residence of the Arabs, who loved to surround their +houses, even in the cities, with groves and refreshing fountains, so +delightful to the imagination of a wanderer of the desert. [13] The public +squares and private court-yards sparkled with _jets d'eau_, fed by +copious streams from the Sierra Morena, which, besides supplying nine +hundred public baths, were conducted into the interior of the edifices, +where they diffused a grateful coolness over the sleeping-apartments of +their luxurious inhabitants. [14] + +Without adverting to that magnificent freak of the caliphs, the +construction of the palace of Azahra, of which not a vestige now exists, +we may form a sufficient notion of the taste and magnificence of this era +from the remains of the far-famed mosque, now the cathedral of Cordova. +This building, which still covers more ground than any other church in +Christendom, was esteemed the third in sanctity by the Mahometan world, +being inferior only to the Alaksa of Jerusalem and the temple of Mecca. +Most of its ancient glories have indeed long since departed. The rich +bronze which embossed its gates, the myriads of lamps which illuminated +its aisles, have disappeared; and its interior roof of odoriferous and +curiously carved wood has been cut up into guitars and snuff-boxes. But +its thousand columns of variegated marble still remain; and its general +dimensions, notwithstanding some loose assertions to the contrary, seem to +be much the same as they were in the time of the Saracens. European +critics, however, condemn its most elaborate beauties as "heavy and +barbarous." Its celebrated portals are pronounced "diminutive, and in very +bad taste." Its throng of pillars gives it the air of "a park rather than +a temple," and the whole is made still more incongruous by the unequal +length of their shafts, being grotesquely compensated by a proportionate +variation of size in their bases and capitals, rudely fashioned after the +Corinthian order. [15] + +But if all this gives us a contemptible idea of the taste of the Saracens +at this period, which indeed, in architecture, seems to have been far +inferior to that of the later princes of Granada, we cannot but be +astonished at the adequacy of their resources to carry such magnificent +designs into execution. Their revenue, we are told in explanation, +amounted to eight millions of _mitcales_ of gold, or nearly six +millions sterling; a sum fifteen-fold greater than that which William the +Conqueror, in the subsequent century, was able to extort from his +subjects, with all the ingenuity of feudal exaction. The tone of +exaggeration, which distinguishes the Asiatic writers, entitles them +perhaps to little confidence in their numerical estimates. This immense +wealth, however, is predicated of other Mahometan princes of that age; and +their vast superiority over the Christian states of the north, in arts and +effective industry, may well account for a corresponding superiority in +their resources. + +The revenue of the Cordovan sovereigns was derived from the fifth of the +spoil taken in battle, an important item in an age of unintermitting war +and rapine; from the enormous exaction of one-tenth of the produce of +commerce, husbandry, flocks, and mines; from a capitation tax on Jews and +Christians; and from certain tolls on the transportation of goods. They +engaged in commerce on their own account, and drew from mines, which +belonged to the crown, a conspicuous part of their income. [16] + +Before the discovery of America, Spain was to the rest of Europe what her +colonies have since become, the great source of mineral wealth. The +Carthaginians, and the Romans afterwards, regularly drew from her large +masses of the precious metals. Pliny, who resided some time in the +country, relates that three of her provinces were said to have annually +yielded the incredible quantity of sixty thousand pounds of gold. [17] The +Arabs with their usual activity penetrated into these arcana of wealth. +Abundant traces of their labors are still to be met with along the barren +ridge of mountains that covers the north of Andalusia; and the diligent +Bowles has enumerated no less than five thousand of their excavations in +the kingdom or district of Jaen. [18] + +But the best mine of the caliphs was in the industry and sobriety of their +subjects. The Arabian colonies have been properly classed among the +agricultural. Their acquaintance with the science of husbandry is shown in +their voluminous treatises on the subject, and in the monuments which they +have everywhere left of their peculiar culture. The system of irrigation, +which has so long fertilized the south of Spain, was derived from them. +They introduced into the Peninsula various tropical plants and vegetables, +whose cultivation has departed with them. Sugar, which the modern +Spaniards have been obliged to import from foreign nations in large +quantities annually for their domestic consumption, until within the last +half century that they have been supplied by their island of Cuba, +constituted one of the principal exports of the Spanish Arabs. The silk +manufacture was carried on by them extensively. The Nubian geographer, in +the beginning of the twelfth century, enumerates six hundred villages in +Jaen as engaged in it, at a time when it was known to the Europeans only +from their circuitous traffic with the Greek empire. This, together with +fine fabrics of cotton and woollen, formed the staple of an active +commerce with the Levant, and especially with Constantinople, whence they +were again diffused, by means of the caravans of the north, over the +comparatively barbarous countries of Christendom. + +The population kept pace with this general prosperity of the country. It +would appear from a census instituted at Cordova, at the close of the +tenth century, that there were at that time in it six hundred temples and +two hundred thousand dwelling-houses; many of these latter being, +probably, mere huts or cabins, and occupied by separate families. Without +placing too much reliance on any numerical statements, however, we may +give due weight to the inference of an intelligent writer, who remarks +that their minute cultivation of the soil, the cheapness of their labor, +their particular attention to the most nutritious esculents, many of them +such as would be rejected by Europeans at this day, are indicative of a +crowded population, like that, perhaps, which swarms over Japan or China, +where the same economy is necessarily resorted to for the mere sustenance +of life. [19] + +Whatever consequence a nation may derive, in its own age, from physical +resources, its intellectual development will form the subject of deepest +interest to posterity. The most flourishing periods of both not +unfrequently coincide. Thus the reigns of Abderrahman the Third, Alhakem +the Second, and the regency of Almanzor, embracing the latter half of the +tenth century, during which the Spanish Arabs reached their highest +political importance, may be regarded as the period of their highest +civilization under the Omeyades; although the impulse then given carried +them forward to still further advances, in the turbulent times which +followed. This beneficent impulse is, above all, imputable to Alhakem. He +was one of those rare beings, who have employed the awful engine of +despotism in promoting the happiness and intelligence of his species. In +his elegant tastes, appetite for knowledge, and munificent patronage he +may be compared with the best of the Medici. He assembled the eminent +scholars of his time, both natives and foreigners, at his court, where he +employed them in the most confidential offices. He converted his palace +into an academy, making it the familiar resort of men of letters, at whose +conferences he personally assisted in his intervals of leisure from public +duty. He selected the most suitable persons for the composition of works +on civil and natural history, requiring the prefects of his provinces and +cities to furnish, as far as possible, the necessary intelligence. He was +a diligent student, and left many of the volumes which he read enriched +with his commentaries. Above all, he was intent upon the acquisition of an +extensive library. He invited illustrious foreigners to send him their +works, and munificently recompensed them. No donative was so grateful to +him as a book. He employed agents in Egypt, Syria, Irak, and Persia, for +collecting and transcribing the rarest manuscripts; and his vessels +returned freighted with cargoes more precious than the spices of the east. +In this way he amassed a magnificent collection, which was distributed, +according to the subjects, in various apartments of his palace; and which, +if we may credit the Arabian historians, amounted to six hundred thousand +volumes. [20] + +If all this be thought to savor too much of eastern hyperbole, still it +cannot be doubted that an amazing number of writers swarmed over the +Peninsula at this period. Casiri's multifarious catalogue bears ample +testimony to the emulation, with which not only men, but even women of the +highest rank, devoted themselves to letters; the latter contending +publicly for the prizes, not merely in eloquence and poetry, but in those +recondite studies which have usually been reserved for the other sex. The +prefects of the provinces, emulating their master, converted their courts +into academies, and dispensed premiums to poets and philosophers. The +stream of royal bounty awakened life in the remotest districts. But its +effects were especially visible in the capital. Eighty free schools were +opened in Cordova. The circle of letters and science was publicly +expounded by professors, whose reputation for wisdom attracted not only +the scholars of Christian Spain, but of Prance, Italy, Germany, and the +British Isles. For this period of brilliant illumination with the Saracens +corresponds precisely with that of the deepest barbarism of Europe; when a +library of three or four hundred volumes was a magnificent endowment for +the richest monastery; when scarcely a "priest south of the Thames," in +the words of Alfred, "could translate Latin into his mother tongue;" when +not a single philosopher, according to Tiraboschi, was to be met with in +Italy, save only the French pope Sylvester the Second, who drew his +knowledge from the schools of the Spanish Arabs, and was esteemed a +necromancer for his pains. [21] + +Such is the glowing picture presented to us of Arabian scholarship, in the +tenth and succeeding centuries, under a despotic government and a sensual +religion; and, whatever judgment may be passed on the real value of all +their boasted literature, it cannot be denied, that the nation exhibited a +wonderful activity of intellect, and an apparatus for learning (if we are +to admit their own statements) unrivalled in the best ages of antiquity. + +The Mahometan governments of that period rested on so unsound a basis, +that the season of their greatest prosperity was often followed by +precipitate decay. This had been the case with the eastern caliphate, and +was now so with the western. During the life of Alhakem's successor, the +empire of the Omeyades was broken up into a hundred petty principalities; +and their magnificent capital of Cordova, dwindling into a second-rate +city, retained no other distinction than that of being the Mecca of Spain. +These little states soon became a prey to all the evils arising out of a +vicious constitution of government and religion. Almost every accession to +the throne was contested by numerous competitors of the same family; and a +succession of sovereigns, wearing on their brows but the semblance of a +crown, came and departed, like the shadows of Macbeth. The motley tribes +of Asiatics, of whom the Spanish Arabian population was composed, regarded +each other with ill-disguised jealousy. The lawless predatory habits, +which no discipline could effectually control in an Arab, made them ever +ready for revolt. The Moslem states, thus reduced in size and crippled by +faction, were unable to resist the Christian forces, which were pressing +on them from the north. By the middle of the ninth century, the Spaniards +had reached the Douro and the Ebro. By the close of the eleventh, they had +advanced their line of conquest, under the victorious banner of the Cid, +to the Tagus. The swarms of Africans who invaded the Peninsula, during the +two following centuries, gave substantial support to their Mahometan +brethren; and the cause of Christian Spain trembled in the balance for a +moment on the memorable day of Navas de Tolosa. But the fortunate issue of +that battle, in which, according to the lying letter of Alfonso the Ninth, +"one hundred and eighty-five thousand infidels perished, and only five and +twenty Spaniards," gave a permanent ascendency to the Christian arms. The +vigorous campaigns of James the First, of Aragon, and of St. Ferdinand, of +Castile, gradually stripped away the remaining territories of Valencia, +Murcia, and Andalusia; so that, by the middle of the thirteenth century, +the constantly contracting circle of the Moorish dominion had shrunk into +the narrow limits of the province of Granada. Yet on this comparatively +small point of their ancient domain, the Saracens erected a new kingdom of +sufficient strength to resist, for more than two centuries, the united +forces of the Spanish monarchies. + +The Moorish territory of Granada contained, within a circuit of about one +hundred and eighty leagues, all the physical resources of a great empire. +Its broad valleys were intersected by mountains rich in mineral wealth, +whose hardy population supplied the state with husbandmen and soldiers. +Its pastures were fed by abundant fountains, and its coasts studded with +commodious ports, the principal marts in the Mediterranean. In the midst, +and crowning the whole, as with a diadem, rose the beautiful city of +Granada. In the days of the Moors it was encompassed by a wall, flanked by +a thousand and thirty towers, with seven portals. [22] Its population, +according to a contemporary, at the beginning of the fourteenth century, +amounted to two hundred thousand souls; [23] and various authors agree in +attesting, that, at a later period, it could send forth fifty thousand +warriors from its gates. This statement will not appear exaggerated, if we +consider that the native population of the city was greatly swelled by the +influx of the ancient inhabitants of the districts lately conquered by the +Spaniards. On the summit of one of the hills of the city was erected the +royal fortress or palace of the Alhambra, which was capable of containing +within its circuit forty thousand men. [24] The light and elegant +architecture of this edifice, whose magnificent ruins still form the most +interesting monument in Spain for the contemplation of the traveller, +shows the great advancement of the art since the construction of the +celebrated mosque of Cordova. Its graceful porticoes and colonnades, its +domes and ceilings, glowing with tints, which, in that transparent +atmosphere, have lost nothing of their original brilliancy, its airy +halls, so constructed as to admit the perfume of surrounding gardens and +agreeable ventilations of the air, and its fountains, which still shed +their coolness over its deserted courts, manifest at once the taste, +opulence, and Sybarite luxury of its proprietors. The streets are +represented to have been narrow, many of the houses lofty, with turrets of +curiously wrought larch or marble, and with cornices of shining metal, +"that glittered like stars through the dark foliage of the orange groves;" +and the whole is compared to "an enamelled vase, sparkling with hyacinths +and emeralds." [25] Such are the florid strains in which the Arabic +writers fondly descant on the glories of Granada. + +At the foot of this fabric of the genii lay the cultivated _vega_, or +plain, so celebrated as the arena, for more than two centuries, of Moorish +and Christian chivalry, every inch of whose soil may be said to have been +fertilized with human blood. The Arabs exhausted on it all their powers of +elaborate cultivation. They distributed the waters of the Xenil, which +flowed through it, into a thousand channels for its more perfect +irrigation. A constant succession of fruits and crops was obtained +throughout the year. The products of the most opposite latitudes were +transplanted there with success; and the hemp of the north grew luxuriant +under the shadow of the vine and the olive. Silk furnished the principal +staple of a traffic that was carried on through the ports of Almeria and +Malaga. The Italian cities, then rising into opulence, derived their +principal skill in this elegant manufacture from the Spanish Arabs. +Florence, in particular, imported large quantities of the raw material +from them as late as the fifteenth century. The Genoese are mentioned as +having mercantile establishments in Granada; and treaties of commerce were +entered into with this nation, as well as with the crown of Aragon. Their +ports swarmed with a motley contribution from "Europe, Africa, and the +Levant," so that "Granada," in the words of the historian, "became the +common city of all nations." "The reputation of the citizens for trust- +worthiness," says a Spanish writer, "was such, that their bare word was +more relied on, than a written contract is now among us;" and he quotes +the saying of a Catholic bishop, that "Moorish works and Spanish faith +were all that were necessary to make a good Christian." [26] + +The revenue, which was computed at twelve hundred thousand ducats, was +derived from similar, but, in some respects, heavier impositions than +those of the caliphs of Cordova. The crown, besides being possessed of +valuable plantations in the vega, imposed the onerous tax of one-seventh +on all the agricultural produce of the kingdom. The precious metals were +also obtained in considerable quantities, and the royal mint was noted for +the purity and elegance of its coin. [27] + +The sovereigns of Granada were for the most part distinguished by liberal +tastes. They freely dispensed their revenues in the protection of letters, +the construction of sumptuous public works, and, above all, in the display +of a courtly pomp, unrivalled by any of the princes of that period. Each +day presented a succession of _fêtes_ and tourneys, in which the +knight seemed less ambitious of the hardy prowess of Christian chivalry, +than of displaying his inimitable horsemanship, and his dexterity in the +elegant pastimes peculiar to his nation. The people of Granada, like those +of ancient Rome, seem to have demanded a perpetual spectacle. Life was +with them one long carnival, and the season of revelry was prolonged until +the enemy was at the gate. + +During the interval which had elapsed since the decay of the Omeyades, the +Spaniards had been gradually rising in civilization to the level of their +Saracen enemies; and, while their increased consequence secured them from +the contempt with which they had formerly been regarded by the Mussulmans, +the latter, in their turn, had not so far sunk in the scale, as to have +become the objects of the bigoted aversion, which was, in after days, so +heartily visited on them by the Spaniards. At this period, therefore, the +two nations viewed each other with more liberality, probably, than at any +previous or succeeding time. Their respective monarchs conducted their +mutual negotiations on a footing of perfect equality. We find several +examples of Arabian sovereigns visiting in person the court of Castile. +These civilities were reciprocated by the Christian princes. As late as +1463, Henry the Fourth had a personal interview with the king of Granada, +in the dominions of the latter. The two monarchs held their conference +under a splendid pavilion erected in the vega, before the gates of the +city; and, after an exchange of presents, the Spanish sovereign was +escorted to the frontiers by a body of Moorish cavaliers. These acts of +courtesy relieve in some measure the ruder features of an almost +uninterrupted warfare, that was necessarily kept up between the rival +nations. [28] + +The Moorish and Christian knights were also in the habit of exchanging +visits at the courts of their respective masters. The latter were wont to +repair to Granada to settle their affairs of honor, by personal +rencounter, in the presence of its sovereign. The disaffected nobles of +Castile, among whom Mariana especially notices the Velas and the Castros, +often sought an asylum there, and served under the Moslem banner. With +this interchange of social courtesy between the two nations, it could not +but happen that each should contract somewhat of the peculiarities natural +to the other. The Spaniard acquired something of the gravity and +magnificence of demeanor proper to the Arabian; and the latter relaxed his +habitual reserve, and, above all, the jealousy and gross sensuality, which +characterize the nations of the east. [29] + +Indeed, if we were to rely on the pictures presented to us in the Spanish +ballads or _romances_, we should admit as unreserved an intercourse +between the sexes to have existed among the Spanish Arabs, as with any +other people of Europe. The Moorish lady is represented there as an +undisguised spectator of the public festivals; while her knight, bearing +an embroidered mantle or scarf, or some other token of her favor, contends +openly in her presence for the prize of valor, mingles with her in the +graceful dance of the Zambra, or sighs away his soul in moonlight +serenades under her balcony. [30] + +Other circumstances, especially the frescoes still extant on the walls of +the Alhambra, may be cited as corroborative of the conclusions afforded by +the _romances_, implying a latitude in the privileges accorded to the +sex, similar to that in Christian countries, and altogether alien from the +genius of Mahometanism. [31] The chivalrous character ascribed to the +Spanish Moslems appears, moreover, in perfect conformity to this. Thus +some of their sovereigns, we are told, after the fatigues of the +tournament, were wont to recreate their spirits with "elegant poetry, and +florid discourses of amorous and knightly history." The ten qualities, +enumerated as essential to a true knight, were "piety, valor, courtesy, +prowess, the gifts of poetry and eloquence, and dexterity in the +management of the horse, the sword, lance, and bow." [32] The history of +the Spanish Arabs, especially in the latter wars of Granada, furnishes +repeated examples not merely of the heroism, which distinguished the +European chivalry of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, but +occasionally of a polished courtesy, that might have graced a Bayard or a +Sidney. This combination of Oriental magnificence and knightly prowess +shed a ray of glory over the closing days of the Arabian empire in Spain, +and served to conceal, though it could not correct, the vices which it +possessed in common with all Mahometan institutions. + +The government of Granada was not administered with the same tranquillity +as that of Cordova. Revolutions were perpetually occurring, which may be +traced sometimes to the tyranny of the prince, but more frequently to the +factions of the seraglio, the soldiery, or the licentious populace of the +capital. The latter, indeed, more volatile than the sands of the deserts +from which they originally sprung, were driven by every gust of passion +into the most frightful excesses, deposing and even assassinating their +monarchs, violating their palaces, and scattering abroad their beautiful +collections and libraries; while the kingdom, unlike that of Cordova, was +so contracted in its extent, that every convulsion of the capital was felt +to its farthest extremities. Still, however, it held out, almost +miraculously, against the Christian arms, and the storms that beat upon it +incessantly, for more than two centuries, scarcely wore away anything from +its original limits. + +Several circumstances may be pointed out as enabling Granada to maintain +this protracted resistance. Its concentrated population furnished such +abundant supplies of soldiers, that its sovereigns could bring into the +field an army of a hundred thousand men. [33] Many of these were drawn +from the regions of the Alpuxarras, whose rugged inhabitants had not been +corrupted by the soft effeminacy of the plains. The ranks were +occasionally recruited, moreover, from the warlike tribes of Africa. The +Moors of Granada are praised by their enemies for their skill with the +cross-bow, to the use of which they were trained from childhood. [34] But +their strength lay chiefly in their cavalry. Their spacious vegas afforded +an ample field for the display of their matchless horsemanship; while the +face of the country, intersected by mountains and intricate defiles, gave +a manifest advantage to the Arabian light-horse over the steel-clad +cavalry of the Christians, and was particularly suited to the wild +_guerilla_ warfare, in which the Moors so much excelled. During the +long hostilities of the country, almost every city had been converted into +a fortress. The number of these fortified places in the territory of +Granada was ten times as great as is now to be found throughout the whole +Peninsula. [35] Lastly, in addition to these means of defence, may be +mentioned their early acquaintance with gunpowder, which, like the Greek +fire of Constantinople, contributed perhaps in some degree to prolong +their precarious existence beyond its natural term. + +But, after all, the strength of Granada, like that of Constantinople, lay +less in its own resources than in the weakness of its enemies, who, +distracted by the feuds of a turbulent aristocracy, especially during the +long minorities with which Castile was afflicted, perhaps, more than any +other nation in Europe, seemed to be more remote from the conquest of +Granada at the death of Henry the Fourth, than at that of St. Ferdinand in +the thirteenth century. Before entering on the achievement of this +conquest by Ferdinand and Isabella, it may not be amiss to notice the +probable influence exerted by the Spanish Arabs on European civilization. + +Notwithstanding the high advances made by the Arabians in almost every +branch of learning, and the liberal import of certain sayings ascribed to +Mahomet, the spirit of his religion was eminently unfavorable to letters. +The Koran, whatever be the merit of its literary execution, does not, we +believe, contain a single precept in favor of general science. [36] +Indeed, during the first century after its promulgation, almost as little +attention was bestowed upon this by the Saracens, as in their "days of +ignorance," as the period is stigmatized which preceded the advent of +their apostle. [37] But, after the nation had reposed from its tumultuous +military career, the taste for elegant pleasures, which naturally results +from opulence and leisure, began to flow in upon it. It entered upon this +new field with all its characteristic enthusiasm, and seemed ambitious of +attaining the same pre-eminence in science, that it had already reached in +arms. + +It was at the commencement of this period of intellectual fermentation, +that the last of the Omeyades, escaping into Spain, established there the +kingdom of Cordova, and imported along with him the fondness for luxury +and letters that had begun to display itself in the capitals of the east. +His munificent spirit descended upon his successors; and, on the breaking +up of the empire, the various capitals, Seville, Murcia, Malaga, Granada, +and others, which rose upon its ruins, became the centres of so many +intellectual systems, that continued to emit a steady lustre through the +clouds and darkness of succeeding centuries. The period of this literary +civilization reached far into the fourteenth century, and thus, embracing +an interval of six hundred years, may be said to have exceeded in duration +that of any other literature, ancient or modern. + +There were several auspicious circumstances in the condition of the +Spanish Arabs, which distinguished them from their Mahometan brethren. The +temperate climate of Spain was far more propitious to robustness and +elasticity of intellect than the sultry regions of Arabia and Africa. Its +long line of coast and convenient havens opened to it an enlarged +commerce. Its number of rival states encouraged a generous emulation, like +that which glowed in ancient Greece and modern Italy; and was infinitely +more favorable to the development of the mental powers than the far- +extended and sluggish empires of Asia. Lastly, a familiar intercourse with +the Europeans served to mitigate in the Spanish Arabs some of the more +degrading superstitions incident to their religion, and to impart to them +nobler ideas of the independence and moral dignity of man, than are to be +found in the slaves of eastern despotism. + +Under these favorable circumstances, provisions for education were +liberally multiplied, colleges, academies, and gymnasiums springing up +spontaneously, as it were, not merely in the principal cities, but in the +most obscure villages of the country. No less than fifty of these colleges +or schools could be discerned scattered over the suburbs and populous +plain of Granada. Seventy public libraries, if we may credit the report, +were counted within the narrow limits of the Moslem territory. Every place +of note seems to have furnished materials for a literary history. The +copious catalogues of writers, still extant in the Escurial, show how +extensively the cultivation of science was pursued, even through its +minutest subdivisions; while a biographical notice of blind men, eminent +for their scholarship in Spain, proves how far the general avidity for +knowledge triumphed over the most discouraging obstacles of nature. [38] + +The Spanish Arabs emulated their countrymen of the east in their devotion +to natural and mathematical science. They penetrated into the remotest +regions of Africa and Asia, transmitting an exact account of their +proceedings to the national academies. They contributed to astronomical +knowledge by the number and accuracy of their observations, and by the +improvement of instruments and the erection of observatories, of which the +noble tower of Seville is one of the earliest examples. They furnished +their full proportion in the department of history, which, according to an +Arabian author cited by D'Herbelot, could boast of thirteen hundred +writers. The treatises on logic and metaphysics amount to one-ninth of the +surviving treasures of the Escurial; and, to conclude this summary of +naked details, some of their scholars appear to have entered upon as +various a field of philosophical inquiry, as would be crowded into a +modern encyclopaedia. [39] + +The results, it must be confessed, do not appear to have corresponded with +this magnificent apparatus and unrivalled activity of research. The mind +of the Arabians was distinguished by the most opposite characteristics, +which sometimes, indeed, served to neutralize each other. An acute and +subtile perception was often clouded by mysticism and abstraction. They +combined a habit of classification and generalization, with a marvellous +fondness for detail; a vivacious fancy with a patience of application, +that a German of our day might envy; and, while in fiction they launched +boldly into originality, indeed extravagance, they were content in +philosophy to tread servilely in the track of their ancient masters. They +derived their science from versions of the Greek philosophers; but, as +their previous discipline had not prepared them for its reception, they +were oppressed rather than stimulated by the weight of the inheritance. +They possessed an indefinite power of accumulation, but they rarely +ascended to general principles, or struck out new and important truths; at +least, this is certain in regard to their metaphysical labors. + +Hence Aristotle, who taught them to arrange what they had already +acquired, rather than to advance to new discoveries, became the god of +their idolatry. They piled commentary on commentary, and, in their blind +admiration of his system, may be almost said to have been more of +Peripatetics than the Stagirite himself. The Cordovan Averroes was the +most eminent of his Arabian commentators, and undoubtedly contributed more +than any other individual to establish the authority of Aristotle over the +reason of mankind for so many ages. Yet his various illustrations have +served, in the opinion of European critics, to darken rather than +dissipate the ambiguities of his original, and have even led to the +confident assertion that he was wholly unacquainted with the Greek +language. [40] + +The Saracens gave an entirely new face to pharmacy and chemistry. They +introduced a great variety of salutary medicaments into Europe. The +Spanish Arabs, in particular, are commended by Sprengel above their +brethren for their observations on the practice of medicine. [41] But +whatever real knowledge they possessed was corrupted by their inveterate +propensity for mystical and occult science. They too often exhausted both +health and fortune in fruitless researches after the elixir of life and +the philosopher's stone. Their medical prescriptions were regulated by the +aspect of the stars. Their physics were debased by magic, their chemistry +degenerated into alchemy, their astronomy into astrology. + +In the fruitful field of history, their success was even more equivocal. +They seem to have been wholly destitute of the philosophical spirit, which +gives life to this kind of composition. They were the disciples of +fatalism and the subjects of a despotic government. Man appeared to them +only in the contrasted aspects of slave and master. What could they know +of the finer moral relations, or of the higher energies of the soul, which +are developed only under free and beneficent institutions? Even could they +have formed conceptions of these, how would they have dared to express +them? Hence their histories are too often mere barren chronological +details, or fulsome panegyrics on their princes, unenlivened by a single +spark of philosophy or criticism. + +Although the Spanish Arabs are not entitled to the credit of having +wrought any important revolution in intellectual or moral science, they +are commended by a severe critic, as exhibiting in their writings "the +germs of many theories, which have been reproduced as discoveries in later +ages," [42] and they silently perfected several of those useful arts, +which have had a sensible influence on the happiness and improvement of +mankind. Algebra and the higher mathematics were taught in their schools, +and thence diffused over Europe. The manufacture of paper, which, since +the invention of printing, has contributed so essentially to the rapid +circulation of knowledge, was derived through them. Casiri has discovered +several manuscripts of cotton paper in the Escurial as early as 1009, and +of linen paper of the date of 1106; [43] the origin of which latter fabric +Tiraboschi has ascribed to an Italian of Trevigi, in the middle of the +fourteenth century. [44] Lastly, the application of gunpowder to military +science, which has wrought an equally important revolution, though of a +more doubtful complexion, in the condition of society, was derived through +the same channel. [45] + +The influence of the Spanish Arabs, however, is discernible not so much in +the amount of knowledge, as in the impulse, which they communicated to the +long-dormant energies of Europe. Their invasion was coeval with the +commencement of that night of darkness, which divides the modern from the +ancient world. The soil had been impoverished by long, assiduous +cultivation. The Arabians came like a torrent, sweeping down and +obliterating even the land-marks of former civilization, but bringing with +it a fertilizing principle, which, as the waters receded, gave new life +and loveliness to the landscape. The writings of the Saracens were +translated and diffused throughout Europe. Their schools were visited by +disciples, who, roused from their lethargy, caught somewhat of the +generous enthusiasm of their masters; and a healthful action was given to +the European intellect, which, however ill-directed at first, was thus +prepared for the more judicious and successful efforts of later times. + +It is comparatively easy to determine the value of the scientific labors +of a people, for truth is the same in all languages; but the laws of taste +differ so widely in different nations, that it requires a nicer +discrimination to pronounce fairly upon such works as are regulated by +them. Nothing is more common than to see the poetry of the east condemned +as tumid, over-refined, infected with meretricious ornament and conceits, +and, in short, as every way contravening the principles of good taste. Few +of the critics, who thus peremptorily condemn, are capable of reading a +line of the original. The merit of poetry, however, consists so much in +its literary execution, that a person, to pronounce upon it, should be +intimately acquainted with the whole import of the idiom in which it is +written. The style of poetry, indeed of all ornamental writing, whether +prose or verse, in order to produce a proper effect, must be raised or +relieved, as it were, upon the prevailing style of social intercourse. +Even where this is highly figurative and impassioned, as with the +Arabians, whose ordinary language is made up of metaphor, that of the poet +must be still more so. Hence the tone of elegant literature varies so +widely in different countries, even in those of Europe, which approach the +nearest to each other in their principles of taste, that it would be found +extremely difficult to effect a close translation of the most admired +specimens of eloquence from the language of one nation into that of any +other. A page of Boccaccio or Bembo, for instance, done into literal +English, would have an air of intolerable artifice and verbiage. The +choicest morsels of Massillon, Bossuet, or the rhetorical Thomas, would +savor marvellously of bombast; and how could we in any degree keep pace +with the magnificent march of the Castilian! Yet surely we are not to +impugn the taste of all these nations, who attach much more importance, +and have paid (at least this is true of the French and Italian) much +greater attention to the mere beauties of literary finish, than English +writers. + +Whatever may be the sins of the Arabians on this head, they are certainly +not those of negligence. The Spanish Arabs, in particular, were noted for +the purity and elegance of their idiom; insomuch that Casiri affects to +determine the locality of an author by the superior refinement of his +style. Their copious philological and rhetorical treatises, their arts of +poetry, grammars, and rhyming dictionaries, show to what an excessive +refinement they elaborated the art of composition. Academies, far more +numerous than those of Italy, to which they subsequently served for a +model, invited by their premiums frequent competitions in poetry and +eloquence. To poetry, indeed, especially of the tender kind, the Spanish +Arabs seem to have been as indiscriminately addicted as the Italians in +the time of Petrarch; and there was scarcely a doctor in church or state, +but at some time or other offered up his amorous incense on the altar of +the muse. [46] + +With all this poetic feeling, however, the Arabs never availed themselves +of the treasures of Grecian eloquence, which lay open before them. Not a +poet or orator of any eminence in that language seems to have been +translated by them. [47] The temperate tone of Attic composition appeared +tame to the fervid conceptions of the east. Neither did they venture upon +what in Europe are considered the higher walks of the art, the drama and +the epic. [48] None of their writers in prose or verse show much attention +to the development or dissection of character. Their inspiration exhaled +in lyrical effusions, in elegies, epigrams, and idyls. They sometimes, +moreover, like the Italians, employed verse as the vehicle of instruction +in the grave and recondite sciences. The general character of their poetry +is bold, florid, impassioned, richly colored with imagery, sparkling with +conceits and metaphors, and occasionally breathing a deep tone of moral +sensibility, as in some of the plaintive effusions ascribed by Conde to +the royal poets of Cordova. The compositions of the golden age of the +Abassides, and of the preceding period, do not seem to have been infected +with the taint of exaggeration, so offensive to a European, which +distinguishes the later productions in the decay of the empire. + +Whatever be thought of the influence of the Arabic on European literature +in general, there can be no reasonable doubt that it has been considerable +on the Provençal and the Castilian. In the latter especially, so far from +being confined to the vocabulary, or to external forms of composition, it +seems to have penetrated deep into its spirit, and is plainly discernible +in that affectation of stateliness and Oriental hyberbole, which +characterizes Spanish writers even at the present day; in the subtilties +and conceits with which the ancient Castilian verse is so liberally +bespangled; and in the relish for proverbs and prudential maxims, which is +so general that it may be considered national. [49] + +A decided effect has been produced on the romantic literature of Europe by +those tales of fairy enchantment, so characteristic of Oriental genius, +and in which it seems to have revelled with uncontrolled delight. These +tales, which furnished the principal diversion of the East, were imported +by the Saracens into Spain; and we find the monarchs of Cordova solacing +their leisure hours with listening to their _rawis_, or novelists, who +sang to them. + + "Of ladye-love and war, romance, and knightly worth." [50] + +The same spirit, penetrating into France, stimulated the more sluggish +inventions of the _trouvère_, and, at a later and more polished period, +called forth the imperishable creations of the Italian muse. [51] + +It is unfortunate for the Arabians, that their literature should be locked +up in a character and idiom so difficult of access to European scholars. +Their wild, imaginative poetry, scarcely capable of transfusion into a +foreign tongue, is made known to us only through the medium of bald prose +translation, while their scientific treatises have been done into Latin +with an inaccuracy, which, to make use of a pun of Casiri's, merits the +name of perversions rather than versions of the originals. [52] How +obviously inadequate, then, are our means of forming any just estimate of +their literary merits! It is unfortunate for them, moreover, that the +Turks, the only nation, which, from an identity of religion and government +with the Arabs, as well as from its political consequence, would seem to +represent them on the theatre of modern Europe, should be a race so +degraded; one which, during the five centuries that it has been in +possession of the finest climate and monuments of antiquity, has so seldom +been quickened into a display of genius, or added so little of positive +value to the literary treasures descended from its ancient masters. Yet +this people, so sensual and sluggish, we are apt to confound in +imagination with the sprightly, intellectual Arab. Both indeed have been +subjected to the influence of the same degrading political and religious +institutions, which on the Turks have produced the results naturally to +have been expected; while the Arabians, on the other hand, exhibit the +extraordinary phenomenon of a nation, under all these embarrassments, +rising to a high degree of elegance and intellectual culture. + +The empire, which once embraced more than half of the ancient world, has +now shrunk within its original limits; and the Bedouin wanders over his +native desert as free, and almost as uncivilized, as before the coming of +his apostle. The language, which was once spoken along the southern shores +of the Mediterranean and the whole extent of the Indian Ocean, is broken +up into a variety of discordant dialects. Darkness has again settled over +those regions of Africa, which were illumined by the light of learning. +The elegant dialect of the Koran is studied as a dead language, even in +the birth-place of the prophet. Not a printing-press at this day is to be +found throughout the whole Arabian Peninsula. Even in Spain, in Christian +Spain, alas! the contrast is scarcely less degrading. A death-like torpor +has succeeded to her former intellectual activity. Her cities are emptied +of the population with which they teemed in the days of the Saracens. Her +climate is as fair, but her fields no longer bloom with the same rich and +variegated husbandry. Her most interesting monuments are those constructed +by the Arabs; and the traveller, as he wanders amid their desolate, but +beautiful ruins, ponders on the destinies of a people, whose very +existence seems now to have been almost as fanciful as the magical +creations in one of their own fairy tales. + + * * * * + +Notwithstanding the history of the Arabs is so intimately connected with +that of the Spaniards, that it may be justly said to form the reverse side +of it, and notwithstanding the amplitude of authentic documents in the +Arabic tongue to be found in the public libraries, the Castilian writers, +even the most eminent, until the latter half of the last century, with an +insensibility which can be imputed to nothing else but a spirit of +religious bigotry, have been content to derive their narratives +exclusively from national authorities. A fire, which, occurred in the +Escurial in 1671, having consumed more than three-quarters of the +magnificent collection of eastern manuscripts which it contained, the +Spanish government, taking some shame to itself, as it would appear, for +its past supineness, caused a copious catalogue of the surviving volumes, +to the number of 1850, to be compiled by the learned Casiri; and the +result was his celebrated work, "Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispana +Escurialensis," which appeared in the years 1760-70, and which would +reflect credit from the splendor of its typographical execution on any +press of the present day. This work, although censured by some later +Orientalists as hasty and superficial, must ever be highly valued as +affording the only complete index to the rich repertory of Arabian +manuscripts in the Escurial, and for the ample evidence which it exhibits +of the science and mental culture of the Spanish Arabs. Several other +native scholars, among whom Andres and Masdeu may be particularly noticed, +have made extensive researches into the literary history of this people. +Still, their political history, so essential to a correct knowledge of the +Spanish, was comparatively neglected, until Senor Conde, the late learned +librarian of the Academy, who had given ample evidence of his Oriental +learning in his version and illustrations of the Nubian Geographer, and a +Dissertation on Arabic Coins published in the fifth volume of the Memoirs +of the Royal Academy of History, compiled his work entitled "Historia de +la Dominacion de los Arabes en España." The first volume appeared in 1820. +Bat unhappily the death of its author, occurring in the autumn of the same +year, prevented the completion of his design. The two remaining volumes, +however, were printed in the course of that and the following year from +his own manuscripts; and although their comparative meagreness and +confused chronology betray the want of the same paternal hand, they +contain much interesting information. The relation of the conquest of +Granada, especially, with which the work concludes, exhibits some +important particulars in a totally different point of view from that in +which they had been presented by the principal Spanish historians. + +The first volume, which may be considered as having received the last +touches of its author, embraces a circumstantial narrative of the great +Saracen invasion, of the subsequent condition of Spain under the viceroys, +and of the empire of the Omeyades; undoubtedly the most splendid portion +of Arabian annals, but the one, unluckily, which has been most copiously +illustrated in the popular work compiled by Cardonne from the Oriental +manuscripts in the Royal Library at Paris. But as this author has followed +the Spanish and the Oriental authorities, indiscriminately, no part of his +book can be cited as a genuine Arabic version, except indeed the last +sixty pages, comprising the conquest of Granada, which Cardonne professes +in his Preface to have drawn exclusively from an Arabian manuscript. +Conde, on the other hand, professes to have adhered to his originals with +such scrupulous fidelity, that "the European reader may feel that he is +perusing an Arabian author;" and certainly very strong internal evidence +is afforded of the truth of this assertion, in the peculiar national and +religious spirit which pervades the work, and in a certain florid +gasconade of style, common with the Oriental writers. It is this fidelity +that constitutes the peculiar value of Conde's narrative. It is the first +time that the Arabians, at least those of Spain, the part of the nation +which reached the highest degree of refinement, have been allowed to speak +for themselves. The history, or rather tissue of histories, embodied in +the translation, is certainly conceived in no very philosophical spirit, +and contains, as might be expected from an Asiatic pen, little for the +edification of a European reader on subjects of policy and government. The +narrative is, moreover, encumbered with frivolous details and a barren +muster-roll of names and titles, which would better become a genealogical +table than a history. But, with every deduction, it must be allowed to +exhibit a sufficiently clear view of the intricate conflicting relations +of the petty principalities, which swarmed over the Peninsula; and to +furnish abundant evidence of a wide-spread intellectual improvement amid +all the horrors of anarchy and a ferocious despotism. The work has already +been translated, or rather paraphrased, into French. The necessity of an +English version will doubtless be in a great degree superseded by the +History of the Spanish Arabs, preparing for the Cabinet Cyclopaedia, by +Mr. Southey,--a writer, with whom few Castilian scholars will be willing +to compete, even on their own ground; and who is, happily, not exposed to +the national or religious prejudices, which can interfere with his +rendering perfect justice to his subject. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] See Introduction, Section I. Note 2, of this History. + +[2] The Koran, in addition to the repeated assurances of Paradise to the +martyr who falls in battle, contains the regulations of a precise military +code. Military service in some shape or other is exacted from all. The +terms to be prescribed to the enemy and the vanquished, the division of +the spoil, the seasons of lawful truce, the conditions on which the +comparatively small number of exempts are permitted to remain at home, are +accurately defined. (Sale's Koran, chap. 2, 8, 9, et alibi.) When the +_algihed_, or Mahometan crusade, which, in its general design and +immunities, bore a close resemblance to the Christian, was preached in the +mosque, every true believer was bound to repair to the standard of his +chief. "The holy war," says one of the early Saracen generals, "is the +ladder of Paradise. The Apostle of God styled himself the son of the +sword. He loved to repose in the shadow of banners and on the field of +battle." + +[3] The successors, caliphs or vicars, as they were styled, of Mahomet, +represented both his spiritual and temporal authority. Their office +involved almost equally ecclesiastical and military functions. It was +their duty to lead the army in battle, and on the pilgrimage to Mecca. +They were to preach a sermon, and offer up public prayers in the mosques +every Friday. Many of their prerogatives resemble those assumed anciently +by the popes. They conferred investitures on the Moslem princes by the +symbol of a ring, a sword, or a standard. They complimented them with the +titles of "defender of the faith," "column of religion," and the like. The +proudest potentate held the bridle of their mules, and paid his homage by +touching their threshold with his forehead. The authority of the caliphs +was in this manner founded on opinion no less than on power; and their +ordinances, however frivolous or iniquitous in themselves, being enforced, +as it were, by a divine sanction, became laws which it was sacrilege to +disobey. See D'Herbelot, Bibliothèque Orientale, (La Haye, 1777-9,) voce +_Khalifah_. + +[4] The character of the Arabs before the introduction of Islam, like that +of most rude nations, is to be gathered from their national songs and +romances. The poems suspended at Mecca, familiar to us in the elegant +version of Sir William Jones, and still more, the recent translation of +"Antar," a composition indeed of the age of Al Raschid, but wholly devoted +to the primitive Bedouins, present us with a lively picture of their +peculiar habits, which, notwithstanding the influence of a temporary +civilization, may be thought to bear great resemblance to those of their +descendants at the present day. + +[5] Startling as it may be, there is scarcely a vestige of any of the +particulars, circumstantially narrated by the national historians +(Mariana, Zurita, Abarca, Moret, etc.) as the immediate causes of the +subversion of Spain, to be found in the chronicles of the period. No +intimation of the persecution, or of the treason, of the two sons of +Witiza is to be met with in any Spanish writer, as far as I know, until +nearly two centuries after the conquest; none earlier than this, of the +defection of Archbishop Oppas, during the fatal conflict near Xerez; and +none of the tragical amours of Roderic and the revenge of count Julian, +before the writers of the thirteenth century. Nothing indeed can be more +jejune than the original narratives of the invasion. The continuation of +the Chronicon del Biclarense, and the Chronicon de Isidoro Pacense or de +Beja, which are contained in the voluminous collection of Florez, (España +Sagrada, tom. vi. and viii.) afford the only histories contemporary with +the event. Conde is mistaken in his assertion (Dominacion de los Arabes, +Pról. p. vii.), that the work of Isidoro de Beja was the only narrative +written during that period. Spain had not the pen of a Bede or an Eginhart +to describe the memorable catastrophe. But the few and meagre touches of +the contemporary chroniclers have left ample scope for conjectural +history, which has been most industriously improved. + +The reports, according to Conde, (Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. i. p. +36,) greedily circulated among the Saracens, of the magnificence and +general prosperity of the Gothic monarchy, may sufficiently account for +its invasion by an enemy flushed with uninterrupted conquests, and whose +fanatical ambition was well illustrated by one of their own generals, who, +on reaching the western extremity of Africa, plunged his horse into the +Atlantic, and sighed for other shores on which to plant the banners of +Islam. See Cardonne, Histoire de l'Afrique et de l'Espagne sous la +Domination des Arabes, (Paris, 1765,) tom. i. p. 37. + +[6] The laborious diligence of Masdeu may be thought to have settled the +epoch, about which so much learned dust has been raised. The fourteenth +volume of his Historia Crítica de España y de la Cultura Española (Madrid, +1783-1805) contains an accurate table, by which the minutest dates of the +Mahometan lunar year are adjusted by those of the Christian era. The fall +of Roderic on the field of battle is attested by both the domestic +chroniclers of that period, as well as by the Saracens. (Incerti Auctoris +Additio ad Joannem Biclarensem, apud Florez, España Sagrada, tom. vi. p. +430.--Isidori Pacensis Episcopi Chronicon, apud Florez, España Sagrada, +tom. viii. p. 290.) The tales of the ivory and marble chariot, of the +gallant steed Orelia and magnificent vestments of Roderic, discovered +after the fight on the banks of the Guadalete, of his probable escape and +subsequent seclusion among the mountains of Portugal, which have been +thought worthy of Spanish history, have found a much more appropriate +place in their romantic national ballads, as well as in the more elaborate +productions of Scott and Southey. + +[7] "Whatever curses," says an eye-witness, whose meagre diction is +quickened on this occasion into something like sublimity, "whatever curses +were denounced by the prophets of old against Jerusalem, whatever fell +upon ancient Babylon, whatever miseries Rome inflicted upon the glorious +company of the martyrs, all these were visited upon the once happy and +prosperous, but now desolated Spain." Pacensis Chronicon, apud Florez, +España Sagrada, tom. viii. p. 292. + +[8] The frequency of this alliance may be inferred from an extraordinary, +though, doubtless, extravagant statement cited by Zurita. The ambassadors +of James II., of Aragon, in 1311, represented to the sovereign pontiff, +Clement V., that, of the 200,000 souls, which then composed the population +of Granada, there were not more than 500 of pure Moorish descent. Anales, +tom. iv. fol. 314. + +[9] The famous persecutions of Cordova under the reigns of Abderrahman II. +and his son, which, to judge from the tone of Castilian writers, might vie +with those of Nero and Diocletian, are admitted by Morales (Obras, tom. x. +p. 74) to have occasioned the destruction of only forty individuals. Most +of these unhappy fanatics solicited the crown of martyrdom by an open +violation of the Mahometan laws and usages. The details are given by +Florez, in the tenth volume of his collection. + +[10] Bleda, Corónica de los Moros de España, (Valencia, 1618,) lib. 2, +cap. 16, 17.--Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. i. pp. 83 et +seq. 179.--Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, Pról., p. vii. and tom. i. pp. +29-54, 75, 87.--Morales, Obras, tom. vi. pp. 407-417; tom. vii. pp. 262- +264.--Florez, España Sagrada, tom. x. pp. 237-270.--Fuero Juzgo, Int. p. +40. + +[11] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, part. 2, cap. 1-46. + +[12] Ibid., ubi supra.--Masdeu, Historia Crítica, tom. xiii. pp. 178, 187. + +[13] The same taste is noticed at the present day, by a traveller, whose +pictures glow with the warm colors of the east. "Aussi dès que vous +approchez, en Europe ou en Asie, d'une terre possédée par les Musulmans, +vous la reconnaissez de loin au riche et sombre voile de verdure qui +flotte gracieusement sur elle:--des arbres pour s'asseoir à leur ombre, +des fontaines jaillissantes pour rêver à leur bruit, du silence et des +mosquées aux légers minarets, s'élevant à chaque pas du sein d'une terre +pieuse." Lamartine, Voyage en Orient, tome i. p. 172. + +[14] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. i. pp. 199, 265, 284, 285, 417, +446, 447, et alibi.--Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. i. pp. +227-230 et seq. + +[15] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. i. pp. 211, 212, 226.-- +Swinburne, Travels through Spain, (London, 1787,) let. 35.--Xerif Aledris, +conocido por El Nubiense, Descripcion de España, con Traduccion y Notas de +Conde, (Madrid, 1799,) pp. 161, 162.--Morales, Obras, tom. x. p. 61.-- +Chénier, Recherches Historiques sur les Maures, et Histoire de l'Empire de +Maroc, (Paris, 1787,) tom. ii. p. 312.--Laborde, Itinéraire, tome iii. p. +226. + +[16] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. i. pp 214, 228, 270, 611.-- +Masdeu, Historia Crítica, tom. xiii. p. 118.--Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et +d'Espagne, tom. i. pp. 338-343.--Casiri quotes from an Arabic historian +the conditions on which Abderrahman I. proffered his alliance to the +Christian princes of Spain, viz. the annual tribute of 10,000 ounces of +gold, 10,000 pounds of silver, 10,000 horses, etc., etc. The absurdity of +this story, inconsiderately repeated by historians, if any argument were +necessary to prove it, becomes sufficiently manifest from the fact, that +the instrument is dated in the 142d year of the Hegira, being a little +more than fifty years after the conquest. See Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispana +Escurialensis, (Matriti, 1760,) tom. ii. p. 104. + +[17] Hist. Naturalis, lib. 33, cap. 4. + +[18] Introduction à l'Histoire Naturelle de l'Espagne, traduite par +Flavigny, (Paris, 1776,) p. 411. + +[19] See a sensible essay by the Abbé Correa da Serra on the husbandry of +the Spanish Arabs, contained in tom. i. of Archives Littéraires de +l'Europe, (Paris, 1804.)--Masdeu, Historia Crítica, tom. xiii. pp. 115, +117, 127, 131.--Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. i. cap. 44.--Casiri, +Bibliotheca Escurialensis, tom. i. p. 338. + +An absurd story has been transcribed from Cardonne, with little +hesitation, by almost every succeeding writer upon this subject. According +to him, (Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. i. p. 338,) "the banks of the +Guadalquivir were lined with no less than twelve thousand villages and +hamlets." The length of the river, not exceeding three hundred miles, +would scarcely afford room for the same number of farm-houses. Conde's +version of the Arabic passage represents twelve thousand hamlets, farms, +and castles, to have "been scattered over the regions watered by the +Gaudalquivir;" indicating by this indefinite statement nothing more than +the extreme populousness of the province of Andalusia. + +[20] Casiri, Bibliotheca Escurialensis, tom. ii. pp. 38, 202.--Conde, +Dominacion de los Arabes, part. 2, cap. 88. + +[21] Storia della Letteratura Italiana, (Roma, 1782-97,) tom. iii. p. +231.--Turner, History of the Anglo-Saxons, (London, 1820,) vol. iii. p. +137.--Andres, Dell' Origine, de' Progressi e dello Stato Attuale d'Ogni +Letteratura, (Venezia, 1783,) part. 1, cap. 8, 9.--Casiri, Bibliotheca +Escurialensis, tom. ii. p. 149.--Masdeu, Historia Critica, tom. xiii. pp. +165, 171.--Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, part. 2, cap. 93.--Among the +accomplished women of this period, Valadata, the daughter of the caliph +Mahomet, is celebrated as having frequently carried away the palm of +eloquence in her discussions with the most learned academicians. Others +again, with an intrepidity that might shame the degeneracy of a modern +_blue_, plunged boldly into the studies of philosophy, history, and +jurisprudence. + +[22] Garibay, Compendio, lib. 39, cap. 3. + +[23] Zurita, Anales, lib. 20, cap. 42. + +[24] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 169. + +[25] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. ii. p. 147.--Casiri, +Bibliotheca Escurialensis, tom. ii. pp. 248 et seq.--Pedraza, Antiguedad y +Excelencias de Granada, (Madrid, 1608,) lib. 1.--Pedraza has collected the +various etymologies of the term _Granada_, which some writers have +traced to the fact of the city having been the spot where the +_pomegranate_ was first introduced from Africa; others to the large +quantity of _grain_ in which its vega abounded; others again to the +resemblance which the city, divided into two hills thickly sprinkled with +houses, bore to a half-opened pomegranate. (Lib. 2, cap. 17.) The arms of +the city, which were in part composed of a pomegranate, would seem to +favor the derivation of its name from that of the fruit. + +[26] Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, fol. 101.--Denina, Delle Rivoluzioni +d'Italia, (Venezia, 1816,) Capmany y Montpalau, Memorias Históricas sobre +la Marina, Comercio, y Artes de Barcelona, (Madrid, 1779-92,) tom. iii. p. +218; tom. iv. pp. 67 et seq.--Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. +cap. 26.--The ambassador of the emperor Frederic III., on his passage to +the court of Lisbon in the middle of the fifteenth century, contrasts the +superior cultivation, as well as general civilization, of Granada at this +period with that of the other countries of Europe through which he had +travelled. Sismondi, Histoire des Républiques Italiennes du Moyen-Age, +(Paris, 1818,) tom. ix. p. 405. + +[27] Casiri, Bibliotheca Escurialensis, tom. ii. pp. 250-258.--The fifth +volume of the royal Spanish Academy of History contains an erudite essay +by Conde on Arabic money, principally with reference to that coined in +Spain, pp. 225-315. + +[28] A specification of a royal donative in that day may serve to show the +martial spirit of the age. In one of these, made by the king of Granada to +the Castilian sovereign, we find twenty noble steeds of the royal stud, +reared on the banks of the Xenil, with superb caparisons, and the same +number of scimitars richly garnished with gold and jewels; and, in +another, mixed up with perfumes and cloth of gold, we meet with a litter +of tame lions. (Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. pp. 163, 183.) +This latter symbol of royalty appears to have been deemed peculiarly +appropriate to the kings of Leon. Ferreras informs us that the ambassadors +from France at the Castilian court, in 1434, were received by John II. +with a full-grown domesticated lion crouching at his feet. (Hist. +d'Espagne, tom. vi. p. 401.) The same taste appears still to exist in +Turkey. Dr. Clarke, in his visit to Constantinople, met with one of these +terrific pets, who used to follow his master, Hassan Pacha, about like a +dog. + +[29] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. cap. 28.--Henriquez del +Castillo (Crónica, cap. 138,) gives an account of an intended duel between +two Castilian nobles, in the presence of the king of Granada, as late as +1470. One of the parties, Don Alfonso de Aguilar, failing to keep his +engagement, the other rode round the lists in triumph, with his +adversary's portrait contemptuously fastened to the tail of his horse. + +[30] It must be admitted, that these ballads, as far as facts are +concerned, are too inexact to furnish other than a very slippery +foundation for history. The most beautiful portion perhaps of the Moorish +ballads, for example, is taken up with the feuds of the Abencerrages in +the latter days of Granada. Yet this family, whose romantic story is still +repeated to the traveller amid the ruins of the Alhambra, is scarcely +noticed, as far as I am aware, by contemporary writers, foreign or +domestic, and would seem to owe its chief celebrity to the apocryphal +version of Cinés Perez de Hyta, whose "Milesian tales," according to the +severe sentence of Nic. Antonio, "are fit only to amuse the lazy and the +listless." (Bibliotheca Nova, tom. i. p. 536.) + +But, although the Spanish ballads are not entitled to the credit of strict +historical documents, they may yet perhaps be received in evidence of the +prevailing character of the social relations of the age; a remark indeed +predicable of most works of fiction, written by authors contemporary with +the events they describe, and more especially so of that popular +minstrelsy, which, emanating from a simple, uncorrupted class, is less +likely to swerve from truth, than more ostentatious works of art. The long +cohabitation of the Saracens with the Christians, (full evidence of which +is afforded by Capmany, (Mem. de Barcelona, tom. iv. Apend. no. 11,) who +quotes a document from the public archives of Catalonia, showing the great +number of Saracens residing in Aragon even in the thirteenth and +fourteenth centuries, the most flourishing period of the Granadian +empire,) had enabled many of them confessedly to speak and write the +Spanish language with purity and elegance. Some of the graceful little +songs, which are still chanted by the peasantry of Spain in their dances, +to the accompaniment of the castanet, are referred by a competent critic +(Conde, De la Poesía Oriental, MS.) to an Arabian origin. There can be +little hazard, therefore, in imputing much of this peculiar minstrelsy to +the Arabians themselves, the contemporaries, and perhaps the eye- +witnesses, of the events they celebrate. + +[31] Casiri (Bibliotheca Escurialensis, tom. ii. p. 259) has transcribed a +passage from an Arabian author of the fourteenth century, inveighing +bitterly against the luxury of the Moorish ladies, their gorgeous apparel +and habits of expense, "amounting almost to insanity," in a tone which may +remind one of the similar philippic by his contemporary Dante, against his +fair countrywomen of Florence.--Two ordinances of a king of Granada, cited +by Conde in his History, prescribed the separation of the women from the +men in the mosques; and prohibit their attendance on certain festivals, +without the protection of their husbands or some near relative.--Their +_femmes savantes_, as we have seen, were in the habit of conferring +freely with men of letters, and of assisting in person at the academical +_séances_.--And lastly, the frescoes alluded to in the text represent +the presence of females at the tournaments, and the fortunate knight +receiving the palm of victory from their hands. + +[32] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. i. p. 340; tom. iii. p. 119. + +[33] Casiri, on Arabian authority, computes it at 200,000 men. Bibliotheca +Escurialensis, tom. i. p. 338. + +[34] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 250. + +[35] Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. p. 169.--These ruined +fortifications still thickly stud the border territories of Granada; and +many an Andalusian mill, along the banks of the Guadayra and Guadalquivir, +retains its battlemented tower, which served for the defence of its +inmates against the forays of the enemy. + +[36] D'Herbelot, (Bib. Orientale, tom. i. p. 630,) among other authentic +traditions of Mahomet, quotes one as indicating his encouragement of +letters, viz. "That the ink of the doctors and the blood of the martyrs +are of equal price." M. OElsner (Des Effets de la Religion de Mohammed, +Paris, 1810) has cited several others of the same liberal import. But such +traditions cannot be received in evidence of the original doctrine of the +prophet. They are rejected as apocryphal by the Persians and the whole +sect of the Shiites, and are entitled to little weight with a European. + +[37] When the caliph Al Mamon encouraged, by his example as well as +patronage, a more enlightened policy, he was accused by the more orthodox +Mussulmans of attempting to subvert the principles of their religion. See +Pococke, Spec. Hist. Arabum, (Oxon. 1650,) p. 166. + +[38] Andres, Letteratura, part. 1, cap. 8, 10.--Casiri, Bibliotheca +Escurialensis, tom. ii. pp. 71, 251, et passim. + +[39] Casiri mentions one of these universal geniuses, who published no +less than a thousand and fifty treatises on the various topics of Ethics, +History, Law, Medicine, etc.! Bibliotheca Escurialensis, tom. ii. p. 107. +--See also tom. i. p. 370; tom. ii. p. 71 et alibi.--Zuñiga, Annales de +Sevilla, p. 22.--D'Herbelot, Bib. Orientale, voce _Tarikh_.--Masdeu, +Historia Crítica, tom. xiii. pp. 203, 205.--Andres, Letteratura, part. 1, +cap. 8. + +[40] Consult the sensible, though perhaps severe, remarks of Degerando on +Arabian science. (Hist. de la Philosophie, tom. iv. cap. 24.)--The reader +may also peruse with advantage a disquisition on Arabian metaphysics in +Turner's History of England, (vol. iv. pp. 405-449.--Brucker, Hist. +Philosophiae, tom. in. p. 105.)--Ludovicus Vives seems to have been the +author of the imputation in the text. (Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, +tom. ii. p. 394.) Averroes translated some of the philosophical works of +Aristotle from the Greek into Arabic; a Latin version of which translation +was afterwards made. Though D'Herbelot is mistaken (Bib. Orientale, art. +_Roschd_) in saying that Averroes was the first who translated Aristotle +into Arabic; as this had been done two centuries before, at least, by +Honain and others in the ninth century, (see Casiri, Bibliotheca +Escurialensis, tom. i. p. 304,) and Bayle has shown that a Latin version +of the Stagirite was used by the Europeans before the alleged period. See +art. _Averroes_. + +[41] Sprengel, Histoire de la Médecine, traduite par Jourdan, (Paris, +1815,) tom. ii. pp. 263 et seq. + +[42] Degerando, Hist. de la Philosophie, tom. iv. ubi supra. + +[43] Bibliotheca Escurialensis, tom. ii. p. 9.--Andres, Letteratura, part. +1, cap. 10. + +[44] Letteratura Italiana, tom. v. p. 87. + +[45] The battle of Crécy furnishes the earliest instance on record of the +use of artillery by the European Christians; although Du Cange, among +several examples which he enumerates, has traced a distinct notice of its +existence as far back as 1338. (Glossarium ad Scriptores Mediae et Infimae +Latinitatis, (Paris, 1739,) and Supplément, (Paris, 1766,) voce +_Bombarda_.) The history of the Spanish Arabs carries it to a much +earlier period. It was employed by the Moorish king of Granada at the +siege of Baza, in 1312 and 1325. (Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. +iii. cap. 18.--Casiri, Bibliotheca Escurialensis, tom. ii. p. 7.) It is +distinctly noticed in an Arabian treatise as ancient as 1249; and, +finally, Casiri quotes a passage from a Spanish author at the close of the +eleventh Century, (whose MS., according to Nic. Antonio, though familiar +to scholars, lies still entombed in the dust of libraries,) which +describes the use of artillery in a naval engagement of that period +between the Moors of Tunis and of Seville. Casiri, Bibliotheca +Escurialensis, tom. ii. p. 8.--Nic, Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, tom. ii. +p. 12. + +[46] Petrarch complains, in one of his letters from the country, that +"jurisconsults and divines, nay his own valet, had taken to rhyming; and +he was afraid the very cattle might begin to low in verse;" apud De Sade, +Mémoires pour la Vie de Pétrarque, tom. iii. p. 243. + +[47] Andres, Letteratura, part. 1, cap. 11.--Yet this popular assertion is +contradicted by Reinesius, who states, that both Homer and Pindar were +translated into Arabic by the middle of the eighth century. See Fabricius, +Bibliotheca Graeca, (Hamb. 1712-38,) tom. xii. p. 753. + +[48] Sir William Jones, Traité sur la Poésie Orientale, sec. 2.--Sismondi +says that Sir W. Jones is mistaken in citing the history of Timour by Ebn. +Arabschah, as an Arabic epic. (Littérature du Midi, tom. i. p. 57.) It is +Sismondi who is mistaken, since the English critic states that the Arabs +have no heroic poem, and that this poetical prose history is not accounted +such even by the Arabs themselves. + +[49] It would require much more learning than I am fortified with, to +enter into the merits of the question, which has been raised respecting +the probable influence of the Arabian on the literature of Europe. A. V. +Schlegel, in a work of little bulk, but much value, in refuting with his +usual vivacity the extravagant theory of Andres, has been led to +conclusions of an opposite nature, which may be thought perhaps scarcely +less extravagant. (Observations sur la Langue et la Littérature +Provençales, p. 64.) It must indeed seem highly improbable that the +Saracens, who, during the Middle Ages, were so far superior in science and +literary culture to the Europeans, could have resided so long in immediate +contact with them, and in those very countries indeed which gave birth to +the most cultivated poetry of that period, without exerting some +perceptible influence upon it. Be this as it may, its influence on the +Castilian cannot reasonably be disputed. This has been briefly traced by +Conde in an "Essay on Oriental Poetry," _Poesia Oriental_, whose +publication he anticipates in the Preface to his "History of the Spanish +Arabs," but which still remains in manuscript. (The copy I have used is in +the library of Mr. George Ticknor.) He professes in this work to discern +in the earlier Castilian poetry, in the Cid, the Alexander, in Berceo's, +the arch-priest of Hita's, and others of similar antiquity, most of the +peculiarities and varieties of Arabian verse; the same cadences and number +of syllables, the same intermixture of assonances and consonances, the +double hemistich and prolonged repetition of the final rhyme. From the +same source he derives much of the earlier rural minstrelsy of Spain, as +well as the measures of its romances and seguidillas; and in the Preface +to his History, he has ventured on the bold assertion, that the Castilian +owes so much of its vocabulary to the Arabic, that it may be almost +accounted a dialect of the latter. Conde's criticisms, however, must be +quoted with reserve. His habitual studies had given him such a keen relish +for Oriental literature, that he was, in a manner, _denaturalized_ from +his own. + +[50] Byron's beautiful line may seem almost a version of Conde's Spanish +text, "sucesos de armas y de amores con muy estraños lances y en elegante +estilo."--Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. i. p. 457. + +[51] Sismondi, in his Littérature du Midi, (tom. i. pp. 267 et seq.), and +more fully in his Républiques Italiennes, (tom. xvi. pp. 448 et seq.), +derives the jealousy of the sex, the ideas of honor, and the deadly spirit +of revenge, which distinguished the southern nations of Europe in the +fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, from the Arabians. Whatever be thought +of the jealousy of the sex, it might have been supposed that the +principles of honor and the spirit of revenge might, without seeking +further, find abundant precedent in the feudal habits and institutions of +our European ancestors. + +[52] "Quas _perversivnes_ potius, quam _versiones_ meritó dixeris." +Bibliotheca Escurialensis, tom. i. p. 266. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +WAR OF GRANADA.--SURPRISE OF ZAHARA.--CAPTURE OF ALHAMA. + +1481-1482. + +Zahara Surprised by the Moors.--Marquis of Cadiz.--His Expedition against +Alhama.--Valor of the Citizens.--Desperate Struggle.--Fall of Alhama.-- +Consternation of the Moors.--Vigorous Measures of the Queen. + + +No sooner had Ferdinand and Isabella restored internal tranquillity to +their dominions, and made the strength effective which had been acquired +by their union under one government, than they turned their eyes to those +fair regions of the Peninsula, over which the Moslem crescent had reigned +triumphant for nearly eight centuries. Fortunately, an act of aggression +on the part of the Moors furnished a pretext for entering on their plan of +conquest, at the moment when it was ripe for execution. Aben Ismael, who +had ruled in Granada during the latter part of John the Second's reign, +and the commencement of Henry the Fourth's, had been partly indebted for +his throne to the former monarch; and sentiments of gratitude, combined +with a naturally amiable disposition, had led him to foster as amicable +relations with the Christian princes, as the jealousy of two nations, that +might be considered the natural enemies of each other, would permit; so +that, notwithstanding an occasional border foray, or the capture of a +frontier fortress, such a correspondence was maintained between the two +kingdoms, that the nobles of Castile frequently resorted to the court of +Granada, where, forgetting their ancient feuds, they mingled with the +Moorish cavaliers in the generous pastimes of chivalry. + +Muley Abul Hacen, who succeeded his father in 1466, was of a very +different temperament. His fiery character prompted him, when very young, +to violate the truce by an unprovoked inroad into Andalusia; and, although +after his accession domestic troubles occupied him too closely to allow +leisure for foreign war, he still cherished in secret the same feelings of +animosity against the Christians. When, in 1476, the Spanish sovereigns +required as the condition of a renewal of the truce, which he solicited, +the payment of the annual tribute imposed on his predecessors, he proudly +replied that "the mints of Granada coined no longer gold, but steel." His +subsequent conduct did not belie the spirit of this Spartan answer. +[1] + +At length, towards the close of the year 1481, the storm which had been so +long gathering burst upon Zahara, a small fortified town on the frontier +of Andalusia, crowning a lofty eminence, washed at its base by the river +Guadalete, which from its position seemed almost inaccessible. The +garrison, trusting to these natural defences, suffered itself to be +surprised on the night of the 20th of December, by the Moorish monarch; +who, scaling the walls under favor of a furious tempest, which prevented +his approach from being readily heard, put to the sword such of the guard +as offered resistance, and swept away the whole population of the place, +men, women, and children, in slavery to Granada. + +The intelligence of this disaster caused deep mortification to the Spanish +sovereigns, especially to Ferdinand, by whose grandfather Zahara had been +recovered from the Moors. Measures were accordingly taken for +strengthening the whole line of frontier, and the utmost vigilance was +exerted to detect some vulnerable point of the enemy, on which retaliation +might be successfully inflicted. Neither were the tidings of their own +successes welcomed, with the joy that might have been expected, by the +people of Granada. The prognostics, it was said, afforded by the +appearance of the heavens, boded no good. More sure prognostics were +afforded in the judgments of thinking men, who deprecated the temerity of +awakening the wrath of a vindictive and powerful enemy, "Woe is me!" +exclaimed an ancient Alfaki, on quitting the hall of audience, "the ruins +of Zahara will fall on our own heads; the days of the Moslem empire in +Spain are now numbered!" [2] + +It was not long before the desired opportunity for retaliation presented +itself to the Spaniards. One Juan de Ortega, a captain of +_escaladores_, or sealers, so denominated from the peculiar service +in which they were employed in besieging cities, who had acquired some +reputation under John the Second, in the wars of Roussillon, reported to +Diego de Merlo, assistant of Seville, that the fortress of Albania, +situated in the heart of the Moorish territories, was so negligently +guarded, that it might be easily carried by an enemy, who had skill enough +to approach it. The fortress, as well as the city of the same name, which +it commanded, was built, like many others in that turbulent period, along +the crest of a rocky eminence, encompassed by a river at its base, and, +from its natural advantages, might be deemed impregnable. This strength of +position, by rendering all other precautions apparently superfluous, +lulled its defenders into a security like that which had proved so fatal +to Zahara. Alhama, as this Arabic name implies, was famous for its baths, +whose annual rents are said to have amounted to five hundred thousand +ducats. The monarchs of Granada, indulging the taste common to the people +of the east, used to frequent this place, with their court, to refresh +themselves with its delicious waters, so that Alhama became embellished +with all the magnificence of a royal residence. The place was still +further enriched by its being the _dépôt_ of the public taxes on land, +which constituted a principal branch of the revenue, and by its various +manufactures of cloth, for which its inhabitants were celebrated +throughout the kingdom of Granada. [3] + +Diego de Merlo, although struck with the advantages of this conquest, was +not insensible to the difficulties with which it would be attended; since +Alhama was sheltered under the very wings of Granada, from which it lay +scarcely eight leagues distant, and could be reached only by traversing +the most populous portion of the Moorish territory, or by surmounting a +precipitous sierra, or chain of mountains, which screened it on the north. +Without delay, however, he communicated the information which he had +received to Don Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, marquis of Cadiz, as the person +best fitted by his capacity and courage for such an enterprise. This +nobleman, who had succeeded his father, the count of Arcos, in 1469, as +head of the great house of Ponce de Leon, was at this period about thirty- +nine years of age. Although a younger and illegitimate son, he had been +preferred to the succession in consequence of the extraordinary promise +which his early youth exhibited. When scarcely seventeen years old, he +achieved a victory over the Moors, accompanied with a signal display of +personal prowess. [4] Later in life, he formed a connection with the +daughter of the marquis of Villena, the factious minister of Henry the +Fourth, through whose influence he was raised to the dignity of marquis of +Cadiz. This alliance attached him to the fortunes of Henry, in his +disputes with his brother Alfonso, and subsequently with Isabella, on +whose accession, of course, Don Rodrigo looked with no friendly eye. He +did not, however, engage in any overt act of resistance, but occupied +himself with prosecuting an hereditary feud which he had revived with the +duke of Medina Sidonia, the head of the Guzmans; a family, which from +ancient times had divided with his own the great interests of Andalusia. +The pertinacity with which this feud was conducted, and the desolation +which it carried not only into Seville, but into every quarter of the +province, have been noticed in the preceding pages. The vigorous +administration of Isabella repressed these disorders, and after abridging +the overgrown power of the two nobles, effected an apparent (it was only +apparent) reconciliation between them. The fiery spirit of the marquis of +Cadiz, no longer allowed to escape in domestic broil, urged him to seek +distinction in more honorable warfare; and at this moment he lay in his +castle at Arcos, looking with a watchful eye over the borders, and +waiting, like a lion in ambush, the moment when he could spring upon his +victim. + +Without hesitation, therefore, he assumed the enterprise proposed by Diego +de Merlo, imparting his purpose to Don Pedro Henriquez, _adelantado_ +of Andalusia, a relative of Ferdinand, and to the alcaydes of two or three +neighboring fortresses. With the assistance of these friends he assembled +a force which, including those who marched under the banner of Seville, +amounted to two thousand five hundred horse and three thousand foot. His +own town of Marchena was appointed as the place of rendezvous. The +proposed route lay by the way of Antequera, across the wild sierras of +Alzerifa. The mountain passes, sufficiently difficult at a season when +their numerous ravines were choked up by the winter torrents, were +rendered still more formidable by being traversed in the darkness of +night; for the party, in order to conceal their movements, lay by during +the day. Leaving their baggage on the banks of the Yeguas, that they might +move forward with greater celerity, the whole body at length arrived, +after a rapid and most painful inarch, on the third night from their +departure, in a deep valley about half a league from Alhama. Here the +marquis first revealed the real object of the expedition to his soldiers, +who, little dreaming of anything beyond a mere border inroad, were +transported with joy at the prospect of the rich booty so nearly within +their grasp. [5] + +The next morning, being the 28th of February, a small party was detached, +about two hours before dawn, under the command of John de Ortega, for the +purpose of scaling the citadel, while the main body moved forward more +leisurely under the marquis of Cadiz, in order to support them. The night +was dark and tempestuous, circumstances which favored their approach in +the same manner as with the Moors at Zahara. After ascending the rocky +heights which were crowned by the citadel, the ladders were silently +placed against the walls, and Ortega, followed by about thirty others, +succeeded in gaining the battlements unobserved. A sentinel, who was found +sleeping on his post, they at once despatched, and, proceeding cautiously +forward to the guard-room, put the whole of the little garrison to the +sword, after the short and ineffectual resistance that could be opposed by +men suddenly roused from slumber. The city in the mean time was alarmed, +but it was too late; the citadel was taken; and the outer gates, which +opened into the country, being thrown open, the marquis of Cadiz entered +with trumpet sounding and banner flying, at the head of his army, and took +possession of the fortress. [6] + +After allowing the refreshment necessary to the exhausted spirits of his +soldiers, the marquis resolved to sally forth at once upon the town, +before its inhabitants cpuld muster in sufficient force to oppose him. But +the citizens of Alhama, showing a resolution rather to have been expected +from men trained in a camp, than from peaceful burghers of a manufacturing +town, had sprung to arms at the first alarm, and, gathering in the narrow +street on which the portal of the castle opened, so completely commanded +it with their arquebuses and crossbows, that the Spaniards, after an +ineffectual attempt to force a passage, were compelled to recoil upon +their defences, amid showers of bolts and balls which occasioned the loss, +among others, of two of their principal alcaydes. + +A council of war was then called, in which it was even advised by some, +that the fortress, after having been dismantled, should be abandoned as +incapable of defence against the citizens on the one hand, and the succors +which might be expected speedily to arrive from Granada, on the other. But +this counsel was rejected with indignation by the marquis of Cadiz, whose +fiery spirit rose with the occasion; indeed, it was not very palatable to +most of his followers, whose cupidity was more than ever inflamed by the +sight of the rich spoil, which, after so many fatigues, now lay at their +feet. It was accordingly resolved to demolish part of the fortifications +which looked towards the town, and at all hazards to force a passage into +it. This resolution was at once put into execution; and the marquis, +throwing himself into the breach thus made, at the head of his men-at- +arms, and shouting his war-cry of "St. James and the Virgin," precipitated +himself into the thickest of the enemy. Others of the Spaniards, running +along the out-works contiguous to the buildings of the city, leaped into +the street, and joined their companions there, while others again sallied +from the gates, now opened for the second time. [7] + +The Moors, unshaken by the fury of this assault, received the assailants +with brisk and well-directed volleys of shot and arrows; while the women +and children, thronging the roofs and balconies of the houses, discharged +on their heads boiling oil, pitch, and missiles of every description. But +the weapons of the Moors glanced comparatively harmless from the mailed +armor of the Spaniards, while their own bodies, loosely arrayed in such +habiliments as they could throw over them in the confusion of the night, +presented a fatal mark to their enemies. Still they continued to maintain +a stout resistance, checking the progress of the Spaniards by barricades +of timber hastily thrown across the streets; and, as their intrenchments +were forced one after another, they disputed every inch of ground with the +desperation of men who fought for life, fortune, liberty, all that was +most dear to them. The contest hardly slackened till the close of day, +while the kennels literally ran with blood, and every avenue was choked up +with the bodies of the slain. At length, however, Spanish valor proved +triumphant in every quarter, except where a small and desperate remnant of +the Moors, having gathered their wives and children around them, retreated +as a last resort into a large mosque near the walls of the city, from +which they kept up a galling fire on the close ranks of the Christians. +The latter, after enduring some loss, succeeded in sheltering themselves +so effectually under a roof or canopy constructed of their own shields, in +the manner practised in war previous to the exclusive use of fire-arms, +that they were enabled to approach so near the mosque, as to set fire to +its doors; when its tenants, menaced with suffocation, made a desperate +sally, in which many perished, and the remainder surrendered at +discretion. The prisoners thus made were all massacred on the spot, +without distinction, of sex or age, according to the Saracen accounts. But +the Castilian writers make no mention of this; and, as the appetites of +the Spaniards were not yet stimulated by that love of carnage, which they +afterwards displayed in their American wars, and which was repugnant to +the chivalrous spirit with which their contests with the Moslems were +usually conducted, we may be justified in regarding it as an invention of +the enemy. [8] + +Alhama was now delivered up to the sack of the soldiery, and rich indeed +was the booty which fell into their hands,--gold and silver plate, pearls, +jewels, fine silks and cloths, curious and costly furniture, and all the +various appurtenances of a thriving, luxurious city. In addition to which, +the magazines were found well stored with the more substantial and, at the +present juncture, more serviceable supplies of grain, oil, and other +provisions. Nearly a quarter of the population is said to have perished in +the various conflicts of the day, and the remainder, according to the +usage of the time, became the prize of the victors. A considerable number +of Christian captives, who were found immured in the public prisons, were +restored to freedom, and swelled the general jubilee with their grateful +acclamations. The contemporary Castilian chroniclers record also, with no +less satisfaction, the detection of a Christian renegade, notorious for +his depredations on his countrymen, whose misdeeds the marquis of Cadiz +requited by causing him to be hung up over the battlements of the castle, +in the face of the whole city. Thus fell the ancient city of Alhama, the +first conquest, and achieved with a gallantry and daring unsurpassed by +any other during this memorable war. [9] + +The report of this disaster fell like the knell of their own doom on the +ears of the inhabitants of Granada. It seemed as if the hand of Providence +itself must have been stretched forth to smite the stately city, which, +reposing as it were under the shadow of their own walls, and in the bosom +of a peaceful and populous country, was thus suddenly laid low in blood +and ashes. Men now read the fulfilment of the disastrous omens and +predictions which ushered in the capture of Zahara. The melancholy +_romance_ or ballad, with the burden of _Ay de mi Alhama_, "Woe is me, +Alhama," composed probably by some one of the nation not long after this +event, shows how deep was the dejection which settled on the spirits +of the people. The old king, Abul Hacen, however, far from resigning +himself to useless lamentation, sought to retrieve his loss by the most +vigorous measures. A body of a thousand horse was sent forward to +reconnoitre the city, while he prepared to follow with as powerful levies, +as he could enforce, of the militia of Granada. [10] + +The intelligence of the conquest of Alhama diffused general satisfaction +throughout Castile, and was especially grateful to the sovereigns, who +welcomed it as an auspicious omen of the ultimate success of their designs +upon the Moors. They were attending mass in their royal palace of Medina +del Campo, when they received despatches from the marquis of Cadiz, +informing them of the issue of his enterprise. "During all the while he +sat at dinner," says a precise chronicler of the period, "the prudent +Ferdinand was revolving in his mind the course best to be adopted." He +reflected that the Castilians would soon be beleaguered by an overwhelming +force from Granada, and he determined at all hazards to support them. He +accordingly gave orders to make instant preparation for departure; but, +first, accompanied the queen, attended by a solemn procession of the court +and clergy, to the cathedral church of St. James; where Te Deum was +chanted, and a humble thanksgiving offered up to the Lord of hosts for the +success with which he had crowned their arms. Towards evening, the king +set forward on his journey to the south, escorted by such nobles and +cavaliers as were in attendance on his person, leaving the queen to follow +more leisurely, after having provided reinforcements and supplies +requisite for the prosecution of the war. [11] + +On the 5th of March, the king of Granada appeared before the walls of +Alhama, with an army which amounted to three thousand horse and fifty +thousand foot. The first object which encountered his eyes was the mangled +remains of his unfortunate subjects, which the Christians, who would have +been scandalized by an attempt to give them the rites of sepulture, had +from dread of infection thrown over the walls, where they now lay half +devoured by birds of prey and the ravenous dogs of the city. The Moslem +troops, transported with horror and indignation at this hideous spectacle, +called loudly to be led to the attack. They had marched from Granada with +so much precipitation, that they were wholly unprovided with artillery, in +the use of which they were expert for that period; and which was now the +more necessary, as the Spaniards had diligently employed the few days +which intervened since their occupation of the place, in repairing the +breaches in the fortifications, and in putting them in a posture of +defence. But the Moorish ranks were filled with the flower of their +chivalry; and their immense superiority of numbers enabled them to make +their attacks simultaneously on the most distant quarters of the town, +with such unintermitted vivacity, that the little garrison, scarcely +allowed a moment for repose, was wellnigh exhausted with fatigue. [12] + +At length, however, Abul Hacen, after the loss of more than two thousand +of his bravest troops in these precipitate assaults, became convinced of +the impracticability of forcing a position, whose natural strength was so +ably seconded by the valor of its defenders, and he determined to reduce +the place by the more tardy but certain method of blockade. In this he was +favored by one or two circumstances. The town, having but a single well +within its walls, was almost wholly indebted for its supplies of water to +the river which flowed at its base. The Moors, by dint of great labor, +succeeded in diverting the stream so effectually, that the only +communication with it, which remained open to the besieged, was by a +subterraneous gallery or mine, that had probably been contrived with +reference to some such emergency by the original inhabitants. The mouth of +this passage was commanded in such a manner by the Moorish archers, that +no egress could be obtained without a regular skirmish, so that every drop +of water might be said to be purchased with the blood of Christians; who, +"if they had not possessed the courage of Spaniards," says a Castilian +writer, "would have been reduced to the last extremity." In addition to +this calamity, the garrison began to be menaced with scarcity of +provisions, owing to the improvident waste of the soldiers, who supposed +that the city, after being plundered, was to be razed to the ground and +abandoned. [13] + +At this crisis they received the unwelcome tidings of the failure of an +expedition destined for their relief by Alonso de Aguilar. This cavalier, +the chief of an illustrious house since rendered immortal by the renown of +his younger brother, Gonsalvo de Cordova, had assembled a considerable +body of troops, on learning the capture of Alhama, for the purpose of +supporting his friend and companion in arms, the marquis of Cadiz. On +reaching the shores of the Yeguas, he received, for the first time, +advices of the formidable host which lay between him and the city, +rendering hopeless any attempt to penetrate into the latter with his +inadequate force. Contenting himself, therefore, with recovering the +baggage, which the marquis's army in its rapid march, as has been already +noticed, had left on the banks of the river, he returned to Antequera. +[14] + +Under these depressing circumstances, the indomitable spirit of the +marquis of Cadiz seemed to infuse itself into the hearts of his soldiers. +He was ever in the front of danger, and shared the privations of the +meanest of his followers; encouraging them to rely with undoubting +confidence on the sympathies which their cause must awaken in the breasts +of their countrymen. The event proved that he did not miscalculate. Soon +after the occupation of Alhama, the marquis, foreseeing the difficulties +of his situation, had despatched missives, requesting the support of the +principal lords and cities of Andalusia. In this summons he had omitted +the duke of Medina Sidonia, as one who had good reason to take umbrage at +being excluded from a share in the original enterprise. Henrique de +Guzman, duke of Medina Sidonia, possessed a degree of power more +considerable than any other chieftain in the south. His yearly rents +amounted to nearly sixty thousand ducats, and he could bring into the +field, it was said, from his own resources an army little inferior to what +might be raised by a sovereign prince. He had succeeded to his inheritance +in 1468, and had very early given his support to the pretensions of +Isabella. Notwithstanding his deadly feud with the marquis of Cadiz, he +had the generosity, on the breaking out of the present war, to march to +the relief of the marchioness when beleaguered, during her husband's +absence, by a party of Moors from Ronda, in her own castle of Arcos. He +now showed a similar alacrity in sacrificing all personal jealousy at the +call of patriotism. [15] + +No sooner did he learn the perilous condition of his countrymen in Alhama, +than he mustered the whole array of his household troops and retainers, +which, when combined with those of the marquis de Villena, of the count de +Cabra, and those from Seville, in which city the family of the Guzmans had +long exercised a sort of hereditary influence, swelled to the number of +five thousand horse and forty thousand foot. The duke of Medina Sidonia, +putting himself at the head of this powerful body, set forward without +delay on his expedition. + +When King Ferdinand in his progress to the south had reached the little +town of Adamuz, about five leagues from Cordova, he was informed of the +advance of the Andalusian chivalry, and instantly sent instructions to the +duke to delay his march, as he intended to come in person and assume the +command. But the latter, returning a respectful apology for his +disobedience, represented to his master the extremities to which the +besieged were already reduced, and without waiting for a reply pushed on +with the utmost vigor for Alhama. The Moorish monarch, alarmed at the +approach of so powerful a reinforcement, saw himself in danger of being +hemmed in between the garrison on the one side, and these new enemies on +the other. Without waiting their appearance on the crest of the eminence +which separated him from them, he hastily broke up his encampment, on the +29th of March, after a siege of more than three weeks, and retreated on +his capital. [16] + +The garrison of Alhama viewed with astonishment the sudden departure of +their enemies; but their wonder was converted into joy, when they beheld +the bright arms and banners of their countrymen, gleaming along the +declivities of the mountains. They rushed out with tumultuous transport to +receive them and pour forth their grateful acknowledgments, while the two +commanders, embracing each other in the presence of their united armies, +pledged themselves to a mutual oblivion of all past grievances; thus +affording to the nation the best possible earnest of future successes, in +the voluntary extinction of a feud, which had desolated it for so many +generations. + +Notwithstanding the kindly feelings excited between the two armies, a +dispute had wellnigh arisen respecting the division of the spoil, in which +the duke's army claimed a share, as having contributed to secure the +conquest which their more fortunate countrymen had effected. But these +discontents were appeased, though with some difficulty, by their noble +leader, who besought his men not to tarnish the laurels already won, by +mingling a sordid avarice with the generous motives which had promoted +them to the expedition. After the necessary time devoted to repose and +refreshment, the combined armies proceeded to evacuate Alhama, and having +left in garrison Don Diego Merlo, with a corps of troops of the hermandad, +returned into their own territories. [17] + +King Ferdinand, after receiving the reply of the duke of Medina Sidonia, +had pressed forward his march by the way of Cordova, as far as Lucena, +with the intention of throwing himself at all hazards into Alhama. He was +not without much difficulty dissuaded from this by his nobles, who +represented the temerity of the enterprise, and its incompetency to any +good result, even should he succeed, with the small force of which he was +master. On receiving intelligence that the siege was raised, he returned +to Cordova, where he was joined by the queen towards the latter part of +April. Isabella had been employed in making vigorous preparation for +carrying on the war, by enforcing the requisite supplies, and summoning +the crown vassals, and the principal nobility of the north, to hold +themselves in readiness to join the royal standard in Andalusia. After +this, she proceeded by rapid stages to Cordova, notwithstanding the state +of pregnancy, in which she was then far advanced. + +Here the sovereigns received the unwelcome information, that the king of +Granada, on the retreat of the Spaniards, had again sat down before +Alhama; having brought with him artillery, from the want of which he had +suffered so much in the preceding siege. This news struck a damp into the +hearts of the Castilians, many of whom recommended the total evacuation of +a place, "which" they said, "was so near the capital that it must be +perpetually exposed to sudden and dangerous assaults; while, from the +difficulty of reaching it, it would cost the Castilians an incalculable +waste of blood and treasure in its defence. It was experience of these +evils, which had led to its abandonment in former days, when it had been +recovered by the Spanish arms from the Saracens." + +Isabella was far from being shaken by these arguments. "Glory," she said, +"was not to be won without danger. The present war was one of peculiar +difficulties and danger, and these had been well calculated before +entering upon it. The strong and central position of Alhama made it of the +last importance, since it might be regarded as the key of the enemy's +country. This was the first blow struck during the war, and honor and +policy alike forbade them to adopt a measure, which could not fail to damp +the ardor of the nation." This opinion of the queen, thus decisively +expressed, determined the question, and kindled a spark of her own +enthusiasm in the breasts of the most desponding. [18] + +It was settled that the king should march to the relief of the besieged, +taking with him the most ample supplies of forage and provisions, at the +head of a force strong enough to compel the retreat of the Moorish +monarch. This was effected without delay; and, Abul Hacen once more +breaking up his camp on the rumor of Ferdinand's approach, the latter took +possession of the city without opposition, on the 14th of May. The king +was attended by a splendid train of his prelates and principal nobility; +and he prepared with their aid to dedicate his new conquest to the service +of the cross, with all the formalities of the Romish church. After the +ceremony of purification, the three principal mosques of the city were +consecrated by the cardinal of Spain, as temples of Christian worship. +Bells, crosses, a sumptuous service of plate, and other sacred utensils, +were liberally furnished by the queen; and the principal church of Santa +Maria de la Encarnacion long exhibited a covering of the altar, richly +embroidered by her own hands. Isabella lost no opportunity of manifesting, +that she had entered into the war, less from motives of ambition, than of +zeal for the exaltation of the true faith. After the completion of these +ceremonies, Ferdinand, having strengthened the garrison with new recruits +under the command of Portocarrero, lord of Palma, and victualled it with +three months' provisions, prepared for a foray into the vega of Granada. +This he executed in the true spirit of that merciless warfare, so +repugnant to the more civilized usage of later times, not only by sweeping +away the green, unripened crops, but by cutting down the trees, and +eradicating the vines; and then, without so much as having broken a lance +in the expedition, returned in triumph to Cordova. [19] + +Isabella in the mean while was engaged in active measures for prosecuting +the war. She issued orders to the various cities of Castile and Leon, as +far as the borders of Biscay and Guipuscoa, prescribing the +_repartimiento_, or subsidy of provisions, and the quota of troops, +to be furnished by each district respectively, together with an adequate +supply of ammunition and artillery. The whole were to be in readiness +before Loja, by the 1st of July; when Ferdinand was to take the field in +person at the head of his chivalry, and besiege that strong post. As +advices were received, that the Moors of Granada were making efforts to +obtain the co-operation of their African brethren in support of the +Mahometan empire in Spain, the queen caused a fleet to be manned under the +command of her two best admirals, with instructions to sweep the +Mediterranean as far as the Straits of Gibraltar, and thus effectually cut +off all communication with the Barbary coast. [20] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. pp. 467-469.--Conde, +Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. cap. 32, 34. + +[2] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 51.--Conde, Dominacion de los +Arabes, tom. iii. cap. 34.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 180.--L. Marineo, +Cosas Memorables, fol. 171.--Marmol, Historia del Rebelion y Castigo de +los Moriscos, (Madrid, 1797,) lib. 1, cap. 12. + +Lebrija states, that the revenues of Granada, at the commencement of this +war, amounted to a million of gold ducats, and that it kept in pay 7000 +horsemen on its peace establishment, and could send forth 21,000 warriors +from its gates. The last of these estimates would not seem to be +exaggerated. Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 1, cap. 1. + +[3] Estrada, Poblacion de España, tom. ii. pp. 247, 248.--El Nubiense, +Descripcion de España, p. 222, nota.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 181.-- +Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 12. + +[4] Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, pp. 349, 362. This occurred in the fight +of Madroño, when Don Rodrigo, stooping to adjust his buckler, which had +been unlaced, was suddenly surrounded by a party of Moors. He snatched a +sling from one of them, and made such brisk use of it, that, after +disabling several, he succeeded in putting them to flight; for which feat, +says Zuñiga, the king complimented him with the title of "the youthful +David." + +Don Juan, count of Arcos, had no children born in wedlock, but a numerous +progeny by his concubines. Among these latter, was Doña Leonora Nuñez de +Prado, the mother of Don Rodrigo. The brilliant and attractive qualities +of this youth so far won the affections of his father, that the latter +obtained the royal sanction (a circumstance not infrequent in an age when +the laws of descent were very unsettled) to bequeath him his titles and +estates, to the prejudice of more legitimate heirs. + +[5] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 52.--L. Marineo, Cosas +Memorables, fol. 171.--Pulgar computes the marquis's army at 3000 horse +and 4000 foot.--Reyes Católicos, p. 181.--Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, +tom. iii. cap. 34. + +[6] Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 1, cap. 2.--Carbajal, +Anales, MS., año 1482.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 52.--Zurita, +Anales, tom. iv. fol. 315.--Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. +iii. pp. 252, 253. + +[7] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., ubi supra.--Conde, Dominacion de los +Arabes, cap. 34.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 172. + +[8] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, ubi supra.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, +pp. 182, 183.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. pp. 545, 546. + +[9] Bernaldez, Reyes. Católicos, MS., cap. 52.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, +ubi supra.--Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. p. 254. + +[10] + "Passeavase el Key Moro + For la ciudad de Granada, + Desde las puertas de Elvira + Hasta las de Bivarambla. + Ay de mi Alhama! + + "Cartas le fueron venidas + Que Alhama era ganada. + Las cartas echó en el fuego, + Y al mensagero matava. + Ay de mi Alhama! + + "Hombres, niños y mugeres, + Lloran tan grande perdida. + Lloravan todas las damas + Quantas en Granada avia. + Ay de mi Alhama! + + "Por las calles y ventanas + Mucho luto parecia; + Llora el Rey como fembra, + Qu' es mucho lo que perdia. + Ay de mi Alhama!" + +The _romance_, according to Hyta, (not the best voucher for a fact,) +caused such general lamentation, that it was not allowed to be sung by the +Moors after the conquest. (Guerras Civiles de Granada, tom. i. p. 350.) +Lord Byron, as the reader recollects, has done this ballad into English. +The version has the merit of fidelity. It is not his fault if his Muse +appears to little advantage in the plebeian dress of the Moorish +minstrel. + +[11] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 172.--Conde, Dominacion de los +Arabes, tom. iii. cap. 34.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1482.--Mariana, +Hist. de España, tom. ii. pp. 545, 546. + +[12] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 52.--Bernaldez swells the +Moslem army to 5500 horse, and 80,000 foot, but I have preferred the more +moderate and probable estimate of the Arabian authors. Conde, Dominacion +de los Arabes, tom. iii. cap. 34.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, loc. cit. + +[13] Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 18, cap. 23.--Pulgar, Reyes +Católicos, pp. 183, 184. + +[14] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 52. + +[15] Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 360.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, +fol. 24, 172.--Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, lib. 1, cap. 3. + +[16] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, pp. 183, 184. Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, +MS., cap. 53.--Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. vii. p. 572.--Zuñiga, +Annales de Sevilla, pp. 392, 393.--Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, +tom. iii. p. 257. + +[17] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, pp. 183-186.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., +bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 28. + +[18] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 53, 54.--Pulgar states that +Ferdinand took the more southern route of Antequera, where he received the +tidings of the Moorish king's retreat. The discrepancy is of no great +consequence; but as Bernaldez, whom I have followed, lived in Andalusia, +the theatre of action, he may be supposed to have had more accurate means +of information.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, pp. 187, 188. + +[19] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 28.--Bernaldez, +Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 54, 55.--Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, lib. +1, cap. 6.--Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, cap. 34.--Salazar de Mendoza, +Crón. del Gran Cardenal, pp. 180, 181.--Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. +1, cap. 12. + +During this second siege, a body of Moorish knights to the number of forty +succeeded in scaling the walls of the city in the night, and had nearly +reached the gates, with the intention of throwing them open to their +countrymen, when they were overpowered, after a desperate resistance, by +the Christians, who acquired a rich booty, as many of them were persons of +rank. There is considerable variation in the authorities, in regard to the +date of Ferdinand's occupation of Alhama. I have been guided, as before, +by Bernaldez. + +[20] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, pp. 188, 189. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +WAR OF GRANADA.--UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT ON LOJA.--DEFEAT IN THE AXARQUIA. + +1482-1483. + +Unsuccessful Attempt on Loja.--Revolution in Granada.--Expedition to the +Axarquia.--Military Array.--Moorish Preparations.--Bloody Conflict among +the Mountains.--The Spaniards force a Passage.--The Marquis of Cadiz +Escapes. + + +Loja stands not many leagues from Albania, on the banks of the Xenil, +which rolls its clear current through a valley luxuriant with vineyards +and olive-gardens; but the city is deeply intrenched among hills of so +rugged an aspect, that it has been led not inappropriately to assume as +the motto on its arms, "A flower among thorns." Under the Moors, it was +defended by a strong fortress, while the Xenil, circumscribing it like a +deep moat upon the south, formed an excellent protection against the +approaches of a besieging army; since the river was fordable only in one +place, and traversed by a single bridge, which might be easily commanded +by the city. In addition to these advantages, the king of Granada, taking +warning from the fate of Alhama, had strengthened its garrison with three +thousand of his choicest troops, under the command of a skilful and +experienced warrior, named Ali Atar. [1] + +In the mean while, the efforts of the Spanish sovereigns to procure +supplies adequate to the undertaking against Loja had not been crowned +with success. The cities and districts, of which the requisitions had been +made, had discovered the tardiness usual in such unwieldy bodies, and +their interest, moreover, was considerably impaired by their distance from +the theatre of action. Ferdinand on mustering his army, towards the latter +part of June, found that it did not exceed four thousand horse and twelve +thousand, or indeed, according to some accounts, eight thousand foot; most +of them raw militia, who, poorly provided with military stores and +artillery, formed a force obviously inadequate to the magnitude of his +enterprise. Some of his counsellors would have persuaded him, from these +considerations, to turn his arms against some weaker and more assailable +point than Loja. But Ferdinand burned with a desire for distinction in the +new war, and suffered his ardor for once to get the better of his +prudence. The distrust felt by the leaders seems to have infected the +lower ranks, who drew the most unfavorable prognostics from the dejected +mien of those who bore the royal standard to the cathedral of Cordova, in +order to receive the benediction of the church before entering on the +expedition. [2] + +Ferdinand, crossing the Xenil at Ecija, arrived again on its banks before +Loja, on the 1st of July. The army encamped among the hills, whose deep +ravines obstructed communication between its different quarters; while the +level plains below were intersected by numerous canals, equally +unfavorable to the manoeuvres of the men-at-arms. The duke of Villa +Hermosa, the king's brother, and captain-general of the hermandad, an +officer of large experience, would have persuaded Ferdinand to attempt, by +throwing bridges across the river lower down the stream, to approach the +city on the other side. But his counsel was overruled by the Castilian +officers, to whom the location of the camp had been intrusted, and who +neglected, according to Zurita, to advise with the Andalusian chiefs, +although far better instructed than themselves in Moorish warfare. [3] + +A large detachment of the army was ordered to occupy a lofty eminence, at +some distance, called the Heights of Albohacen, and to fortify it with +such few pieces of ordnance as they had, with the view of annoying the +city. This commission was intrusted to the marquises of Cadiz and Villena, +and the grand-master of Calatrava; which last nobleman had brought to the +field about four hundred horse and a large body of infantry from the +places belonging to his order in Andalusia. Before the intrenchment could +be fully completed, Ali Atar, discerning the importance of this commanding +station, made a sortie from the town, for the purpose of dislodging his +enemies. The latter poured out from their works to encounter him; but the +Moslem general, scarcely waiting to receive the shock, wheeled his +squadrons round, and began a precipitate retreat. The Spaniards eagerly +pursued; but, when they had been drawn to a sufficient distance from the +redoubt, a party of Moorish _ginetes_, or light cavalry, who had crossed +the river unobserved during the night and lain in ambush, after the wily +fashion of Arabian tactics, darted from their place of concealment, and, +galloping into the deserted camp, plundered it of its contents, including +the lombards, or small pieces of artillery, with which it was garnished. +The Castilians, too late perceiving their error, halted from the pursuit, +and returned with as much speed as possible to the defence of their camp. +Ali Atar, turning also, hung close on their rear, so that, when the +Christians arrived at the summit of the hill, they found themselves hemmed +in between the two divisions of the Moorish army. A brisk action now +ensued, and lasted nearly an hour; when the advance of reinforcements from +the main body of the Spanish army, which had been delayed by distance and +impediments on the road, compelled the Moors to a prompt but orderly +retreat into their own city. The Christians sustained a heavy loss, +particularly in the death of Rodrigo Tellez Giron, grand-master of +Calatrava. He was hit by two arrows, the last of which, penetrating the +joints of his harness beneath his sword-arm, as he was in the act of +raising it, inflicted on him a mortal wound, of which he expired in a few +hours, says an old cronicler, after having confessed, and performed the +last duties of a good and faithful Christian. Although scarcely twenty- +four years of age, this cavalier had given proofs of such signal prowess, +that he was esteemed one of the best knights of Castile; and his death +threw a general gloom over the army. [4] + +Ferdinand now became convinced of the unsuitableness of a position, which +neither admitted of easy communication between the different quarters of +his own camp, nor enabled him to intercept the supplies daily passing into +that of his enemy. Other inconveniences also pressed on him. His men were +so badly provided with the necessary utensils for dressing their food, +that they were obliged either to devour it raw, or only half cooked. Most +of them being new recruits, unaccustomed to the privations of war, and +many exhausted by a wearisome length of march before joining the army, +they began openly to murmur, and even to desert in great numbers. +Ferdinand therefore resolved to fall back as far as Rio Frio, and await +there patiently the arrival of such fresh reinforcements as might put him +in condition to enforce a more rigorous blockade. + +Orders were accordingly issued to the cavaliers occupying the Heights of +Albohacen to break up their camp, and fall back on the main body of the +army. This was executed on the following morning before dawn, being the +4th of July. No sooner did the Moors of Loja perceive their enemy +abandoning his strong position, than they sallied forth in considerable +force to take possession of it. Ferdinand's men, who had not been advised +of the proposed manoeuvre, no sooner beheld the Moorish array brightening +the crest of the mountain, and their own countrymen rapidly descending, +than they imagined that these latter had been surprised in their +intrenchments during the night, and were now flying before the enemy. An +alarm instantly spread through the whole camp. Instead of standing to +their defence, each one thought only of saving himself by as speedy a +flight as possible. In vain did Ferdinand, riding along their broken +files, endeavor to reanimate their spirits and restore order. He might as +easily have calmed the winds, as the disorder of a panic-struck mob, +unschooled by discipline or experience. Ali Atar's practised eye speedily +discerned the confusion which prevailed through the Christian camp. +Without delay, he rushed forth impetuously at the head of his whole array +from the gates of Loja, and converted into a real danger what had before +been only an imaginary one. [5] + +At this perilous moment, nothing but Ferdinand's coolness could have saved +the army from total destruction. Putting himself at the head of the royal +guard, and accompanied by a gallant band of cavaliers, who held honor +dearer than life, he made such a determined stand against the Moorish +advance, that Ali Atar was compelled to pause in his career. A furious +struggle ensued betwixt this devoted little band and the whole strength of +the Moslem army. Ferdinand was repeatedly exposed to imminent peril. On +one occasion he was indebted for his safety to the marquis of Cadiz, who, +charging at the head of about sixty lances, broke the deep ranks of the +Moorish column, and, compelling it to recoil, succeeded in rescuing his +sovereign. In this adventure, he narrowly escaped with his own life, his +horse being shot under him, at the very moment when he had lost his lance +in the body of a Moor. Never did the Spanish chivalry shed its blood more +freely. The constable, count de Haro, received three wounds in the face. +The duke of Medina Celi was unhorsed and brought to the ground, and saved +with difficulty by his own men; and the count of Tendilla, whose +encampment lay nearest the city, received several severe blows, and would +have fallen into the hands of the enemy, had it not been for the timely +aid of his friend, the young count of Zuñiga. + +The Moors, finding it so difficult to make an impression on this iron band +of warriors, began at length to slacken their efforts, and finally allowed +Ferdinand to draw off the remnant of his forces without further +opposition. The king continued his retreat without halting, as far as the +romantic site of the Peña de los Enamorados, about seven leagues distant +from Loja; and, abandoning all thoughts of offensive operations for the +present, soon after returned to Cordova. Muley Abul Hacen arrived the +following day with a powerful reinforcement from Granada, and swept the +country as far as Rio Frio. Had he come but a few hours sooner, there +would have been few Spaniards left to tell the tale of the rout of Loja. +[6] + +The loss of the Christians must have been very considerable, including the +greater part of the baggage and the artillery. It occasioned deep +mortification to the queen; but, though a severe, it proved a salutary +lesson. It showed the importance of more extensive preparations for a war, +which must of necessity be a war of posts; and it taught the nation to +entertain greater respect for an enemy, who, whatever might be his natural +strength, must become formidable when armed with the energy of despair. + +At this juncture, a division among the Moors themselves did more for the +Christians, than any successes of their own. This division grew out of the +vicious system of polygamy, which sows the seeds of discord among those, +whom nature and our own happier institutions unite most closely. The old +king of Granada had become so deeply enamored of a Greek slave, that the +Sultana Zoraya, jealous lest the offspring of her rival should supplant +her own in the succession, secretly contrived to stir up a spirit of +discontent with her husband's government. The king, becoming acquainted +with her intrigues, caused her to be imprisoned in the fortress of the +Alhambra. But the sultana, binding together the scarfs and veils belonging +to herself and attendants, succeeded, by means of this perilous +conveyance, in making her escape, together with her children, from the +upper apartments of the tower in which she was lodged. She was received +with joy by her own faction. The insurrection soon spread among the +populace, who, yielding to the impulses of nature, are readily roused by a +tale of oppression; and the number was still further swelled by many of +higher rank, who had various causes of disgust with the oppressive +government of Abul Hacen. [7] The strong fortress of the Alhambra, +however, remained faithful to him. A war now burst forth in the capital +which deluged its streets with the blood of its citizens. At length the +sultana triumphed; Abul Hacen was expelled from Granada, and sought a +refuge in Malaga, which, with Baza, Guadix, and some other places of +importance, still adhered to him; while Granada, and by far the larger +portion of the kingdom, proclaimed the authority of his elder son, Abu +Abdallah, or Boabdil, as he is usually called by the Castilian writers. +The Spanish sovereigns viewed with no small interest these proceedings of +the Moors, who were thus wantonly fighting the battles of their enemies. +All proffers of assistance on their part, however, being warily rejected +by both factions, notwithstanding the mutual hatred of each other, they +could only await with patience the termination of a struggle, which, +whatever might be its results in other respects, could not fail to open +the way for the success of their own arms. [8] + +No military operations worthy of notice occurred during the remainder of +the campaign, except occasional _cavalgadas_ or inroads, on both +sides, which, after the usual unsparing devastation, swept away whole +herds of cattle, and human beings, the wretched cultivators of the soil. +The quantity of booty frequently carried off on such occasions, amounting, +according to the testimony of both Christian and Moorish writers, to +twenty, thirty, and even fifty thousand head of cattle, shows the +fruitfulness and abundant pasturage in the southern regions of the +Peninsula. The loss inflicted by these terrible forays fell, eventually, +most heavily on Granada, in consequence of her scanty territory and +insulated position, which cut her off from all foreign resources. + +Towards the latter end of October, the court passed from Cordova to +Madrid, with the intention of remaining there the ensuing winter. Madrid, +it may be observed, however, was so far from being recognized as the +capital of the monarchy at this time, that it was inferior to several +other cities in wealth and population, and was even less frequented than +some others, as Valladolid for example as a royal residence. + +On the 1st of July, while the court was at Cordova, died Alfonso de +Carillo, the factious archbishop of Toledo, who contributed more than any +other to raise Isabella to the throne, and who, with the same arm, had +wellnigh hurled her from it. He passed the close of his life in retirement +and disgrace at his town of Alcalá de Henares, where he devoted himself to +science, especially to alchymy; in which illusory pursuit he is said to +have squandered his princely revenues with such prodigality, as to leave +them encumbered with a heavy debt. He was succeeded in the primacy by his +ancient rival, Don Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza, cardinal of Spain; a prelate +whose enlarged and sagacious views gained him deserved ascendency in the +councils of his sovereigns. [9] + +The importance of their domestic concerns did not prevent Ferdinand and +Isabella from giving a vigilant attention to what was passing abroad. The +conflicting relations growing out of the feudal system occupied most +princes, till the close of the fifteenth century, too closely at home to +allow them often to turn their eyes beyond the borders of their own +territories. This system was indeed now rapidly melting away. But Louis +the Eleventh may perhaps be regarded as the first monarch, who showed +anything like an extended interest in European politics. He informed +himself of the interior proceedings of most of the neighboring courts, by +means of secret agents whom he pensioned there. Ferdinand obtained a +similar result by the more honorable expedient of resident embassies, a +practice which he is said to have introduced, [10] and which, while it has +greatly facilitated commercial intercourse, has served to perpetuate +friendly relations between different countries, by accustoming them to +settle their differences by negotiation rather than the sword. + +The position of the Italian states, at this period, whose petty feuds +seemed to blind them to the invasion which menaced them from the Ottoman +empire, was such as to excite a lively interest throughout Christendom, +and especially in Ferdinand, as sovereign of Sicily. He succeeded, by +means of his ambassadors at the papal court, in opening a negotiation +between the belligerents, and in finally adjusting the terms of a general +pacification, signed December 12th, 1482. The Spanish court, in +consequence of its friendly mediation on this occasion, received three +several embassies with suitable acknowledgments, on the part of the pope +Sixtus the Fourth, the college of cardinals, and the city of Rome; and +certain marks of distinction were conferred by his Holiness on the +Castilian envoys, not enjoyed by those of any other potentate. This event +is worthy of notice as the first instance of Ferdinand's interference in +the politics of Italy, in which at a later period he was destined to act +so prominent a part. [11] + +The affairs of Navarre at this time were such as to engage still more +deeply the attention of the Spanish sovereigns. The crown of that kingdom +had devolved, on the death of Leonora, the guilty sister of Ferdinand, on +her grandchild, Francis Phoebus, whose mother, Magdeleine of France, held +the reins of government during her son's minority. [12] The near +relationship of this princess to Louis the Eleventh, gave that monarch an +absolute influence in the councils of Navarre. He made use of this to +bring about a marriage between the young king, Francis Phoebus, and Joanna +Beltraneja, Isabella's former competitor for the crown of Castile, +notwithstanding this princess had long since taken the veil in the convent +of Santa Clara at Coimbra. It is not easy to unravel the tortuous politics +of King Louis. The Spanish writers impute to him the design of enabling +Joanna by this alliance to establish her pretensions to the Castilian +throne, or at least to give such employment to its present proprietors, as +should effectually prevent them from disturbing him in the possession of +Roussillon. However this may be, his intrigues with Portugal were +disclosed to Ferdinand by certain nobles of that court, with whom he was +in secret correspondence. The Spanish sovereigns, in order to counteract +this scheme, offered the hand of their own daughter Joanna, afterwards +mother of Charles the Fifth, to the king of Navarre. But all negotiations +relative to this matter were eventually defeated by the sudden death of +this young prince, not without strong suspicions of poison. He was +succeeded on the throne by his sister Catharine. Propositions were then +made by Ferdinand and Isabella, for the marriage of this princess, then +thirteen years of age, with their infant son John, heir apparent of their +united monarchies. [13] Such an alliance, which would bring under one +government nations corresponding in origin, language, general habits, and +local interests, presented great and obvious advantages. It was however +evaded by the queen dowager, who still acted as regent, on the pretext of +disparity of age in the parties. Information being soon after received +that Louis the Eleventh was taking measures to make himself master of the +strong places in Navarre, Isabella transferred her residence to the +frontier town of Logroño, prepared to resist by arms, if necessary, the +occupation of that country by her insidious and powerful neighbor. The +death of the king of France, which occurred not long after, fortunately +relieved the sovereigns from apprehensions of any immediate annoyance on +that quarter. [14] + +Amid their manifold concerns, Ferdinand and Isabella kept their thoughts +anxiously bent on their great enterprise, the conquest of Granada. At a +congress general of the deputies of the hermandad, held at Pinto, at the +commencement of the present year, 1483, with the view of reforming certain +abuses in that institution, a liberal grant was made of eight thousand +men, and sixteen thousand beasts of burden, for the purpose of conveying +supplies to the garrison in Alhama. But the sovereigns experienced great +embarrassment from the want of funds. There is probably no period in which +the princes of Europe felt so sensibly their own penury, as at the close +of the fifteenth century; when, the demesnes of the crown having been very +generally wasted by the lavishness or imbecility of its proprietors, no +substitute had as yet been found in that searching and well-arranged +system of taxation which prevails at the present day. The Spanish +sovereigns, notwithstanding the economy which they had introduced into the +finances, felt the pressure of these embarrassments, peculiarly, at the +present juncture. The maintenance of the royal guard and of the vast +national police of the hermandad, the incessant military operations of the +late campaign, together with the equipment of a navy, not merely for war, +but for maritime discovery, were so many copious drains of the exchequer. +[15] Under these circumstances, they obtained from the pope a grant of +one hundred thousand ducats, to be raised out of the ecclesiastical +revenues in Castile and Aragon. A bull of crusade was also published by +his Holiness, containing numerous indulgences for such as should bear arms +against the infidel, as well as those who should prefer to commute their +military service for the payment of a sum of money. In addition to these +resources, the government was enabled on its own credit, justified by the +punctuality with which it had redeemed its past engagements, to negotiate +considerable loans with several wealthy individuals. [16] + +With these funds the sovereigns entered into extensive arrangements for +the ensuing campaign; causing cannon, after the rude construction of that +age, to be fabricated at Huesca, and a large quantity of stone balls, then +principally used, to be manufactured in the Sierra de Constantina; while +the magazines were carefully provided with ammunition and military stores. + +An event not unworthy of notice is recorded by Pulgar, as happening about +this time. A common soldier, named John de Corral, contrived, under false +pretences, to obtain from the king of Granada a number of Christian +captives, together with a large sum of money, with which he escaped into +Andalusia. The man was apprehended by the warden of the frontier of Jaen; +and, the transaction being reported to the sovereigns, they compelled an +entire restitution of the money, and consented to such a ransom for the +liberated Christians as the king of Granada should demand. This act of +justice, it should be remembered, occurred in an age when the church +itself stood ready to sanction any breach of faith, however glaring, +towards heretics and infidels. [17] + +While the court was detained in the north, tidings were received of a +reverse sustained by the Spanish arms, which plunged the nation in sorrow +far deeper than that occasioned by the rout at Loja. Don Alonso de +Cardenas, grand-master of St. James, an old and confidential servant of +the crown, had been intrusted with the defence of the frontier of Ecija. +While on this station, he was strongly urged to make a descent on the +environs of Malaga, by his _adalides_ or scouts, men who, being for +the most part Moorish deserters or renegadoes, were employed by the border +chiefs to reconnoitre the enemy's country, or to guide them in their +marauding expeditions. [18] The district around Malaga was famous under +the Saracens for its silk manufactures, of which it annually made large +exports to other parts of Europe. It was to be approached by traversing a +savage sierra, or chain of mountains, called the Axarquia, whose margin +occasionally afforded good pasturage, and was sprinkled over with Moorish +villages. After threading its defiles, it was proposed to return by an +open road that turned the southern extremity of the sierra along the sea- +shore. There was little to be apprehended, it was stated, from pursuit, +since Malaga was almost wholly unprovided with cavalry. [19] + +The grand-master, falling in with the proposition, communicated it to the +principal chiefs on the borders; among others, to Don Pedro Henriquez, +adelantado of Andalusia, Don Juan de Silva, count of Cifuentes, Don Alonso +de Aguilar, and the marquis of Cadiz. These nobleman, collecting their +retainers, repaired to Antequera, where the ranks were quickly swelled by +recruits from Cordova, Seville, Xerez, and other cities of Andalusia, +whose chivalry always readily answered the summons to an expedition over +the border. [20] + +In the mean while, however, the marquis of Cadiz had received such +intelligence from his own _adalides_, as led him to doubt the expediency +of a march through intricate defiles, inhabited by a poor and hardy +peasantry; and he strongly advised to direct the expedition against +the neighboring town of Almojia. But in this he was overruled by the +grand-master and the other partners of his enterprise; many of whom, with +the rash confidence of youth, were excited rather than intimidated by the +prospect of danger. + +On Wednesday, the 19th of March, this gallant little army marched forth +from the gates of Antequera. The van was intrusted to the adelantado +Henriquez and Don Alonso de Aguilar. The centre divisions were led by the +marquis of Cadiz and the count of Cifuentes, and the rear-guard by the +grand-master of St. James. The number of foot, which is uncertain, appears +to have been considerably less than that of the horse, which amounted to +about three thousand, containing the flower of Andalusian knighthood, +together with the array of St. James, the most opulent and powerful of the +Spanish military orders. Never, says an Aragonese historian, had there +been seen in these times a more splendid body of chivalry; and such was +their confidence, he adds, that they deemed themselves invincible by any +force which the Moslems could bring against them. The leaders took care +not to encumber the movements of the army with artillery, camp equipage, +or even much forage and provisions, for which they trusted to the invaded +territory. A number of persons, however, followed in the train, who, +influenced by desire rather of gain than of glory, had come provided with +money, as well as commissions from their friends, for the purchase of rich +spoil, whether of slaves, stuffs, or jewels, which they expected would be +won by the good swords of their comrades, as in Alhama. [21] + +After travelling with little intermission through the night, the army +entered the winding defiles of the Axarquia; where their progress was +necessarily so much impeded by the character of the ground, that most of +the inhabitants of the villages, through which they passed, had +opportunity to escape with the greater part of their effects to the +inaccessible fastnesses of the mountains. The Spaniards, after plundering +the deserted hamlets of whatever remained, as well as of the few +stragglers, whether men or cattle, found still lingering about them, set +them on fire. In this way they advanced, marking their line of march with +the usual devastation that accompanied these ferocious forays, until the +columns of smoke and fire, which rose above the hill-tops, announced to +the people of Malaga the near approach of an enemy. + +The old king Muley Abul Hacen, who lay at this time in the city, with a +numerous and well-appointed body of horse, contrary to the reports of the +adalides, would have rushed forth at once at their head, had he not been +dissuaded from it by his younger brother Abdallah, who is better known in +history by the name of El Zagal, or "the Valiant;" an Arabic epithet, +given him by his countrymen to distinguish him from his nephew, the ruling +king of Granada. To this prince Abul Hacen intrusted the command of the +corps of picked cavalry, with instructions to penetrate at once into the +lower level of the sierra, and encounter the Christians entangled in its +passes; while another division, consisting chiefly of arquebusiers and +archers, should turn the enemy's flank by gaining the heights under which +he was defiling. This last corps was placed under the direction of Reduan +Benegas, a chief of Christian lineage, according to Bernaldez, and who may +perhaps be identified with the Reduan that, in the later Moorish ballads, +seems to be shadowed forth as the personification of love and heroism. +[22] + +The Castilian army in the mean time went forward with a buoyant and +reckless confidence, and with very little subordination. The divisions +occupying the advance and centre, disappointed in their expectations of +booty, had quitted the line of march, and dispersed in small parties in +search of plunder over the adjacent country; and some of the high-mettled +young cavaliers had the audacity to ride up in defiance to the very walls +of Malaga. The grand master of St. James was the only leader who kept his +columns unbroken, and marched forward in order of battle. Things were in +this state, when the Moorish cavalry under El Zagal, suddenly emerging +from one of the mountain passes, appeared before the astonished rear-guard +of the Christians. The Moors spurred on to the assault, but the well- +disciplined chivalry of St. James remained unshaken. In the fierce +struggle which ensued, the Andalusians became embarrassed by the +narrowness of the ground on which they were engaged, which afforded no +scope for the manoeuvres of cavalry; while the Moors, trained to the wild +tactics of mountain warfare, went through their usual evolutions, +retreating and returning to the charge with a celerity that sorely +distressed their opponents and at length threw them into some disorder. +The grand master, in consequence, despatched a message to the marquis of +Cadiz, requesting his support. The latter, putting himself at the head of +such of his scattered forces as he could hastily muster, readily obeyed +the summons. Discerning on his approach the real source of the grand +master's embarrassment, he succeeded in changing the field of action by +drawing off the Moors to an open reach of the valley, which allowed free +play to the movements of the Andalusian horse, when the combined squadrons +pressed so hard on the Moslems, that they were soon compelled to take +refuge within the depths of their own mountains. [23] + +In the mean while, the scattered troops of the advance, alarmed by the +report of the action, gradually assembled under their respective banners, +and fell back upon the rear. A council of war was then called. All further +progress seemed to be effectually intercepted. The country was everywhere +in arms. The most that now could be hoped, was, that they might be +suffered to retire unmolested with such plunder as they had already +acquired. Two routes lay open for this purpose. The one winding along the +sea-shore, wide and level, but circuitous, and swept through the whole +range of its narrow entrance by the fortress of Malaga. This determined +them unhappily to prefer the other route, being that by which they had +penetrated the Axarquia, or rather a shorter cut, by which the adalides +undertook to conduct them through its mazes. [24] + +The little army commenced its retrograde movement with undiminished +spirit. But it was now embarrassed with the transportation of its plunder, +and by the increasing difficulties of the sierra, which, as they ascended +its sides, was matted over with impenetrable thickets, and broken up by +formidable ravines or channels, cut deep into the soil by the mountain +torrents. The Moors were now seen mustering in considerable numbers along +the heights, and, as they were expert marksmen, being trained by early and +assiduous practice, the shots from their arquebuses and cross-bows +frequently found some assailable point in the harness of the Spanish men- +at-arms. At length, the army, through the treachery or ignorance of the +guides, was suddenly brought to a halt by arriving in a deep glen or +enclosure, whose rocky sides rose with such boldness as to be scarcely +practicable for infantry, much less for horse. To add to their distresses, +daylight, without which they could scarcely hope to extricate themselves, +was fast fading away. [25] + +In this extremity no other alternative seemed to remain, than to attempt +to regain the route from which they had departed. As all other +considerations were now subordinate to those of personal safety, it was +agreed to abandon the spoil acquired at so much hazard, which greatly +retarded their movements. As they painfully retraced their steps, the +darkness of the night was partially dispelled by numerous fires, which +blazed along the hill-tops, and which showed the figures of their enemies +flitting to and fro like so many spectres. It seemed, says Bernaldez, as +if ten thousand torches were glancing along the mountains. At length, the +whole body, faint with fatigue and hunger, reached the borders of a little +stream, which flowed through a valley, whose avenues, as well as the +rugged heights by which it was commanded, were already occupied by the +enemy, who poured down mingled volleys of shot, stones, and arrows on the +heads of the Christians. The compact mass presented by the latter afforded +a sure mark to the artillery of the Moors; while they, from their +scattered position, as well as from the defences afforded by the nature of +the ground, were exposed to little annoyance in return. In addition to +lighter missiles, the Moors occasionally dislodged large fragments of +rock, which, rolling with tremendous violence down the declivities of the +hills, spread frightful desolation through the Christian ranks. [26] + +The dismay occasioned by these scenes, occurring amidst the darkness of +night, and heightened by the shrill war-cries of the Moors, which rose +around them on every quarter, seems to have completely bewildered the +Spaniards, even their leaders. It was the misfortune of the expedition, +that there was but little concert between the several commanders, or, at +least, that there was no one so pre-eminent above the rest as to assume +authority at this awful moment. So far, it would seem, from attempting +escape, they continued in their perilous position, uncertain what course +to take, until midnight; when at length, after having seen their best and +bravest followers fall thick around them, they determined at all hazards +to force a passage across the sierra in the face of the enemy. "Better +lose our lives," said the grand master of St. James, addressing his men, +"in cutting a way through the foe, than be butchered without resistance, +like cattle in the shambles." [27] + +The marquis of Cadiz, guided by a trusty adalid, and accompanied by sixty +or seventy lances, was fortunate enough to gain a circuitous route less +vigilantly guarded by the enemy, whose attention was drawn to the +movements of the main body of the Castilian army. By means of this path, +the marquis, with his little band, succeeded, after a painful march, in +which his good steed sunk under him oppressed with wounds and fatigue, in +reaching a valley at some distance from the scene of action, where he +determined to wait the coming up of his friends, who he confidently +expected would follow on his track. [28] + +But the grand master and his associates, missing this track in the +darkness of the night, or perhaps preferring another, breasted the sierra +in a part where it proved extremely difficult of ascent. At every step the +loosened earth gave way under the pressure of the foot, and, the infantry +endeavoring to support themselves by clinging to the tails and manes of +the horses, the jaded animals, borne down with the weight, rolled headlong +with their riders on the ranks below, or were precipitated down the sides +of the numerous ravines. The Moors, all the while, avoiding a close +encounter, contented themselves with discharging on the heads of their +opponents an uninterrupted shower of missiles of every description. +[29] + +It was not until the following morning, that the Castilians, having +surmounted the crest of the eminence, began the descent into the opposite +valley, which they had the mortification to observe was commanded on every +point by their vigilant adversary, who seemed now in their eyes to possess +the powers of ubiquity. As the light broke upon the troops, it revealed +the whole extent of their melancholy condition. How different from the +magnificent array which, but two days previous, marched forth with such +high and confident hopes from the gates of Antequera! their ranks thinned, +their bright arms defaced and broken, their banners rent in pieces, or +lost,--as had been that of St. James, together with its gallant +_alferez_, Diego Becerra, in the terrible passage of the preceding +night,--their countenances aghast with terror, fatigue, and famine. +Despair now was in every eye, all subordination was at an end. No one, +says Pulgar, heeded any longer the call of the trumpet, or the wave of the +banner. Each sought only his own safety, without regard to his comrade. +Some threw away their arms; hoping by this means to facilitate their +escape, while in fact it only left them more defenceless against the +shafts of their enemies. Some, oppressed with fatigue and terror, fell +down and died without so much as receiving a wound. The panic was such +that, in more than one instance, two or three Moorish soldiers were known +to capture thrice their own number of Spaniards. Some, losing their way, +strayed back to Malaga and were made prisoners by females of the city, who +overtook them in the fields. Others escaped to Alhama or other distant +places, after wandering seven or eight days among the mountains, +sustaining life on such wild herbs and berries as they could find, and +lying close during the day. A greater number succeeded in reaching +Antequera, and, among these, most of the leaders of the expedition. The +grand master of St. James, the adelantado Henriquez, and Don Alonso de +Aguilar effected their escape by scaling so perilous a part of the sierra +that their pursuers cared not to follow. The count de Cifuentes was less +fortunate. [30] That nobleman's division was said to have suffered more +severely than any other. On the morning after the bloody passage of the +mountain, he found himself suddenly cut off from his followers, and +surrounded by six Moorish cavaliers, against whom he was defending himself +with desperate courage, when their leader, Reduan Benegas, struck with the +inequality of the combat, broke in, exclaiming, "Hold, this is unworthy of +good knights." The assailants sunk back abashed by the rebuke, and left +the count to their commander. A close encounter then took place between +the two chiefs; but the strength of the Spaniard was no longer equal to +his spirit, and, after a brief resistance, he was forced to surrender to +his generous enemy. [31] + +The marquis of Cadiz had better fortune. After waiting till dawn for the +coming up of his friends, he concluded that they had extricated themselves +by a different route. He resolved to provide for his own safety and that +of his followers, and, being supplied with a fresh horse, accomplished his +escape, after traversing the wildest passages of the Axarquia for the +distance of four leagues, and got into Antequera with but little +interruption from the enemy. But, although he secured his personal safety, +the misfortunes of the day fell heavily on his house; for two of his +brothers were cut down by his side, and a third brother, with a nephew, +fell into the hands of the enemy. [32] + +The amount of slain in the two days' actions is admitted by the Spanish +writers to have exceeded eight hundred, with double that number of +prisoners. The Moorish force is said to have been small, and its loss +comparatively trifling. The numerical estimates of the Spanish historians, +as usual, appear extremely loose; and the narrative of their enemies is +too meagre in this portion of their annals to allow any opportunity of +verification. There is no reason, however, to believe them in any degree +exaggerated. + +The best blood of Andalusia was shed on this occasion. Among the slain, +Bernaldez reckons two hundred and fifty, and Pulgar four hundred persons +of quality, with thirty commanders of the military fraternity of St. +James. There was scarcely a family in the south, but had to mourn the loss +of some one of its members by death or captivity; and the distress was not +a little aggravated by the uncertainty which hung over the fate of the +absent, as to whether they had fallen in the field, or were still +wandering in the wilderness, or were pining away existence in the dungeons +of Malaga and Granada. [33] + +Some imputed the failure of the expedition to treachery in the adalides, +some to want of concert among the commanders. The worthy Curate of Los +Palacios concludes his narrative of the disaster in the following manner. +"The number of the Moors was small, who inflicted this grievous defeat on +the Christians. It was, indeed, clearly miraculous, and we may discern in +it the special interposition of Providence, justly offended with the +greater part of those that engaged in the expedition; who, instead of +confessing, partaking the sacrament, and making their testaments, as +becomes good Christians, and men that are to bear arms in defence of the +Holy Catholic faith, acknowledged that they did not bring with them +suitable dispositions, but, with little regard to God's service, were +influenced by covetousness and love of ungodly gain." [34] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Estrada, Poblacion de España, tom. ii. pp. 242, 243.--Zurita, Anales, +tom. iv. fol. 317.--Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. p. +261. + +[2] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 58.--Mariana, Hist. de España, +tom. ii, pp. 249, 250.--Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. +pp. 259, 260. + +[3] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 173.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. +187.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 316, 317. + +[4] Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, fol. 80, 81.--L. Marineo, Cosas +Memorables, fol. 173.--Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 1, cap. +7.--Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. p. 214.--Carbajal, Anales, +MS., año 1482. + +[5] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, pp. 189-191.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, +MS., cap. 58.--Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. pp. 214-217.-- +Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. pp. 260, 261. + +[6] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 58.--Conde, Dominacion de los +Arabes, tom. iii. pp. 214-217.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, ubi supra.-- +Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 1, cap. 7.--The _Peña de los +Enamorados_ received its name from a tragical incident in Moorish +history. A Christian slave succeeded in inspiring the daughter of his +master, a wealthy Mussulman of Granada, with a passion for himself. The +two lovers, after some time, fearful of the detection of their intrigue, +resolved to mate their escape into the Spanish territory. Before they +could effect their purpose, however, they were hotly pursued by the +damsel's father at the head of a party of Moorish horsemen, and overtaken +near a precipice which rises between Archidona and Antequera. The +unfortunate fugitives, who had scrambled to the summit of the rocks, +finding all further escape impracticable, after tenderly embracing each +other threw themselves headlong from the dizzy heights, preferring this +dreadful death to falling into the hands of their vindictive pursuers. The +spot consecrated as the scene of this tragic incident has received the +name of _Rock of the Lovers_. The legend is prettily told by Mariana, +(Hist. de España, tom. ii. pp. 253, 254,) who concludes with the pithy +reflection, that "such constancy would have been truly admirable, had it +been shown in defence of the true faith, rather than in the gratification +of lawless appetite." + +[7] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. pp. 214-217.--Cardonne, +Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. pp. 262, 263.--Marmol, Rebelion de +Moriscos, lib, 1, cap. 12.--Bernaldez states that great umbrage was taken +at the influence which the king of Granada allowed a person of Christian +lineage, named Venegas, to exercise over him. Pulgar hints at the bloody +massacre of the Abencerrages, which, without any better authority that I +know of, forms the burden of many an ancient ballad, and has lost nothing +of its romantic coloring under the hand of Cinés Perez de Hyta. + +[8] Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, ubi supra.--Conde, Dominacion +de los Arabes, ubi supra. + +Boabdil was surnamed "el Chico," _the Little_, by the Spanish writers, to +distinguish him from an uncle of the same name; and "el Zogoybi," _the +Unfortunate_, by the Moors, indicating that he was the last of his race +destined to wear the diadem of Granada. The Arabs, with great felicity, +frequently select names significant of some quality in the objects they +represent. Examples of this may be readily found in the southern regions +of the Peninsula, where the Moors lingered the longest. The etymology of +Gibraltar, Gebal Tarik, _Mount of Tarik_, is well known. Thus, Algeziras +comes from an Arabic word which signifies _an island_: Alpuxarras comes +from a term signifying _herbage_ or _pasturage_: Arrecife from another, +signifying _causeway_ or _high road_, etc. The Arabic word _wad_ stands +for _river_. This without much violence has been changed into _guad_, and +enters into the names of many of the southern streams; for example, +Guadalquivir, _great river_, Guadiana, _narrow_ or _little river_, +Guadalete, etc. In the same manner the term Medina, _Arabicè_ "city," +has been retained as a prefix to the names of many of the Spanish towns, +as Medina Celi, Medina del Campo, etc. See Conde's notes to El Nubiense, +Description de España, passim. + +[9] Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. del Gran Cardenal, p. 181.--Pulgar, Claros +Varones, tit. 20.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1483.--Aleson, Annales de +Navarra, tom. v. p. 11, ed. 1766.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 158. + +[10] Fred. Marslaar, De Leg. 2, 11.--M. de Wicquefort derives the word +_ambassadeur_ (anciently in English _ambassador_) from the Spanish word +_embiar_, "to send." See Rights of Embassadors, translated by Digby +(London, 1740,) book 1, chap. 1. + +[11] Sismondi, Républiques Italiennes, tom. xi. cap. 88.--Pulgar, Reyes +Católicos, pp. 195-198.--Zurita, Anales, tom iv. fol. 218. + +[12] Aleson, Annales de Navarra, lib. 34, cap. 1.--Histoire du Royaume de +Navarre, p. 558. Leonora's son, Gaston de Foix, prince of Viana, was slain +by an accidental wound from a lance, at a tourney at Lisbon, in 1469. By +the princess Magdeleine, his wife, sister of Louis XI, he left two +children, a son and daughter, each of whom in turn succeeded to the crown +of Navarre. Francis Phoebus ascended the throne on the demise of his +grandmother Leonora, in 1479. He was distinguished by his personal graces +and beauty, and especially by the golden lustre of his hair, from which, +according to Aleson, he derived his cognomen of Phoebus. As it was an +ancestral name, however, such an etymology may be thought somewhat +fanciful. + +[13] Ferdinand and Isabella had at this time four children; the infant Don +John, four years and a half old, but who did not live to come to the +succession, and the infantas Isabella, Joanna, and Maria; the last, born +at Cordova during the summer of 1482. + +[14] Aleson, Annales de Navarra, lib. 34, cap. 2; lib. 35, cap. 1.-- +Histoire du Royaume de Navarre, pp. 578, 579.--La Clède, Hist. de +Portugal, tom. iii. pp. 438-441.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 199.-- +Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 551. + +[15] Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 2, cap. 1. + +Besides the armada in the Mediterranean, a fleet under Pedro de Vera was +prosecuting a voyage of discovery and conquest to the Canaries at this +time. + +[16] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 199.--Mariana, tom. ii. p. 551.-- +Coleccion de Cédulas y Otros Documentos, (Madrid, 1829,) tom. iii. no. 25. + +For this important collection, a few copies of which, only, were printed +for distribution, at the expense of the Spanish government, I am indebted +to the politeness of Don A. Calderon de la Barca. + +[17] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 58.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, +p. 202. + +Juan de Corral imposed on the king of Granada by means of certain +credentials, which he had obtained from the Spanish sovereigns without any +privity on their part to his fraudulent intentions. The story is told in a +very blind manner by Pulgar. + +It may not be amiss to mention here a doughty feat performed by another +Castilian envoy, of much higher rank, Don Juan de Vera. This knight, while +conversing with certain Moorish cavaliers in the Alhambra, was so much +scandalized by the freedom with which one of them treated the immaculate +conception, that he gave the circumcised dog the lie, and smote him a +sharp blow on the head with his sword. Ferdinand, say Bernaldez, who tells +the story, was much gratified with the exploit, and recompensed the good +knight with many honors. + +[18] The _adalid_ was a guide, or scout, whose business it was to +make himself acquainted with the enemy's country, and to guide the +invaders into it. Much dispute has arisen respecting the authority and +functions of this officer. Some writers regard him as an independent +leader, or commander; and the Dictionary of the Academy defines the term +_adalid_ by these very words. The Siete Partidas, however, explains +at length the peculiar duties of this officer, conformably to the account +I have given. (Ed. de la Real Acad. (Madrid, 1807,) part. 2, tit. 2, leyes +1-4.) Bernaldez, Pulgar, and the other chroniclers of the Granadine war, +repeatedly notice him in this connection. When he is spoken of as a +captain, or leader, as he sometimes is in these and other ancient records, +his authority, I suspect, is intended to be limited to the persons who +aided him in the execution of his peculiar office.--It was common for the +great chiefs, who lived on the borders, to maintain in their pay a number +of these _adalides_, to inform them of the fitting time and place for +making a foray. The post, as may well be believed, was one of great trust +and personal hazard. + +[19] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 203.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. +173.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 320. + +[20] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36.--Lebrija, +Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 2, cap. 2. + +The title of _adelantado_ implies in its etymology one preferred or +placed before others. The office is of great antiquity; some have derived +it from the reign of St. Ferdinand in the thirteenth century, but Mendoza +proves its existence at a far earlier period. The adelantado was possessed +of very extensive judicial authority in the province or district in which +he presided, and in war was invested with supreme military command. His +functions, however, as well as the territories over which he ruled, have +varied at different periods. An adelantado seems to have been generally +established over a border province, as Andalusia for example. Marina +discusses the civil authority of this officer, in his Teoría, tom. ii. +cap. 23. See also Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 2, cap. 15. + +[21] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 60.--Rades y Andrada, Las Tres +Ordenes, fol. 71.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 320.--Zuñiga, Annales de +Sevilla, fol. 395.--Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 2, cap. 2.-- +Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36. + +[22] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. p. 217.--Cardonne, Hist. +d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. pp. 264-267.--Bernaldez, Reyes +Católicos, MS., cap. 60. + +[23] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. p. 217.--Pulgar, Reyes +Católicos, p. 204.--Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, fol. 71, 72. + +[24] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. pp. 552, 553.--Pulgar, Reyes +Católicos, p. 205.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 321. + +[25] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 205.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. p. +636. + +[26] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 60.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, +ubi supra.--Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. pp. 264-267. + +[27] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 206.--Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, +fol. 71, 72. + +[28] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, loc. cit.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., +cap. 60. + +[29] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 206. Mr. Irving, in his "Conquest of +Granada," states that the scene of the greatest slaughter in this rout is +still known to the inhabitants of the Axarquia by the name of _La Cuesta +de la Matanza_, or "The Hill of the Massacre." + +[30] Oviedo, who devotes one of his dialogues to this nobleman, says of +him, "Fue una de las buenas lanzos de nuestra España en su tiempo; y muy +sabio y prudente caballero. Hallose en grandes cargos y negocios de paz y +de guerra." Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36. + +[31] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii, p. 218.--Zurita, Anales, +tom. iv. fol. 321.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1483.--Pulgar, Reyes +Católicos, ubi supra.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 60.-- +Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. pp. 266, 267.--The +count, according to Oviedo, remained a long while a prisoner in Granada, +until he was ransomed by the payment of several thousand doblas of gold. +Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial 36. + +[32] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 60.--Marmol says that three +brothers and two nephews of the marquis, whose names he gives, were all +slain. Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 12. + +[33] Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, fol. 395.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, +MS., ubi supra.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 206.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, +MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 38.--Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, +cap. 12. + +[34] Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 60. Pulgar has devoted a large space to +the unfortunate expedition to the Axarquia. His intimacy with the +principal persons of the court enabled him, no doubt, to verify most of +the particulars which he records. The Curate of Los Palacios, from the +proximity of his residence to the theatre of action, may be supposed also +to have had ample means for obtaining the requisite information. Yet their +several accounts, although not strictly contradictory, it is not always +easy to reconcile with one another. The narratives of complex military +operations are not likely to be simplified under the hands of monkish +bookmen. I have endeavored to make out a connected tissue from a +comparison of the Moslem with the Castilian authorities. But here the +meagreness of the Moslem annals compels us to lament the premature death +of Conde. It can hardly be expected, indeed, that the Moors should have +dwelt with much amplification on this humiliating period. But there can be +little doubt, that far more copious memorials of theirs than any now +published, exist in the Spanish libraries; and it were much to be wished +that some Oriental scholar would supply Conde's deficiency, by exploring +these authentic records of what may be deemed, as far as Christian Spain +is concerned, the most glorious portion of her history. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +WAR OF GRANADA.--GENERAL VIEW OF THE POLICY PURSUED IN THE CONDUCT OF THIS +WAR + +1483-1487. + +Defeat and Capture of Abdallah.--Policy of the Sovereigns.--Large Trains +of Artillery.--Description of the Pieces.--Stupendous Roads.--Isabella's +Care of the Troops.--Her Perseverance.--Discipline of the Army.--Swiss +Mercenaries.--English Lord Scales.--Magnificence of the Nobles.--Isabella +Visits the Camp.--Ceremonies on the Occupation of a City. + + +The young monarch, Abu Abdallah, was probably the only person in Granada +who did not receive with unmingled satisfaction the tidings of the rout in +the Axarquia. He beheld with secret uneasiness the laurels thus acquired +by the old king his father, or rather by his ambitious uncle El Zagal, +whose name now resounded from every quarter as the successful champion of +the Moslems. He saw the necessity of some dazzling enterprise, if he would +maintain an ascendency even over the faction which had seated him on the +throne. He accordingly projected an excursion, which, instead of +terminating in a mere border foray, should lead to the achievement of some +permanent conquest. + +He found no difficulty, while the spirits of his people were roused, in +raising a force of nine thousand foot, and seven hundred horse, the flower +of Granada's chivalry. He strengthened his army still further by the +presence of Ali Atar, the defender of Loja, the veteran of a hundred +battles, whose military prowess had raised him from the common file up to +the highest post in the army; and whose plebeian blood had been permitted +to mingle with that of royalty, by the marriage of his daughter with the +young king Abdallah. + +With this gallant array, the Moorish monarch sallied forth from Granada. +As he led the way through the avenue which still bears the name of the +gate of Elvira, [1] the point of his lance came in contact with the arch +and was broken. This sinister omen was followed by another more alarming. +A fox, which crossed the path of the army, was seen to run through the +ranks, and, notwithstanding the showers of missiles discharged at him, to +make his escape unhurt. Abdallah's counsellors would have persuaded him to +abandon, or at least postpone, an enterprise of such ill augury. But the +king, less superstitious, or from the obstinacy with which feeble minds, +when once resolved, frequently persist in their projects, rejected their +advice, and pressed forward on his march. [2] + +The advance of the party was not conducted so cautiously but that it +reached the ear of Don Diego Fernandez de Cordova, _alcayde de los +donzeles_, or captain of the royal pages, who commanded in the town of +Lucena, which he rightly judged was to be the principal object of attack. +He transmitted the intelligence to his uncle the count of Cabra, a +nobleman of the same name with himself, who was posted at his own town of +Baena, requesting his support. He used all diligence in repairing the +fortifications of the city, which, although extensive and originally +strong, had fallen somewhat into decay; and, having caused such of the +population as were rendered helpless by age or infirmity to withdraw into +the interior defences of the place, he coolly waited the approach of the +enemy. [3] + +The Moorish army, after crossing the borders, began to mark its career +through the Christian territory with the usual traces of devastation, and, +sweeping across the environs of Lucena, poured a marauding foray into the +rich _campiña_ of Cordova, as far as the walls of Aguilar; whence it +returned, glutted with spoil, to lay siege to Lucena about the 21st of +April. + +The count of Cabra, in the mean while, who had lost no time in mustering +his levies, set forward at the head of a small but well-appointed force, +consisting of both horse and foot, to the relief of his nephew. He +advanced with such celerity that he had wellnigh surprised the +beleaguering army. As he traversed the sierra, which covered the Moorish +flank, his numbers were partially concealed by the inequalities of the +ground; while the clash of arms and the shrill music, reverberating among +the hills, exaggerated their real magnitude in the apprehension of the +enemy. At the same time the _alcayde de los donzeles_ supported his +uncle's advance by a vigorous sally from the city. The Granadine infantry, +anxious only for the preservation of their valuable booty, scarcely waited +for the encounter, before they began a dastardly retreat, and left the +battle to the cavalry. The latter, composed, as has been said, of the +strength of the Moorish chivalry, men accustomed in many a border foray to +cross lances with the best knights of Andalusia, kept their ground with +their wonted gallantry. The conflict, so well disputed, remained doubtful +for some time, until it was determined by the death of the veteran +chieftain Ali Atar, "the best lance," as a Castilian writer has styled +him, "of all Morisma," who was brought to the ground after receiving two +wounds, and thus escaped by an honorable death the melancholy spectacle of +his country's humiliation. [4] + +The enemy, disheartened by this loss, soon began to give ground. But, +though hard pressed by the Spaniards, they retreated in some order, until +they reached the borders of the Xenil, which were thronged with the +infantry, vainly attempting a passage across the stream, swollen by +excessive rains to a height much above its ordinary level. The confusion +now became universal, horse and foot mingling together; each one, heedful +only of life, no longer thought of his booty. Many, attempting to swim the +stream, were borne down, steed and rider, promiscuously in its waters. +Many more, scarcely making show of resistance, were cut down on the banks +by the pitiless Spaniards. The young king Abdallah, who had been +conspicuous during that day in the hottest of the fight, mounted on a +milk-white charger richly caparisoned, saw fifty of his loyal guard fall +around him. Finding his steed too much jaded to stem the current of the +river, he quietly dismounted and sought a shelter among the reedy thickets +that fringed its margin, until the storm of battle should have passed +over. In this lurking-place, however, he was discovered by a common +soldier named Martin Hurtado, who, without recognizing his person, +instantly attacked him. The prince defended himself with his scimitar, +until Hurtado, being joined by two of his countrymen, succeeded in making +him prisoner. The men, overjoyed at their prize (for Abdallah had revealed +his rank, in order to secure his person from violence), conducted him to +their general, the count of Cabra. The latter received the royal captive +with a generous courtesy, the best sign of noble breeding, and which, +recognized as a feature of chivalry, affords a pleasing contrast to the +ferocious spirit of ancient warfare. The good count administered to the +unfortunate prince all the consolations which his state would admit; and +subsequently lodged him in his castle of Baena, where he was entertained +with the most delicate and courtly hospitality. [5] + +Nearly the whole of the Moslem cavalry were cut up, or captured, in this +fatal action. Many of them were persons of rank, commanding high ransoms. +The loss inflicted on the infantry was also severe, including the whole of +their dear-bought plunder. Nine, or indeed, according to some accounts, +two and twenty banners fell into the hands of the Christians in this +action; in commemoration of which the Spanish sovereigns granted to the +count of Cabra, and his nephew, the alcayde de los donzeles, the privilege +of bearing the same number of banners on their escutcheon, together with +the head of a Moorish king, encircled by a golden coronet, with a chain of +the same metal around the neck. [6] + +Great was the consternation occasioned by the return of the Moorish +fugitives to Granada, and loud was the lament through its populous +streets; for the pride of many a noble house was laid low on that day, and +their king (a thing unprecedented in the annals of the monarchy) was a +prisoner in the land of the Christians. "The hostile star of Islam," +exclaims an Arabian writer, "now scattered its malignant influences over +Spain, and the downfall of the Mussulman empire was decreed." + +The sultana Zoraya, however, was not of a temper to waste time in useless +lamentation. She was aware that a captive king, who held his title by so +precarious a tenure as did her son Abdallah, must soon cease to be a king +even in name. She accordingly despatched a numerous embassy to Cordova, +with proffers of such a ransom for the prince's liberation, as a despot +only could offer, and few despots could have the authority to enforce. +[7] + +King Ferdinand, who was at Vitoria with the queen, when he received +tidings of the victory of Lucena, hastened to the south to determine on +the destination of his royal captive. With some show of magnanimity, he +declined an interview with Abdallah, until he should have consented to his +liberation. A debate of some warmth occurred in the royal council at +Cordova, respecting the policy to be pursued; some contending that the +Moorish monarch was too valuable a prize to be so readily relinquished, +and that the enemy, broken by the loss of their natural leader, would find +it difficult to rally under one common head, or to concert any effective +movement. Others, and especially the marquis of Cadiz, urged his release, +and even the support of his pretensions against his competitor, the old +king of Granada; insisting that the Moorish empire would be more +effectually shaken by internal divisions, than by any pressure of its +enemies from without. The various arguments were submitted to the queen, +who still held her court in the north, and who decided for the release of +Abdallah, as a measure best reconciling sound policy with generosity to +the vanquished. [8] + +The terms of the treaty, although sufficiently humiliating to the Moslem +prince, were not materially different from those proposed by the sultana +Zoraya. It was agreed that a truce, of two years should be extended to +Abdallah, and to such places in Granada as acknowledged his authority. In +consideration of which, he stipulated to surrender four hundred Christian +captives without ransom, to pay twelve thousand doblas of gold annually to +the Spanish sovereigns, and to permit a free passage, as well as furnish +supplies, to their troops passing through his territories, for the purpose +of carrying on the war against that portion of the kingdom which still +adhered to his father. Abdallah moreover bound himself to appear when +summoned by Ferdinand, and to surrender his own son, with the children of +his principal nobility, as sureties for his fulfilment of the treaty. Thus +did the unhappy prince barter away his honor and his country's freedom for +the possession of immediate, but most precarious sovereignty; a +sovereignty, which could scarcely be expected to survive the period when +he could be useful to the master whose breath had made him. [9] + +The terms of the treaty being thus definitively settled, an interview was +arranged to take place between the two monarchs at Cordova. The Castilian +courtiers would have persuaded their master to offer his hand for Abdallah +to salute, in token of his feudal supremacy; but Ferdinand replied, "Were +the king of Granada in his own dominions, I might do this; but not while +he is a prisoner in mine." The Moorish prince entered Cordova with an +escort of his own knights, and a splendid throng of Spanish chivalry, who +had marched out of the city to receive him. When Abdallah entered the +royal presence, he would have prostrated himself on his knees; but +Ferdinand, hastening to prevent him, embraced him with every demonstration +of respect. An Arabic interpreter, who acted as orator, then, expatiated, +in florid hyperbole, on the magnanimity and princely qualities of the +Spanish king, and the loyalty and good faith of his own master. But +Ferdinand interrupted his eloquence, with the assurance that "his +panegyric was superfluous, and that he had perfect confidence that the +sovereign of Granada would keep his faith as became a true knight and a +king." After ceremonies so humiliating to the Moorish prince, +notwithstanding the veil of decorum studiously thrown over them, he set +out with his attendants for his capital, escorted by a body of Andalusian +horse to the frontier, and loaded with costly presents by the Spanish +king, and the general contempt of his court. [10] + +Notwithstanding the importance of the results in the war of Granada, a +detail of the successive steps by which they were achieved would be most +tedious and trifling. No siege or single military achievement of great +moment occurred until nearly four years from this period, in 1487; +although, in the intervening time, a large number of fortresses and petty +towns, together with a very extensive tract of territory, were recovered +from the enemy. Without pursuing the chronological order of events, it is +probable that the end of history will be best attained by presenting a +concise view of the general policy pursued by the sovereigns in the +conduct of the war. + +The Moorish wars under preceding monarchs had consisted of little else +than _cavalgadas_, or inroads into the enemy's territory, [11] which, +pouring like a torrent over the land, swept away whatever was upon the +surface, but left it in its essential resources wholly unimpaired. The +bounty of nature soon repaired the ravages of man, and the ensuing harvest +seemed to shoot up more abundantly from the soil, enriched by the blood of +the husbandman. A more vigorous system of spoliation was now introduced. +Instead of one campaign, the army took the field in spring and autumn, +intermitting its efforts only during the intolerable heats of summer, so +that the green crop had no time to ripen, ere it was trodden down under +the iron heel of war. + +The apparatus for devastation was also on a much greater scale than had +ever before been witnessed. From the second year of the war, thirty +thousand foragers were reserved for this service, which they effected by +demolishing farmhouses, granaries, and mills, (which last were exceedingly +numerous in a land watered by many small streams,) by eradicating the +vines, and laying waste the olive-gardens and plantations of oranges, +almonds, mulberries, and all the rich varieties that grew luxuriant in +this highly-favored region. This merciless devastation extended for more +than two leagues on either side of the line of march. At the same time, +the Mediterranean fleet cut off all supplies from the Barbary coast, so +that the whole kingdom might be said to be in a state of perpetual +blockade. Such and so general was the scarcity occasioned by this system, +that the Moors were glad to exchange their Christian captives for +provisions, until such ransom was interdicted by the sovereigns, as +tending to defeat their own measures. [12] + +Still there was many a green and sheltered valley in Granada, which +yielded its returns unmolested to the Moorish husbandman; while his +granaries were occasionally enriched with the produce of a border foray. +The Moors too, although naturally a luxurious people, were patient of +suffering, and capable of enduring great privation. Other measures, +therefore, of a still more formidable character, became necessary in +conjunction with this rigorous system of blockade. + +The Moorish towns were for the most part strongly defended, presenting +within the limits of Granada, as has been said, more than ten times the +number of fortified places that are now scattered over the whole extent of +the Peninsula. They stood along the crest of some precipice, or bold +sierra, whose natural strength was augmented by the solid masonry with +which they were surrounded, and which, however insufficient to hold out +against modern artillery, bade defiance to all the enginery of battering +warfare known previously to the fifteenth century. It was this strength of +fortification, combined with that of their local position, which +frequently enabled a slender garrison in these places to laugh to scorn +all the efforts of the proudest Castilian armies. + +The Spanish sovereigns were convinced that they must look to their +artillery as the only effectual means for the reduction of these strong- +holds. In this, they as well as the Moors were extremely deficient, +although Spain appears to have furnished earlier examples of its use than +any other country in Europe. Isabella, who seems to have had the +particular control of this department, caused the most skilful engineers +and artisans to be invited into the kingdom from France, Germany, and +Italy. Forges were constructed in the camp, and all the requisite +materials prepared for the manufacture of cannon, balls, and powder. Large +quantities of the last were also imported from Sicily, Flanders, and +Portugal. Commissaries were established over the various departments, with +instructions to provide whatever might be necessary for the operatives; +and the whole was intrusted to the supervision of Don Francisco Ramirez, +an hidalgo of Madrid, a person of much experience, and extensive military +science, for that day. By these efforts, unremittingly pursued during the +whole of the war, Isabella assembled a train of artillery, such as was +probably not possessed at that time by any other European potentate. +[13] + +Still, the clumsy construction of the ordnance betrayed the infancy of the +art. More than twenty pieces of artillery used at the siege of Baza, +during this war, are still to be seen in that city, where they long served +as columns in the public market-place. The largest of the lombards, as the +heavy ordnance was called, are about twelve feet in length, consisting of +iron bars two inches in breadth, held together by bolts and rings of the +same metal. These were firmly attached to their carriages, incapable +either of horizontal or vertical movement. It was this clumsiness of +construction which led Machiavelli, some thirty years after, to doubt the +expediency of bringing cannon into field engagements; and he particularly +recommends in his treatise on the Art of War, that the enemy's fire should +be evaded by intervals in the ranks being left open opposite to his +cannon. [14] + +The balls thrown from these engines were sometimes of iron, but more +usually of marble. Several hundred of the latter have been picked up in +the fields around Baza, many of which are fourteen inches in diameter, and +weigh a hundred and seventy-five pounds. Yet this bulk, enormous as it +appears, shows a considerable advance in the art since the beginning of +the century, when the stone balls discharged, according to Zurita, at the +siege of Balaguer, weighed not less than five hundred and fifty pounds. It +was very long before the exact proportions requisite for obtaining the +greatest effective force could be ascertained. [15] + +The awkwardness with which their artillery was served, corresponded with +the rudeness of its manufacture. It is noticed as a remarkable +circumstance by the chronicler, that two batteries, at the siege of +Albahar, discharged one hundred and forty balls in the course of a day. +[16] Besides this more usual kind of ammunition, the Spaniards threw from +their engines large globular masses, composed of certain inflammable +ingredients mixed with gunpowder, "which, scattering long trains of +light," says an eye-witness, "in their passage through the air, filled the +beholders with dismay, and, descending on the roofs of the edifices, +frequently occasioned extensive conflagration." [17] + +The transportation of their bulky engines was not the least of the +difficulties which the Spaniards had to encounter in this war. The Moorish +fortresses were frequently intrenched in the depths of some mountain +labyrinth, whose rugged passes were scarcely accessible to cavalry. An +immense body of pioneers, therefore, was constantly employed in +constructing roads for the artillery across these sierras, by levelling +the mountains, filling up the intervening valleys with rocks, or with cork +trees and other timber that grew prolific in the wilderness, and throwing +bridges across the torrents and precipitous _barrancos_. Pulgar had +the curiosity to examine one of the causeways thus constructed preparatory +to the siege of Cambil, which, although six thousand pioneers were +constantly employed in the work, was attended with such difficulty, that +it advanced only three leagues in twelve days. It required, says the +historian, the entire demolition of one of the most rugged parts of the +sierra, which no one could have believed practicable by human industry. +[18] + +The Moorish garrisons, perched on their mountain fastnesses, which, like +the eyry of some bird of prey, seemed almost inaccessible to man, beheld +with astonishment the heavy trains of artillery, emerging from the passes, +where the foot of the hunter had scarcely been known to venture. The walls +which encompassed their cities, although lofty, were not of sufficient +thickness to withstand long the assaults of these formidable engines. The +Moors were deficient in heavy ordnance. The weapons on which they chiefly +relied for annoying the enemy at a distance were the arquebus and cross- +bow, with the last of which they were unerring marksmen, being trained to +it from infancy. They adopted a custom, rarely met with in civilized +nations of any age, of poisoning their arrows; distilling for this purpose +the juice of aconite, or wolfsbane, which they found in the _Sierra +Nevada_, or Snowy Mountains, near Granada. A piece of linen or cotton +cloth steeped in this decoction was wrapped round the point of the weapon, +and the wound inflicted by it, however trivial in appearance, was sure to +be mortal. Indeed, a Spanish writer, not content with this, imputes such +malignity to the virus that a drop of it, as he asserts, mingling with the +blood oozing from a wound, would ascend the stream into the vein, and +diffuse its fatal influence over the whole system! [19] + +Ferdinand, who appeared at the head of his armies throughout the whole of +this war, pursued a sagacious policy in reference to the beleaguered +cities. He was ever ready to meet the first overtures to surrender, in the +most liberal spirit; granting protection of person, and such property as +the besieged could transport with them, and assigning them a residence, if +they preferred it, in his own dominions. Many, in consequence of this, +migrated to Seville and other cities of Andalusia, where they were settled +on estates which had been confiscated by the inquisitors; who looked +forward, no doubt, with satisfaction to the time, when they should be +permitted to thrust their sickle into the new crop of heresy, whose seeds +were thus sown amid the ashes of the old one. Those who preferred to +remain in the conquered Moorish territory, as Castilian subjects, were +permitted the free enjoyment of personal rights and property, as well as +of their religion; and, such was the fidelity with which Ferdinand +redeemed his engagements during the war, by the punishment of the least +infraction of them by his own people, that many, particularly of the +Moorish peasantry, preferred abiding in their early homes to removing to +Granada, or other places of the Moslem dominion. It was perhaps a +counterpart of the same policy, which led Ferdinand to chastise any +attempt at revolt, on the part of his new Moorish subjects, the Mudejares, +as they were called, with an unsparing rigor, which merits the reproach of +cruelty. Such was the military execution inflicted on the rebellious town +of Benemaquez, where he commanded one hundred and ten of the principal +inhabitants to be hung above the walls, and, after consigning the rest of +the population, men, women, and children, to slavery, caused the place to +be razed to the ground. The humane policy, usually pursued by Ferdinand, +seems to have had a more favorable effect on his enemies, who were +exasperated, rather than intimidated, by this ferocious act of vengeance. +[20] + +The magnitude of the other preparations corresponded with those for the +ordnance department. The amount of forces assembled at Cordova, we find +variously stated at ten or twelve thousand horse, and twenty, and even +forty thousand foot, exclusive of foragers. On one occasion, the whole +number, including men for the artillery service and the followers of the +camp, is reckoned at eighty thousand. The same number of beasts of burden +were employed in transporting the supplies required for this immense host, +as well as for provisioning the conquered cities standing in the midst of +a desolated country. The queen, who took this department under her special +cognizance, moved along the frontier, stationing herself at points most +contiguous to the scene of operations. There, by means of posts regularly +established, she received hourly intelligence of the war. At the same time +she transmitted the requisite munitions for the troops, by means of +convoys sufficiently strong to secure them against the irruptions of the +wily enemy. [21] + +Isabella, solicitous for everything that concerned the welfare of her +people, sometimes visited the camp in person, encouraging the soldiers to +endure the hardships of war, and relieving their necessities by liberal +donations of clothes and money. She caused also a number of large tents, +known as "the queen's hospitals," to be always reserved for the sick and +wounded, and furnished them with the requisite attendants and medicines, +at her own charge. This is considered the earliest attempt at the +formation of a regular camp hospital, on record. [22] + +Isabella may be regarded as the soul of this war. She engaged in it with +the most exalted views, less to acquire territory than to re-establish the +empire of the Cross over the ancient domain of Christendom. On this point, +she concentrated all the energies of her powerful mind, never suffering +herself to be diverted by any subordinate interest from this one great and +glorious object. When the king, in 1484, would have paused a while from +the Granadine war, in order to prosecute his claims to Roussillon against +the French, on the demise of Louis the Eleventh, Isabella strongly +objected to it; but, finding her remonstrance ineffectual, she left her +husband in Aragon, and repaired to Cordova, where she placed the cardinal +of Spain at the head of the army, and prepared to open the campaign in the +usual vigorous manner. Here, however, she was soon joined by Ferdinand, +who, on a cooler revision of the subject, deemed it prudent to postpone +his projected enterprise. + +On another occasion, in the same year, when the nobles, fatigued with the +service, had persuaded the king to retire earlier than usual, the queen, +dissatisfied with the proceeding, addressed a letter to her husband, in +which, after representing the disproportion of the results to the +preparations, she besought him to keep the field as long as the season +should serve. The grandees, says Lebrija, mortified at being surpassed in +zeal for the holy war by a woman, eagerly collected their forces, which +had been partly disbanded, and returned across the borders to renew +hostilities. [23] + +A circumstance, which had frequently frustrated the most magnificent +military enterprises under former reigns, was the factions of these potent +vassals, who, independent of each other, and almost of the crown, could +rarely be brought to act in efficient concert for a length of time, and +broke up the camp on the slightest personal jealousy, Ferdinand +experienced something of this temper in the duke of Medina Celi, who, when +he had received orders to detach a corps of his troops to the support of +the count of Benavente, refused, replying to the messenger, "Tell your +master, that I came here to serve him at the head of my household troops, +and they go nowhere without me as their leader." The sovereigns managed +this fiery spirit with the greatest address, and, instead of curbing it, +endeavored to direct it in the path of honorable emulation. The queen, who +as their hereditary sovereign received a more deferential homage from her +Castilian subjects than Ferdinand, frequently wrote to her nobles in the +camp, complimenting some on their achievements, and others less fortunate +on their intentions, thus cheering the hearts of all, says the chronicler, +and stimulating them to deeds of heroism. On the most deserving she freely +lavished those honors which cost little to the sovereign, but are most +grateful to the subject. The marquis of Cadiz, who was pre-eminent above +every other captain in this war for sagacity and conduct, was rewarded, +after his brilliant surprise of Zahara, with the gift of that city, and +the titles of Marquis of Zahara and Duke of Cadiz. The warrior, however, +was unwilling to resign the ancient title under which he had won his +laurels, and ever after subscribed himself, Marquis Duke of Cadiz. +[24] Still more emphatic honors were conferred on the count de Cabra, +after the capture of the king of Granada. When he presented himself before +the sovereigns, who were at Vitoria, the clergy and cavaliers of the city +marched out to receive him, and he entered in solemn procession on the +right hand of the grand cardinal of Spain. As he advanced up the hall of +audience in the royal palace, the king and queen came forward to welcome +him, and then seated him by themselves at table, declaring that "the +conqueror of kings should sit with kings." These honors were followed by +the more substantial gratuity of a hundred thousand maravedies annual +rent; "a fat donative," says an old chronicler, "for so lean a treasury." +The young alcayde de los donzeles experienced a similar reception on the +ensuing day. Such acts of royal condescension were especially grateful to +the nobility of a court, circumscribed beyond every other in Europe by +stately and ceremonious etiquette. [25] + +The duration of the war of Granada was such as to raise the militia +throughout the kingdom nearly to a level with regular troops. Many of +these levies, indeed, at the breaking out of the war, might pretend to +this character. Such were those furnished by the Andalusian cities, which +had been long accustomed to skirmishes with their Moslem neighbors. Such +too was the well-appointed chivalry of the military orders, and the +organized militia of the hermandad, which we find sometimes supplying a +body of ten thousand men for the service. To these may be added the +splendid throng of cavaliers and hidalgos, who swelled the retinues of the +sovereigns and the great nobility. The king was attended in battle by a +body-guard of a thousand knights, one-half light, and the other half heavy +armed, all superbly equipped and mounted, and trained to arms from +childhood, under the royal eye. + +Although the burden of the war bore most heavily on Andalusia, from its +contiguity to the scene of action, yet recruits were drawn in abundance +from the most remote provinces, as Galicia, Biscay, and the Asturias, from +Aragon, and even the transmarine dominions of Sicily. The sovereigns did +not disdain to swell their ranks with levies of a humbler description, by +promising an entire amnesty to those malefactors, who had left the country +in great numbers of late years to escape justice, on condition of their +serving in the Moorish war. Throughout this motley host the strictest +discipline and decorum were maintained. The Spaniards have never been +disposed to intemperance; but the passion for gaming, especially with +dice, to which they seem to have been immoderately addicted at that day, +was restrained by the severest penalties. [26] + +The brilliant successes of the Spanish sovereigns diffused general +satisfaction throughout Christendom, and volunteers flocked to the camp +from France, England, and other parts of Europe, eager to participate in +the glorious triumphs of the Cross. Among these was a corps of Swiss +mercenaries, who are thus simply described by Pulgar. "There joined the +royal standard a body of men from Switzerland, a country in upper Germany. +These men were bold of heart, and fought on foot. As they were resolved +never to turn their backs upon the enemy, they wore no defensive armor, +except in front; by which means they were less encumbered in fight. They +made a trade of war, letting themselves out as mercenaries; but they +espoused only a just quarrel, for they were devout and loyal Christians, +and above all abhorred rapine as a great sin." [27] The Swiss had recently +established their military renown by the discomfiture of Charles the Bold, +when they first proved the superiority of infantry over the best-appointed +chivalry of Europe. Their example no doubt contributed to the formation of +that invincible Spanish infantry, which, under the Great Captain and his +successors, may be said to have decided the fate of Europe for more than +half a century. + +Among the foreigners was one from the distant isle of Britain, the earl of +Rivers, or conde de Escalas, as he is called from his patronymic, Scales, +by the Spanish writers. "There came from Britain," says Peter Martyr, "a +cavalier, young, wealthy, and high-born. He was allied to the blood royal +of England. He was attended by a beautiful train of household troops three +hundred in number, armed after the fashion of their land with long-bow and +battle-axe." This nobleman particularly distinguished himself by his +gallantry in the second siege of Loja, in 1486. Having asked leave to +fight after the manner of his country, says the Andalusian chronicler, he +dismounted from his good steed, and putting himself at the head of his +followers, armed like himself _en blanco_, with their swords at their +thighs, and battle-axes in their hands, he dealt such terrible blows +around him as filled even the hardy mountaineers of the north with +astonishment. Unfortunately, just as the suburbs were carried, the good +knight, as he was mounting a scaling-ladder, received a blow from a stone, +which dashed out two of his teeth, and stretched him senseless on the +ground. He was removed to his tent, where he lay some time under medical +treatment; and, when he had sufficiently recovered, he received a visit +from the king and queen, who complimented him on his prowess, and +testified their sympathy for his misfortune. "It is little," replied he, +"to lose a few teeth in the service of him, who has given me all. Our +Lord," he added, "who reared this fabric, has only opened a window, in +order to discern the more readily what passes within." A facetious +response, says Peter Martyr, which gave uncommon satisfaction to the +sovereigns. [28] + +The queen, not long after, testified her sense of the earl's services by a +magnificent largess, consisting, among other things, of twelve Andalusian +horses, two couches with richly wrought hangings and coverings of cloth of +gold, with a quantity of fine linen, and sumptuous pavilions for himself +and suite. The brave knight seems to have been satisfied with this state +of the Moorish wars; for he soon after returned to England, and in 1488 +passed over to France, where his hot spirit prompted him to take part in +the feudal factions of that country, in which he lost his life, fighting +for the duke of Brittany. [29] + +The pomp with which the military movements were conducted in these +campaigns, gave the scene rather the air of a court pageant, than that of +the stern array of war. The war was one, which, appealing both to +principles of religion and patriotism, was well calculated to inflame the +imaginations of the young Spanish cavaliers; and they poured into the +field, eager to display themselves under the eye of their illustrious +queen, who, as she rode through the ranks mounted on her war-horse, and +clad in complete mail, afforded no bad personification of the genius of +chivalry. The potent and wealthy barons exhibited in the camp all the +magnificence of princes. The pavilions decorated with various-colored +pennons, and emblazoned with the armorial bearings of their ancient +houses, shone with a splendor, which a Castilian writer likens to that of +the city of Seville. [30] They always appeared surrounded by a throng of +pages in gorgeous liveries, and at night were preceded by a multitude of +torches, which shed a radiance like that of day. They vied with each other +in the costliness of their apparel, equipage, and plate, and in the +variety and delicacy of the dainties with which their tables were covered. +[31] + +Ferdinand and Isabella saw with regret this lavish ostentation, and +privately remonstrated with some of the principal grandees on its evil +tendency, especially in seducing the inferior and poorer nobility into +expenditures beyond their means. This Sybarite indulgence, however, does +not seem to have impaired the martial spirit of the nobles. On all +occasions, they contended with each other for the post of danger. The duke +del Infantado, the head of the powerful house of Mendoza, was conspicuous +above all for the magnificence of his train. At the siege of Illora, 1486, +he obtained permission to lead the storming party. As his followers +pressed onwards to the breach, they were received with such a shower of +missiles as made them falter for a moment. "What, my men," cried he, "do +you fail me at this hour? Shall we be taunted with bearing more finery on +our backs than courage in our hearts? Let us not, in God's name, be +laughed at as mere holyday soldiers!" His vassals, stung by this rebuke, +rallied, and, penetrating the breach, carried the place by the fury of +their assault. [32] + +Notwithstanding the remonstrances of the sovereigns against this +ostentation of luxury, they were not wanting in the display of royal state +and magnificence on all suitable occasions. The Curate of Los Palacios has +expatiated with elaborate minuteness on the circumstances of an interview +between Ferdinand and Isabella in the camp before Moclin, in 1486, where +the queen's presence was solicited for the purpose of devising a plan of +future operations. A few of the particulars may be transcribed, though at +the hazard of appearing trivial to readers, who take little interest in +such details. + +On the borders of the Yeguas, the queen was met by an advanced corps, +under the command of the marquis-duke of Cadiz, and, at the distance of a +league and a half from Moclin, by the duke del Infantado, with the +principal nobility and their vassals, splendidly accoutred. On the left of +the road was drawn up in battle array the militia of Seville, and the +queen, making her obeisance to the banner of that illustrious city, +ordered it to pass to her right. The successive battalions saluted the +queen as she advanced, by lowering their standards, and the joyous +multitude announced with tumultuous acclamations her approach to the +conquered city. + +The queen was accompanied by her daughter, the infanta Isabella, and a +courtly train of damsels, mounted on mules richly caparisoned. The queen +herself rode a chestnut mule, seated on a saddle-chair embossed with gold +and silver. The housings were of a crimson color, and the bridle was of +satin, curiously wrought with letters of gold. The infanta wore a skirt of +fine velvet, over others of brocade; a scarlet mantilla of the Moorish +fashion; and a black hat trimmed with gold embroidery. The king rode +forward at the head of his nobles to receive her. He was dressed in a +crimson doublet, with _chausses_, or breeches, of yellow satin. Over +his shoulders was thrown a cassock or mantle of rich brocade, and a +sopravest of the same materials concealed his cuirass. By his side, close +girt, he wore a Moorish scimitar, and beneath his bonnet his hair was +confined by a cap or headdress of the finest stuff. + +Ferdinand was mounted on a noble war-horse of a bright chestnut color. In +the splendid train of chivalry which attended him, Bernaldez dwells with +much satisfaction on the English lord Scales. He was followed by a retinue +of five pages arrayed in costly liveries. He was sheathed in complete +mail, over which was thrown a French surcoat of dark silk brocade. A +buckler was attached by golden, clasps to his arm, and on his head he wore +a white French hat with plumes. The caparisons of his steed were azure +silk, lined with violet and sprinkled over with stars of gold, and swept +the ground, as he managed his fiery courser with an easy horsemanship that +excited general admiration. + +The king and queen, as they drew near, bowed thrice with formal reverence +to each other. The queen at the same time raising her hat, remained in her +coif or headdress, with her face uncovered; Ferdinand, riding up, kissed +her affectionately on the cheek, and then, according to the precise +chronicler, bestowed a similar mark of tenderness on his daughter +Isabella, after giving her his paternal benediction. The royal party were +then escorted to the camp, where suitable accommodations had been provided +for the queen and her fair retinue. [33] + +It may readily be believed that the sovereigns did not neglect, in a war +like the present, an appeal to the religious principle so deeply seated in +the Spanish character. All their public acts ostentatiously proclaimed the +pious nature of the work in which they were engaged. They were attended in +their expeditions by churchmen of the highest rank, who not only mingled +in the councils of the camp, but, like the bold bishop of Jaen, or the +grand cardinal Mendoza, buckled on harness over rochet and hood, and led +their squadrons to the field. [34] The queen at Cordova celebrated the +tidings of every new success over the infidel, by solemn procession and +thanksgiving, with her whole household, as well as the nobility, foreign +ambassadors, and municipal functionaries. In like manner Ferdinand, on the +return from his campaigns, was received at the gates of the city, and +escorted in solemn pomp beneath a rich canopy of state to the cathedral +church, where he prostrated himself in grateful adoration of the Lord of +hosts. Intelligence of their triumphant progress in the war was constantly +transmitted to the pope, who returned his benediction, accompanied by more +substantial marks of favor, in bulls of crusade, and taxes on +ecclesiastical rents. [35] + +The ceremonials observed on the occupation of a new conquest were such as +to affect the heart no less than the imagination. "The royal +_alferez_," says Marineo, "raised the standard of the Cross, the sign +of our salvation, on the summit of the principal fortress; and all who +beheld it prostrated themselves on their knees in silent worship of the +Almighty, while the priests chanted the glorious anthem, _Te Deum +laudamus_. The ensign or pennon of St. James, the chivalric patron of +Spain, was then unfolded, and all invoked his blessed name. Lastly was +displayed the banner of the sovereigns, emblazoned with the royal arms; at +which the whole army shouted forth, as if with one voice, 'Castile, +Castile!' After these solemnities, a bishop led the way to the principal +mosque, which, after the rites of purification, he consecrated to the +service of the true faith." The standard of the Cross above referred to +was of massive silver, and was a present from Pope Sixtus the Fourth to +Ferdinand, in whose tent it was always carried throughout these campaigns. +An ample supply of bells, vases, missals, plate, and other sacred +furniture, was also borne along with the camp, being provided by the queen +for the purified mosques. [36] + +The most touching part of the incidents usually occurring at the surrender +of a Moorish city was the liberation of the Christian captives immured in +its dungeons. On the capture of Ronda, in 1485, more than four hundred of +these unfortunate persons, several of them cavaliers of rank, some of whom +had been taken in the fatal expedition of the Axarquia, were restored to +the light of heaven. On being brought before Ferdinand, they prostrated +themselves on the ground, bathing his feet with tears, while their wan and +wasted figures, their dishevelled locks, their beards reaching down to +their girdles, and their limbs loaded with heavy manacles, brought tears +into the eye of every spectator. They were then commanded to present +themselves before the queen at Cordova, who liberally relieved their +necessities, and, after the celebration of public thanksgiving, caused +them to be conveyed to their own homes. The fetters of the liberated +captives were suspended in the churches, where they continued to be +revered by succeeding generations as the trophies of Christian warfare. +[37] + +Ever since the victory of Lucena, the sovereigns had made it a capital +point of their policy to foment the dissensions of their enemies. The +young king Abdallah, after his humiliating treaty with Ferdinand, lost +whatever consideration he had previously possessed. Although the sultana +Zoraya, by her personal address, and the lavish distribution of the royal +treasures, contrived to maintain a faction for her son, the better classes +of his countrymen despised him as a renegade, and a vassal of the +Christian king. As their old monarch had become incompetent, from +increasing age and blindness, to the duties of his station in these +perilous times, they turned their eyes on his brother Abdallah, surnamed +El Zagal, or "The Valiant," who had borne so conspicuous a part in the +rout of the Axarquia. The Castilians depict this chief in the darkest +colors of ambition and cruelty; but the Moslem writers afford no such +intimation, and his advancement to the throne at that crisis seems to be +in some measure justified by his eminent talents as a military leader. + +On his way to Granada, he encountered and cut to pieces a body of +Calatrava knights from Alhama, and signalized his entrance into his new +capital by bearing along the bloody trophies of heads dangling from his +saddlebow, after the barbarous fashion long practised in these wars. +[38] It was observed that the old king Abul Hacen did not long survive his +brother's accession. [39] The young king Abdallah sought the protection of +the Castilian sovereigns in Seville, who, true to their policy, sent him +back into his own dominions with the means of making headway against his +rival. The _alfakies_ and other considerate persons of Granada, +scandalized at these fatal feuds, effected a reconciliation, on the basis +of a division of the kingdom between the parties. But wounds so deep could +not be permanently healed. The site of the Moorish capital was most +propitious to the purposes of faction. It covered two swelling eminences, +divided from each other by the deep waters of the Darro. The two factions +possessed themselves respectively of these opposite quarters. Abdallah was +not ashamed to strengthen himself by the aid of Christian mercenaries; and +a dreadful conflict was carried on for fifty days and nights, within the +city, which swam with the blood that should have been shed only in its +defence. [40] + +Notwithstanding these auxiliary circumstances, the progress of the +Christians was comparatively slow. Every cliff seemed to be crowned with a +fortress; and every fortress was defended with the desperation of men +willing to bury themselves under its ruins. The old men, women, and +children, on occasions of a siege, were frequently despatched to Granada. +Such was the resolution, or rather ferocity of the Moors, that Malaga +closed its gates against the fugitives from Alora, after its surrender, +and even massacred some of them in cold blood. The eagle eye of El Zagal +seemed to take in at a glance the whole extent of his little territory, +and to detect every vulnerable point in his antagonist, whom he +encountered where he least expected it; cutting off his convoys, +surprising his foraging parties, and retaliating by a devastating inroad +on the borders. [41] + +No effectual and permanent resistance, however, could be opposed to the +tremendous enginery of the Christians. Tower and town fell before it. +Besides the principal towns of Cartama, Coin, Setenil, Ronda, Marbella, +Illora, termed by the Moors "the right eye," Moclin, "the shield" of +Granada, and Loja, after a second and desperate siege in the spring of +1486, Bernaldez enumerates more than seventy subordinate places in the Val +de Cartama, and thirteen others after the fall of Marbella. Thus the +Spaniards advanced their line of conquest more than twenty leagues beyond +the western frontier of Granada. This extensive tract they strongly +fortified and peopled, partly with Christian subjects, and partly with +Moorish, the original occupants of the soil, who were secured in the +possession of their ancient lands, under their own law. [42] + +Thus the strong posts, which may be regarded as the exterior defences of +the city of Granada, were successively carried. A few positions alone +remained of sufficient strength to keep the enemy at bay. The most +considerable of these was Malaga, which from its maritime situation +afforded facilities for a communication with the Barbary Moors, that the +vigilance of the Castilian cruisers could not entirely intercept. On this +point, therefore, it was determined to concentrate all the strength of the +monarchy, by sea and land, in the ensuing campaign of 1487. + + * * * * * + +Two of the most important authorities for the war of Granada are Fernando +del Pulgar and Antonio de Lebrija, or Nebrissensis, as he is called from +the Latin _Nebrissa_. + +Few particulars have been preserved respecting the biography of the +former. He was probably a native of Pulgar, near Toledo. The Castilian +writers recognize certain provincialisms in his style belonging to that +district. He was secretary to Henry IV., and was charged with various +confidential functions by him. He seems to have retained his place on the +accession of Isabella, by whom he was appointed national historiographer +in 1482, when, from certain remarks in his letters, it would appear he was +already advanced in years. This office, in the fifteenth century, +comprehended, in addition to the more obvious duties of an historian, the +intimate and confidential relations of a private secretary. "It was the +business of the chronicler," says Bernaldez, "to carry on foreign +correspondence in the service of his master, acquainting himself with +whatever was passing in other courts and countries, and, by the discreet +and conciliatory tenor of his epistles, to allay such feuds as might arise +between the king and his nobility, and establish harmony between them." +From this period Pulgar remained near the royal person, accompanying the +queen in her various progresses through the kingdom, as well as in her +military expeditions into the Moorish territory. He was consequently an +eye-witness of many of the warlike scenes which he describes, and, from +his situation at the court, had access to the most ample and accredited +sources of information. It is probable he did not survive the capture of +Granada, as his history falls somewhat short of that event. Pulgar's +chronicle, in the portion containing a retrospective survey of events +previous to 1482, may be charged with gross inaccuracy. But, in all the +subsequent period, it may be received as perfectly authentic, and has all +the air of impartiality. Every circumstance relating to the conduct of the +war is developed with equal fulness and precision. His manner of +narration, though prolix, is perspicuous, and may compare favorably with +that of contemporary writers. His sentiments may compare still more +advantageously in point of liberality, with those of the Castilian +historians of a later age. + +Pulgar left some other works, of which his commentary on the ancient +satire of "Mingo Revulgo," his "Letters," and his "Claros Varones," or +sketches of illustrious men, have alone been published. The last contains +notices of the most distinguished individuals of the court of Henry IV., +which, although too indiscriminately encomiastic, are valuable +subsidiaries to an accurate acquaintance with the prominent actors of the +period. The last and most elegant edition of Pulgar's Chronicle was +published at Valencia in 1780, from the press of Benito Montfort, in large +folio. + +Antonio de Lebrija was one of the most active and erudite scholars of this +period. He was born in the province of Andalusia, in 1444. After the usual +discipline at Salamanca, he went at the age of nineteen to Italy, where he +completed his education in the university of Bologna. He returned to Spain +ten years after, richly stored with classical learning and the liberal +arts that were then taught in the flourishing schools of Italy. He lost no +time in dispensing to his countrymen his various acquisitions. He was +appointed to the two chairs of grammar and poetry (a thing unprecedented) +in the university of Salamanca, and lectured at the same time in these +distinct departments. He was subsequently preferred by Cardinal Ximenes to +a professorship in his university of Alcalá de Henares, where his services +were liberally requited, and where he enjoyed the entire confidence of his +distinguished patron, who consulted him on all matters affecting the +interests of the institution. Here he continued, delivering his lectures +and expounding the ancient classics to crowded audiences, to the advanced +age of seventy-eight, when he was carried off by an attack of apoplexy. + +Lebrija, besides his oral tuition, composed works on a great variety of +subjects, philological, historical, theological, etc. His emendation of +the sacred text was visited with the censure of the Inquisition, a +circumstance which will not operate to his prejudice with posterity. +Lebrija was far from being circumscribed by the narrow sentiments of his +age. He was warmed with a generous enthusiasm for letters, which kindled a +corresponding flame in the bosoms of his disciples, among whom may be +reckoned some of the brightest names in the literary annals of the period. +His instruction effected for classical literature in Spain what the labors +of the great Italian scholars of the fifteenth century did for it in their +country; and he was rewarded with the substantial gratitude of his own +age, and such empty honors as could be rendered by posterity. For very +many years, the anniversary of his death was commemorated by public +services, and a funeral panegyric, in the university of Alcalá. + +The circumstances attending the composition of his Latin Chronicle, so +often quoted in this history, are very curious. Carbajal says, that he +delivered Pulgar's Chronicle, after that writer's death, into Lebrija's +hands for the purpose of being translated into Latin. The latter proceeded +in his task, as far as the year 1486. His history, however, can scarcely +be termed a translation, since, although it takes up the same thread of +incident, it is diversified by many new ideas and particular facts. This +unfinished performance was found among Lebrija's papers, after his +decease, with a preface containing not a word of acknowledgment to Pulgar. +It was accordingly published for the first time, in 1545 (the edition +referred to in this history), by his son Sancho, as an original production +of his father. Twenty years after, the first edition of Pulgar's original +Chronicle was published at Valladolid, from the copy which belonged to +Lebrija, by his grandson Antonio. This work appeared also as Lebrija's. +Copies however of Pulgar's Chronicle were preserved in several private +libraries; and two years later, 1567, his just claims were vindicated by +an edition at Saragossa, inscribed with his name as its author. + +Lebrija's reputation has sustained some injury from this transaction, +though most undeservedly. It seems probable, that he adopted Pulgar's text +as the basis of his own, intending to continue the narrative to a later +period. His unfinished manuscript being found among his papers after his +death, without reference to any authority, was naturally enough given to +the world as entirely his production. It is more strange, that Pulgar's +own Chronicle, subsequently printed as Lebrija's, should have contained no +allusion to its real author. The History, although composed as far as it +goes with sufficient elaboration and pomp of style, is one that adds, on +the whole, but little to the fame of Lebrija. It was at best but adding a +leaf to the laurel on his brow, and was certainly not worth a plagiarism. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] + "Por esa puerte de Elvira + sale muy gran cabalgada: + cuanto del _hidalgo moro_, + cuánto de la yegua baya. + + * * * * * * + + "Cuánta pluma y gentíleza, + cuánto capellar de grana, + cuánto bayo borceguf, + cuánto raso que se esmalta, + + "Cuánto de espuela de oro, + cuánta estribera de plata! + Toda es gente valerosa, + y esperta para batalla. + + "En medio de todos ellos + va el rey Chico de Granada, + mirando las damas moras + de las torres del Alhambra. + + "La reina mora su madre + de esta manera le habla; + 'Alá te guarde, mi hijo, + Mahoma vaya en tu guarda.'" Hyta, Guerras de Granada, tom. i. p. 232. + +[2] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. cap. 36.--Cardonne, Hist. +d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. pp. 267-271.--Bernaldez, Reyes +Católicos, MS., cap. 60.--Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, fol. 10.-- +Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 12. + +[3] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 3, cap. 20. + +The _donzeles_, of which Diego de Cordova was alcayde, or captain, were a +body of young cavaliers, originally brought up as pages in the royal +household, and organized as a separate corps of the militia. Salazar +de Mendoza, Dignidades, p. 259.--See also Morales, Obras, tom. xiv. p. 80. + +[4] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. cap. 36.--Abarca, Reyes de +Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 302.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1483.--Bernaldez, +Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 61.--Pulgar, Crónica, cap. 20.--Marmol, +Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 12. + +[5] Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. p. 637.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, ubi +supra.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 61.--Conde, Dominacion de +los Arabes, tom. iii. cap. 36.--Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, +tom. iii. pp. 271-274. + +The various details, even to the site of the battle, are told in the usual +confused and contradictory manner by the garrulous chroniclers of the +period. All authorities, however, both Christian and Moorish, agree as to +its general results. + +[6] Mendoza, Dignidades, p. 382.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, +quinc. 4, dial. 9. + +[7] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. cap. 36.--Cardonne, Hist. +d'Afrique et d'Espagne, pp. 271-274. + +[8] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 23.--Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. +1, cap. 12. + +Charles V. does not seem to have partaken of his grandfather's delicacy in +regard to an interview with his royal captive, or indeed to any part of +his deportment towards him. + +[9] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, ubi supra.--Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, +cap. 36. + +[10] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, loc. cit.--Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, +cap. 36. + +[11] The term _cavalgada_ seems to be used indifferently by the ancient +Spanish writers to represent a marauding party, the foray itself, or the +booty taken in it. + +[12] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 22.--Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. +vi. Ilust. 6. + +[13] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 32, 41.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv lib. +20, cap. 59.--Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 3, cap. 5. + +[14] Machiavelli, Arte della Guerra, lib. 3. + +[15] Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 6. + +According to Gibbon, the cannon used by Mahomet in the siege of +Constantinople, about thirty years before this time, threw stone balls, +which weighed above 600 pounds. The measure of the bore was twelve palms. +Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. 68. + +[16] Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 6. + +We get a more precise notion of the awkwardness with which the artillery +was served in the infancy of the science, from a fact recorded in the +Chronicle of John II., that at the siege of Setenil, in 1407, five +lombards were able to discharge only forty shot in the course of a day. We +have witnessed an invention, in our time, that of our ingenious +countryman, Jacob Perkins, by which a gun, with the aid of that miracle- +worker, steam, is enabled to throw a thousand bullets in a single minute. + +[17] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 174.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, +cap. 44. Some writers, as the Abbé Mignot, (Histoire des Rois Catholiques +Ferdinand et Isabelle, (Paris, 1766,) tom. i. p. 273,) have referred the +invention of bombs to the siege of Ronda. I find no authority for this. +Pulgar's words are, "They made many iron balls, large and small, some of +which they cast in a mould, having reduced the iron to a state of fusion, +so that it would run like any other metal." + +[18] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 51.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., +cap. 82. + +[19] Mendoza, Guerra de Granada, (Valencia, 1776,) pp. 73, 74.--Zurita, +Anales, tom. iv. lib. 20, cap. 59.--Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. p. +168. According to Mendoza, a decoction of the quince furnished the most +effectual antidote known against this poison. + +[20] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 304.--Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum +Decades, ii. lib. 4, cap. 2.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 76.-- +Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 12. + +Pulgar, who is by no means bigoted for the age, seems to think the literal +terms granted by Ferdinand to the enemies of the faith stand in need of +perpetual apology. See Reyes Católicos, cap. 44 et passim. + +[21] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 75.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, +cap. 21, 33, 42.--Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 8, cap. 6.-- +Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 13. + +[22] Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 6. + +[23] Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 3, cap. 6.--Pulgar, Reyes +Católicos, cap. 31. + +[24] After another daring achievement, the sovereigns granted him and his +heirs the royal suit worn by the monarchs of Castile on Ladyday; a +present, says Abarca, not to be estimated by its cost. Reyes de Aragon, +tom. ii. fol. 308. + +[25] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, ubi supra.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib +1, epist. 41.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 68.--Zurita, Anales, +tom. iv. cap. 58. + +[26] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 31, 67, 69.--Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum +Decades, ii. lib. 2, cap. 10. + +[27] Reyes Católicos, cap. 21. + +[28] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 1, epist. 62.--Bernaldez, Reyes +Católicos, MS., cap. 78. + +[29] Guillaume de Ialigny, Histoire de Charles VIII., (Paris, 1617,) pp. +90-94. + +[30] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 75.--This city, even before the +New World had poured its treasures into its lap, was conspicuous for its +magnificence, as the ancient proverb testifies. Zuñiga, Annales de +Sevilla, p. 183. + +[31] Pulgar. Reyes Católicos, cap. 41. + +[32] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 59.--This nobleman, whose name was +Iñigo Lopez de Mendoza, was son of the first duke, Diego Hurtado, who +supported Isabella's claims to the crown. Oviedo was present at the siege +of Illora, and gives a minute description of his appearance there. "He +came," says that writer, "attended by a numerous body of cavaliers and +gentlemen, as befitted so great a lord. He displayed all the luxuries +which belong to a time of peace; and his tables, which were carefully +served, were loaded with rich and curiously wrought plate, of which he had +a greater profusion than any other grandee in the kingdom." In another +place he says, "The duke Iñigo was a perfect Alexander for his liberality, +in all his actions princely, maintaining unbounded hospitality among his +numerous vassals and dependents, and beloved throughout Spain. His palaces +were garnished with the most costly tapestries, jewels, and rich stuffs of +gold and silver. His chapel was filled with accomplished singers and +musicians; his falcons, hounds, and his whole hunting establishment, +including a magnificent stud of horses, not to be matched by any other +nobleman in the kingdom. Of the truth of all which," concludes Oviedo, "I +myself have been an eye-witness, and enough others can testify." See +Oviedo, (Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 8,) who has given the +genealogy of the Mendozas and Mendozinos, in all its endless +ramifications. + +[33] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 80.--The lively author of "A +Year in Spain" describes, among other suits of armor still to be seen in +the museum of the armory at Madrid, those worn by Ferdinand and his +illustrious consort. "In one of the most conspicuous stations is the suit +of armor usually worn by Ferdinand the Catholic. He seems snugly seated +upon his war-horse with a pair of red velvet breeches, after the manner of +the Moors, with lifted lance and closed visor. There are several suits of +Ferdinand and of his queen Isabella, who was no stranger to the dangers of +a battle. By the comparative heights of the armor, Isabella would seem to +be the bigger of the two, as she certainly was the better." A Year in +Spain, by a young American, (Boston, 1829,) p. 116. + +[34] Cardinal Mendoza, in the campaign of 1485, offered the queen to raise +a body of 3000 horse, and march at its head to the relief of Alhama, and +at the same time to supply her with such sums of money as might be +necessary in the present exigency. Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 50. + +[35] In 1486, we find Ferdinand and Isabella performing a pilgrimage to +the shrine of St. James of Compostella. Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 86. + +[36] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 173.--Bernaldez, Reyes. Católicos, +MS., cap. 82, 87. + +[37] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 47.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., +cap. 75. + +[38] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. cap. 37.--Cardonne, Hist. +d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. pp. 276, 281, 282.--Abarca, Reyes de +Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 304. + + "El enjaeza el caballo + Be las cabezas de fama," + +says one of the old Moorish ballads. A garland of Christian heads seems to +have been deemed no unsuitable present from a Moslem knight to his lady +love. Thus one of the Zegries triumphantly asks, + + "¿Que Cristianos habeis muerto, + O escalado que murallas? + ¿O que cabezas famosas + Aveis presentado a damas?" + +This sort of trophy was also borne by the Christian cavaliers. Examples of +this may be found even as late as the siege of Granada. See, among others, +the ballad beginning + + "A vista de los dos Reyes." + +[39] The Arabic historian alludes to the vulgar report of the old king's +assassination by his brother, but leaves us in the dark in regard to his +own opinion of its credibility. "Algunos dicen que le procuro la muerte su +hermano el Rey Zagal; pero Dios lo sabe, que es el unico eterno e +inmutable."--Conde, Domination de los Arabes, tom. in. cap. 38. + +[40] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. cap. 38.--Cardonne, Hist. +d'Afrique et d'Espagne, pp. 291, 292.--Mariana, Hist. de España, lib. 25, +cap. 9.--Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 12. + + "Muy revuelta anda Granada + en armas y fuego ardiendo, + y los ciudadanos de ella + duras muertes padeciendo; + + Por tres reyes que hay esquivos, + cada uno pretendiendo + el mando, cetro y corona + de Granada y su gobierno," etc. + +See this old _romance_, mixing up fact and fiction, with more of the +former than usual, in Hyta, Guerras de Granada, tom. i. p. 292. + +[41] Among other achievements, Zagal surprised and beat the count of Cabra +in a night attack upon Moclin, and wellnigh retaliated on that nobleman +his capture of the Moorish king Abdallah. Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. +48. + +[42] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 75.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, +cap. 48.--Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 3, cap. 5, 7; lib. 4, +cap. 2, 3.--Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 12. + + +END OF VOL. I. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, HISTORY OF THE REIGN OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA V1 *** + +This file should be named 6918-8.txt or 6918-8.zip + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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